Special Session: “Institutional Language Policy: aims, approaches and challenges”
Four experts on institutional language policy from Germany, Finland, Spain and Netherlands participate in an incisive panel discussion on Thursday 19 October at 09:00. The discussants focus on policy choices, institutional visions and strategies. For instance, is English as an institutional language or as a medium of instruction merely a means for universities to demonstrate their internationalisation; or is it a means to realise something else? And how do our language policies change our universities and cities? The speakers address the dilemmas and challenges, and whether there are good practices, and if so, what qualifies them as good. This session takes an international comparative perspective to understand the different language policy discourses and approaches.
Speakers: Astrid Buschmann-Göbels (Bremen University, Germany); Rosana Villares (U of Zaragoza, Spain); Tamás Péter Szabó (U of Jyväskylä, Finland); Rosa Becker (Maastricht University, Netherlands). Moderator: Han Aarts (Maastricht University, Netherlands).