Series | SAIL
Monograph | Rethinking English Language Certification
Chapter | The Spread of English as an Academic Lingua Franca in Europe
The Spread of English as an Academic Lingua Franca in Europe
This is a key chapter in the book since it analyses the rapid growth of English as a lingua franca in Europe, and the slow but necessary acknowledgement of its significance by European institutions. After an overview of the kinds of lingua franca interaction which have become an everyday reality in Europe, we focus on universities, and student and teacher mobility, noting that even those students who do not themselves go on mobility may need to interact with international students, or attend lectures given (in English) by non native speakers. In addition, new certification needs have been further driven by the growing phenomenon of English medium instruction, and the recent appearance of first level courses, as well as master’s degrees, delivered entirely through the medium of English. These courses are likely to set minimum levels of competence in English for applicants: but which English? We argue for a new rationale for assessing English as a lingua franca to access higher education in Europe.
Submitted: Oct. 2, 2017 | Published: Nov. 6, 2017 | Language: en
Copyright © 2017 David Newbold. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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