Local agency in national language policies: the internationalisation of higher education in a Brazilian institution

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study discusses agency in language policy and planning (LPP) development from the perspective of Brazilian national language policies reflected in the local LPP programme/initiative of a public university in the Southeast region of the country. With that goal, national and local (institutional) documents are analysed and contrasted with the perceptions of local agents – or people with interest in Baldauf's terminology – comprised of students of a Brazilian government-funded programme called Languages without Borders (LwB) at that university. The perceptions of the academic community (students, lecturers and administrative staff) were obtained through an online questionnaire. The results show that top-down national policies had a great impact on the development of local policies, leaving little room for bottom-up local agency. The study concludes that the university lacked a coherent language approach that connected the macro, meso and micro levels and the four categories of agents, namely, people with power, people with expertise, people with influence and people with interest.