Internationalisation and English medium education: language, policy and practice, edited by Ute Smit and Patrick Studer
Internationalisation of Higher Education (IoHE) has received much attention over the past twenty years, both as an object of policy-making and a subject of theoretical scrutiny. While the ‘Englishization’ (Coleman 2006) of higher education has formed a central and exponentially increasing element of internationalisation, the transformative impact of this development on teaching and learning is often not given full recognition. There is now an increasing body of research into what has been labelled diversely as English-Medium Instruction (EMI), Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) or English Medium Education in Multilingual University Settings (EMEMUS) (Wilkinson 2017, Dafouz and Smit 2016). While studies emerging from these research activities focus on a variety of linguistic or pedagogical topics, they tend to offer only fragmentary snapshots of what in fact are long-term and complex language-in-education policy developments linked to local internationalising processes. Further research is needed to describe and critically review the discourses and processes underlying language-in-education policy developments leading to particular English-medium practices.
This volume wishes to address the resulting research gap by (a) foregrounding critical evaluations and assessments of established English-medium educational practices at or across particular HEIs that are (b) thoroughly embedded in recent theorising, taking account of language-in-education policies (LEP) and language as an integral component of internationalisation.
The editors invite papers that explore one or several of the questions below:
o To what extent are internationalisation policies and English-medium educational policies convergent or divergent? How are language and communication conceptualised through the lens of internationalisation? How do these conceptualisations inform and reflect stakeholder views and English-medium education in practice?
o To what extent are institutional visions and missions reflected (or not) in policies, their implementation and subsequent educational practices? What are the gaps between policy on paper, its implementation and resulting educational practices and how do they develop over time? What institutional learning processes can(not) be observed?
o What conceptualisations of language in general and English in particular are noticeable/integral to English-medium educational policies and practices? Under which circumstances is English (or other languages) conceptualised as a commodity or tool, a specific register, as an integral element of knowledge and communication in teaching and learning? How is (which) English positioned sociolinguistically?
o What roles are played by specific social actors at which stage of policy planning and implementation? Who are the responsible agents for shaping specific language conceptualisations connected to English-medium educational practices?
The journal invites contributions to a thematic number of the journal, planned for Autumn 2021. Proposals should be sent in the form of an abstract (up to 300 words) and a curriculum vitae (up to 2 pages) to the Editor, Prof Michael Kelly (M.H.Kelly@soton.ac.uk) by Friday 1 November 2019. Manuscripts may be in English or French and will be required by 31 March 2020. (Note: Submission date for proposals has now been extended to Friday 8 November 2019).
The European Journal of Language Policy/Revue européenne de politique linguistique is a peer- reviewed journal published by Liverpool University Press, in association with the Conseil européen pour les langues/ European Language Council. It has appeared twice yearly since 2009, with a record of rapid review and dissemination.
The journal aims to address major developments in language policy from a European perspective, regarding multilingualism and the diversity of languages as valuable assets in the culture, politics and economics of twenty-first century societies. The journal’s primary focus is on Europe, broadly understood, but it is alert to policy developments in the wider world.
Abstracts of articles will be provided in English and French. Materials may be derived from or refer to texts in other languages. Further details including authors’ guidelines and code of conduct, can be consulted at:
http://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/loi/ejlp
