Centre for English Language Education

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Centre for English Language Education

• Professor Rebecca Hughes
• (Rebecca.hughes_at_nottingham.ac.uk)

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English and academic literacy in global higher
education
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The phenomenon of Global education

• Student mobility
• 2.1 million students studying abroad forecast
  around 6 million by 2020
• International education estimated to be worth 23
  billion annually in UK (almost half, 10.2
  billion, represented by HE sector)
• Staff mobility
• Around 2 per cent of UK academics are working in
  another country annually (more incoming Around
  1.4 come to UK for every 1 outgoing)
• 85 per cent of UK Fellows of the Royal Society
  have spent a period working overseas
• Profile Typically young, postdoc., researchers
  who return to home country (source HEPI)
• Offshore delivery
• Mainly UK, USA and Australia (all 38 of
  Australias public universities are involved in
  this)
• Approx. 4 of the worlds universities explicitly
  involved in international delivery (Denman, 2002)

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What role does the language of instruction play?

• One critical factor that separates the two
  approaches may be the language of instruction.
  Non-English speaking countries have much greater
  difficulties in competing against English
  speaking countries, which dominate the scene
  (Hatakenaka, 2004 22).

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Apparent effects of English language on mobility
choices

• Four English-speaking countries (US, UK,
  Australia and Canada) account for over 50 per
  cent of the students studying abroad.
• 70 of all Asian students studying abroad are in
  three main English-speaking countries (US, UK and
  Australia).
• 40 of European students studying abroad go to
  English-speaking countries.
• The UK has the highest number of international
  postgraduates in Europe.
• The US recruits more PhD students than the rest
  of the OECD put together.
• Research-led universities in the UK attract the
  highest number of international researchers in
  Europe, with English language being cited as one
  reason for attractiveness (European Commission,
  2001).

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• Internationalisation of tertiary education also
  yields costs and benefits at the level of
  institutions. From the perspective of
  institutions, foreign enrolments constrain the
  instructional settings and processes insofar as
  the curriculum and teaching methods may have to
  be adapted to a culturally and linguistically
  diverse student body. These constraints are,
  however, outweighed by the numerous benefits to
  host institutions. (OECD, 2005252).

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Hidden costs?

• Becoming a member of the academic community
  requires very high standards of linguistic
  proficiency.
• Whatever the language being used, high quality
  teaching and research require sophistication of
  expression, delicacy of lexical differentiation,
  and clear and accurate presentation.
• Poor language skills can constrain academic
  interactions severely. This has greater
  implications than having bad holiday French.
• At worst, weak language skills lead to personal
  misery, are hugely draining on departmental
  resources, and are often the basis of academic
  offences such as plagiarism.
• The reputation of an HE provider is closely
  linked to the abilities of its graduates.
• Rapid growth in international numbers or changes
  to the medium of instruction need careful
  planning and policies set at institutional level.
• When education becomes global issues of
  academic literacy should move quickly towards the
  top of planning decisions, including business
  planning.

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Policy suggestions

• Develop an explicit institutional language policy
  which covers first and second language users and
  ensures proficiency at the relevant level for the
  demands of the programme or project.
• Ensure that language entry policies are decided
  consistently and in separation from marketing and
  recruitment pressures.
• Accept that language proficiency in relation to
  medium of instruction is an integral part of the
  admissions criteria.
• Provide pre-degree training and acclimatisation
  programmes to help students adjust to the
  learning environment.
• Where non-native language is adopted for
  provision in country, give opportunities of high
  quality first and second language support.
• Encourage debate and research into the nature of
  teaching a diverse international community.

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Coda

• He Burkhard Heim never learned English because
  he did not want his work to leave the country. As
  a result, very few people knew about his work and
  no one came up with the necessary research
  funding (New Scientist, 200624).