Language policy and language planning
in Danish universities.
English only?
Rita Cancino
Department of Languages and Culture
Aalborg University
DENMARK
Strengthening of European investigation and
education
 The EU’s Bologna declaration (1999) and the Barcelona
Declaration signed by the countries in the EU recognise
the need of the strengthening of European investigation
and education as a whole, as well as the strengthening of
the general foreign language competences and
intercultural knowledge
 In 2003, a new Danish University Act was introduced,
and one of the main consequences was the
strengthening of the internationalisation of study
programmes.
 The Danish universities are committed not only to doing
research, but also to educating students so that they can
occupy important positions in Danish society and abroad.

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2
Danish official statements on language policy
in English
 Retningslinier for en dansk sprogpolitik. Dansk sprognævn 2003
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(Guidelines for Danish Language Policy. Danish Language Council:
2003)
Sprog på spil. Kulturministeriet 2003 (Languages at Stake. Danish
Ministry of Culture.2003)
Sprogpolitisk redegørelse. Regeringen 2004 (Statement of
Language Policy. The Danish Government. 2004)
Sprogpolitik på de danske universiteter. Rektorkollegiet 2003
(Language Policy at Danish Universities. Universities Denmark
(Association of the Danish Rectors). 2003)
Internationalisering af de danske universiteter. Rektorkollegiet
2004. (Internationalisation of the Danish Universities. Universities
Denmark (Danish Universities. Association of The Danish Rectors).
2003)
Sprog til tiden. Regeringens Sprogudvalg 2008 (Language on Time.
Governmental Language Committee)
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Denmark and a possible Language Policy
 Denmark is a monolingual country. 5.5 mio. speakers
 The linguistic situation has changed in recent years.
Three main factors in this change are:
 The spread of English as a result of globalisation
and internationalisation
 An increased number of languages as Denmark is
no longer a homogeneous language community.
 Generally increased demands for foreign languages
because of the IT-society, but particularly English.
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Language policy>< Language planning
According to Dennis Ager, language policy is:
 “the official planning, carried out by those in political
authority”
while language planning is
 “the ways in which organized communities, united by
religious, ethnic or political ties, consciously attempt to
influence the language(s) their members use, the
language in education, or the ways in which Academies
or journalists make the language change (Ager 2005:5)
 This means that language planning is the consequence
of the political decision about language
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Language planning
 Language planning is constituted by three different
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processes, viz. status planning, corpus planning and
acquisition planning.
Status planning is about the status of the language, i.e.
how and in which contexts a language is used
Corpus planning deals with changes of the form of the
language (corpus i.e. how the vocabulary, the syntax, etc.
is changing).
Acquisition planning has to do with the acquisition of
the language by the users, i.e. the acquisition of Danish
by immigrants and refugees (Philipson, 2008).
“Corpus and status planning cannot be separated from each other:
language planning policies are thus never exclusively corpus
orientated or status orientated (Oakes 1984:51)
.
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Changes in a language
 Changes in the status of a language imply changes
in its structure:
 “it is, in fact, virtually impossible to separate the two
activities. The fact is that any change in the
character of a language is likely to result in a change
in the use environment, and any change in the use
environment is likely to induce a change in the
character of the language (Kaplan and Baldauf
1997:28).
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The power of a language
The power of a language is reflected in its imagery.
“English tends to be marketed as language of success,
hedonism, and international mobility – which it is for
many people”. (Philipson, 2001)
 English as killer language (Anne Pakir)
 English as Tyrannosaurus Rex (John Swales)
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Linguistic cannibalism of this sort is a common feature of
dominant languages.” Philipson (2001).
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English in Denmark
 The influence from English and the English-speaking
world is one of the main ongoing debates concerning
Danish language and culture.
 Unlike other Nordic countries like Finland, Norway
and Iceland, Danish authorities rarely recommend
Danish words instead of English terms that appear in
the language. (Council of Europe, 2009. Denmark/
4.2).
 English from above >< English from below (Preisler,
2003)
 Code switching into English
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Danish Universities – English as a language of
instruction
 In Danish universities, things are changing linguistically much
more rapidly than expected.
 A massive transition to English as the language of instruction
is taking place in all Danish Universities.
 At the Faculty of Life Science, LIFE,(former Royal Veterinary
and Agricultural High School of Denmark), English will be the
language of instruction for all 12 MSc-programmes offered
during 2009 to 2010.
 At Aalborg University (2009) more than 50 MSc-programmes
are taught in English
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Danish Universities – language of research
 English is the predominant language in scientific literature,
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particularly in the technical and natural sciences.
In Denmark researchers have to publish in English in order to
make their scientific results known outside Denmark
English is also required if Danish researchers are to
participate in international networks and conferences, also
often within Scandinavia if e.g. Finnish colleagues join the
meetings
Communication of knowledge to Danish Society!
Transfer of knowledge to Danish Society!
 “From Research to Invoice”
 Quality of scientific articles!
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Key concepts in the language debate
 Will Danish remain a complete language?
 Will it be a society supportive language?
 Language domain: English or Danish?
 Monolingualism: Danish only >< English only?
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 Multilingualism: What about the ‘other’ languages?
 Parallel lingualism: English and Danish= a bilingual
Denmark de facto ?
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Is Danish language ‘under threat’?
 “Since 2003 there is growing dominance of English in
higher education and therefore an increasing risk that in
few years Danish will no longer be a complete and a
society supportive language” (Danish Language Council
2007)
 “Luckily, Danish as a common language for speaking and
writing is not in a threatened position. Luckily, because of
all the languages in the world Danish is the one
specifically adapted to the needs for expression that
Danes have” (Governmental Linguistic Committee
sprogudvalg, 2008)
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Examples of English displacing Danish and
other foreign languages in higher education
• 136 of 810 university studies were offered in
English only in 2007. The number is increasing.
• English spreads downward into high school and
secondary school
• Other foreign language studies e.g. German and
French are cut back in universities and business
schools
• Number of Ph.D. dissertations in Danish (2001)
– technical university 4%, natural science 22%, social
sciences 37%, humanities 72%
Source: Governmental reports (Sprog på spil 2003, Sprog til tiden 2008)
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Aalborg University strategic basis 2005-2010
:
 The University will encourage the further
development of international research collaboration
as well as exchanges of research results,
researchers, and other relevant staff (ENGLISH ONLY).
 ‘We will ensure that graduates, teachers, and
researchers have the international competencies
that are necessary in order to be able to function
professionally, linguistically, and socially in an
international and multi-cultural environment.
(International means English at Aalborg University!)
 Aalborg University will ensure the freedom of its staff to
express themselves in Danish and English as equal
working languages. (Yes, but how?)
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Language Policy
 The aim of Aalborg University’s language policy is to contribute to the
enhancement of the communicative competence of the university’s
research and teaching through maintaining and developing the
Danish language as the basic written and spoken language of
research and teaching at the university, and to use English and
other relevant foreign languages where required to maintain and
develop Aalborg University as an active partner and co-player in the
global scientific society. (AAU 2009).
 The university’s undergraduate programmes are conducted in
Danish unless the programme has a specific international aim.
However courses in English may be offered in connection with the
undergraduate programmes. (Example: Art and Technology)
 Project supervision may be conducted in English if the group
comprises foreign students and/or teachers.
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Language Policy
 Graduate programmes with a specific international
aim or comprising foreign students and/or teachers
are conducted in English.
 Aalborg University’s employees and students are
free to use Danish and English as equal working
languages.
 Employees are offered courses in English and
Danish with a view to enhancing their communicative
competences dependent on the purpose, e.g. lectures,
supervision, conferences, papers, or participation in
international research projects.
 A language resource centre (Sprogligt
RådgivningsCenter - SRC) has been established. The
centre takes care of upgrading AAU researchers’ and
teachers’ abilities to teach in English and other relevant
foreign languages.
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The English Reality at Aalborg University –
 MA- programmes in English offered to foreign
students : 61
 MA-programmes in Danish for Danish students: 86
 BA-programmes in English: 5
 BA-programmes in Danish: 89
 Several courses and international programmes in
English
 Many teachers have to teach/are forced to teach in
English
 Most of the university homepages are in English
 Most information in English. None in other languages
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University of Copenhagen: Language Policy
 The University of Copenhagen uses English in its
role as a participant in the international academic
community and must therefore ensure that all
employees have the necessary English language
skills which are a prerequisite for being able to
function optimally in such an environment.
 At the same time, however, the University is
determined to fulfil its obligations in continuing to
serve Danish society by disseminating new
knowledge through the medium of Danish at an
equally optimal level
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University of Copenhagen - Centre for
Internationalisation and Parallel Language Use
 .Language policy based on the use of Danish and
English as parallel languages
 The use of parallel languages refers to a situation in
which two languages are considered equal in a
particular domain, and where the choice of language
depends on what is deemed most appropriate and
efficient in a specific situation
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Conclusion
• Costs of anglicising the research domain
• Democracy costs – increasing gap between
researchers and population – weakening of public
debate
• Lower quality in research and teaching –
imprecision, miscommunications, loss of nuances
• Power issue – asymmetric relations of native and
non-native English speakers/writers
• English is not enough – not English only!
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