The lure of internationalization: Paradoxical discourses of transnational student mobility, linguistic diversity and cross-cultural exchange

TY - JOUR

T1 - The lure of internationalization: Paradoxical discourses of transnational student mobility, linguistic diversity and cross-cultural exchange

AU - Fabricius, Anne

AU - Mortensen, Janus

AU - Haberland, Hartmut

PY - 2017/3/1

Y1 - 2017/3/1

N2 - This paper scrutinizes a set of paradoxes arising from a mismatch between contemporary discourses that praise and promote mobility in and internationalization of higher education, and the everyday effects of mobility and internationalization on university teaching and learning practice. We begin with a general characterization of the discourse of mobility and internationalization in a European context and then turn toDenmark as a specific case in which we unfold and discuss three paradoxes in turn:internationalization and linguistic pluralism, internationalization and intercultural understanding and, finally, internationalization and competitiveness. We then link ourdeconstruction of the three paradoxes to a critique of the concept of “parallel language policy,” widely promoted in the Nordic context, and show how it potentially undermines the ideals of internationalization.

AB - This paper scrutinizes a set of paradoxes arising from a mismatch between contemporary discourses that praise and promote mobility in and internationalization of higher education, and the everyday effects of mobility and internationalization on university teaching and learning practice. We begin with a general characterization of the discourse of mobility and internationalization in a European context and then turn toDenmark as a specific case in which we unfold and discuss three paradoxes in turn:internationalization and linguistic pluralism, internationalization and intercultural understanding and, finally, internationalization and competitiveness. We then link ourdeconstruction of the three paradoxes to a critique of the concept of “parallel language policy,” widely promoted in the Nordic context, and show how it potentially undermines the ideals of internationalization.

KW - Internationalisation, higher education, language policy, Denmark

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0018-1560

SP - 577

EP - 595

JO - Higher Education

JF - Higher Education

ER -