Language policy and multilingualism in semi-peripheral higher education research: Two cases from a University in Catalonia

Abstract

This study aims to contribute to the limited literature on language policy in research, where the increasing domination of English has raised concern about the displacement of other languages. The present ethnographic (multiple) case study tackles this issue from the context of Catalan higher education, whose institutions find themselves in the conundrum of being called to support local language/s and at the same time to embrace the preeminent international language: English. Multiple types of data have been collected from two university research groups, and analyzed through thematic and content analysis as well as through critical discourse analysis. Results suggest that the lack of specific strategies regarding language use in research may result in the imposition of English and in the displacement of local languages. Yet, Catalan institutions’ semi-peripheral position in the global academia, with less pressure than the center, might afford opportunities for alternative practices that might challenge dominant tendencies.