The Internationalisation of higher education in Ireland and its impact on language policy: a qualitative document analysis

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of internationalisation in Irish higher education on the language element of policies and strategies, and provides an insight of the current approaches towards language in higher education. The author explores the language-related trends over time in national public records, as well as the current linguistic targets reflected in European, national and institutional strategies by means of Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA). The evaluation shows a shift from the focus on inward mobility and the efforts for meeting international students’ linguistic needs, to an internationalised higher education system that requires the expansion of outward mobility and domestic students’ linguistic repertoire. Although Irish higher education institutions (HEIs) present the perfect context for becoming leaders in linguistic internationalisation practices, the scant consideration given to language in institutional strategies together with the lack of explicitness in existing national strategies result in language prevailing as a major issue for both, international and domestic students.