Please join us for a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Centre for Global Englishes on English as a Lingua Franca in Higher Education

Wednesday 4 December

5:00-6:30 PM

Building 65 Lecture Theatre C

Researching English as the lingua franca of global higher education Many universities around the world nowadays describe themselves as ‘international’, and their websites rejoice in the diversity of their student and staff composition. A major aspect of the ‘internationalisation’ of higher education has been a dramatic increase in the use of English Medium Instruction and of English as global higher education’s primary lingua franca. However, little thought has yet been given to the implications of this development. Instead, the default assumption is that native English is the optimum kind of English for international academic use.

Scholars working within the field of Global Englishes and, more specifically, English as a Lingua Franca, see things differently. They problematise the notion that a national version of English (British or American) is most appropriate for communication among academics from diverse first languages, and argue that it contradicts the claims of institutions to be international. Research into English as a lingua franca in academic settings is thriving, and in this panel discussion, five members of CGE will talk about their work exploring the use of English in different parts of the world: Will Baker and Julia Huettner will discuss a project they are about to conduct in Thai, Austrian, and UK universities; Lanxi Hu will present data she recently collected in Chinese universities, and Jill Doubleday and Jennifer Jenkins will talk about their research in UK universities. The four talks will each last for up to 15 minutes after which we hope to stimulate discussion with members of the audience for around half an hour.

ALL ARE VERY WELCOME TO JOIN US IN EXPLORING THIS CONTROVERSIAL AND HIGHLY TOPICAL SUBJECT