Policies, Principles, Practices: New Directions in Foreign Language Education in the Era of Educational Globalization

This book addresses the various challenges facing university foreign language teaching in non-anglophone countries in the era of educational globalization. Growing student mobility, net-based cross-border university education, and universities opening subsidiaries in other countries force university teachers to offer their teaching in English rather than in their mother tongue, and universities to equip their staff members with the necessary foreign language competencies. As a reflection of societal and institutional globalization processes, dedicated language teachers strive to adjust teaching methods to new student identities, the availability of advanced learning technologies, and social media enabling multiple forms of cross-border contact. Thus, understanding the situation of contemporary university language teaching requires a consideration of macro-level social changes, institutional policies, as well as developments in classroom practice.

The point of departure is the case of Denmark. The problems addressed and the remedies offered, however, apply to all non-anglophone universities with the ambition to stay competitive in the global market of university education.

The book includes contributions from foreign and second language teaching specialists representing a broad spectrum of Danish universities and years of sustained scholarly effort to improve the standard of university language teaching and the political recognition of the importance of advanced foreign language skills.