What does ‘international university’ mean at a European bilingual university? The role of languages and culture

Abstract

Internationalisation has brought about remarkable changes at universities all over the world. In the case of the University of the Basque Country (Spain) this is reflected in the increasing presence of English-medium instruction. This paper examines two issues: the university community's perception of (1) the term international university and its interaction with languages and culture; and (2) the effect of English on attitudes towards the minority language, Basque. The participants were 589 subjects (students, teachers, and administration personnel) whose views were sought by analysing their responses to two open questions. Results show that there is a strong association between the presence of different languages and cultures in the conceptualisation of an international university. As for the impact of English on Basque, international students and teachers were mainly positive, whereas local students and administration personnel harboured a more reluctant attitude. Finally, we conclude that it is essential to raise language and cultural awareness in the implementation of multilingualism in higher education.

Keywords:

• internationalisation
• language awareness
• cultural awareness
• multilingualism

Acknowledgements

The results presented in this paper are part of the following research projects: FFI2008-00585/FILO (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation), IT311-10 (Department of Education, University and Research of the Basque Government), and UFI11/06 (UPV/EHU).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aintzane Doiz

Aintzane Doiz is currently an associate professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. Her research interests are focused on the fields of cognitive linguistics and contrastive linguistics. Her latest research also includes multilingualism and internationalisation at pre-university and university levels, language teaching methodology, attitudes and motivation, and the acquisition of an L3. Together with David Lasagabaster and Juan Manuel Sierra, she has edited the book English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges (Multilingual Matters, 2013).

David Lasagabaster

David Lasagabaster is an associate professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. He has published on second and third language acquisition, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), attitudes and motivation, and multilingualism, and the results of his research can be found in international journals, books and edited books.

Juan Manuel Sierra

Juan Manuel Sierra is an associate professor of English studies at the University of the Basque Country, Spain. He has been involved in language teaching and teacher education in Spain for many years. His research interests include internationalisation in higher education, CLIL, L2/L3 acquisition, foreign language teaching methodology, curricular design, and multilingualism. His work has appeared in books, edited books, and international journals.