Language tensions and unseen languages in a multilingual university: the perspectives of university lecturers

Linguistic diversity emerging from international student mobility, in non-anglophone universities, is typically eclipsed by the existing tensions between the national language(s) and English as 'Lingua franca'. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with university lecturers, this study highlights the tensions surrounding national languages and English and the attention paid to international student languages as resources for learning. Furthermore, using enunciation theory it seeks to show what shapes lecturers' attitudes to language use at university. It concludes that while there is some evidence that international student languages are recognised in teaching practices, there are also real concerns over maintaining the national language(s). This obscures the role that international student languages could play in teaching and learning.

Automated summary

The study reveals that international student languages are recognized to some extent in university teaching practices, but there are also concerns about maintaining national language traditions which overshadow the potential role of international student languages in teaching and learning.