MANY ROOTS, MANY VOICES

Pratar du engelska?

      

English is the dominant lingua franca—the language used to communicate in groups without a shared mother tongue— used in increasingly internationalized sectors such as business and higher education. As Margie Berns illustrates in her article “English as lingua franca and English in Europe,” the “role [of English] has been expanding in part due to the internationalization of the student population in many universities, encouraged by European Union policies and by ever larger numbers of students from outside the EU attending universities in Netherlands, Germany, or Sweden, to name just three popular study destinations” (Berns, 2009, p.195).

Because of the increasing importance that English plays in interactions in these settings, having a strong knowledge of English or English language competency carries a prestige and thus acts as a social symbol of general competence in lingua franca interactions. It can be seen, perhaps mistakenly, that fluency in English in these group settings reflects a greater intelligence. This positions those with a greater English language competence favorably in group communications. As Berns noted, Sweden is a popular destination for students to study abroad in both exchange and master’s level programs. The 2011/12 statistics published by Universitets-Kranslersambetet show international admissions into Swedish Universities of some 6,500 new students (Swedish Higher Education Authority, 2013, p.24). The report’s newest statistics show that “the proportion of international new entrants was… 39 percent, the largest ever and two percentage points higher than in 2011” (p.36). Use of English as a lingua franca will undoubtedly increase as Swedish Universities expand their international programs, and thus fluency will increasingly become a symbol of status and competency in intercultural and international communications in the university setting. Additionally, English fluency will increasingly become an essential skill for many students.  

So, as a student in contemporary Sweden one must ask his or herself, “Pratar jag engelska?” One Swedish student in a Lund University international program stated that he felt more competent in the program overall than some other students because of his high-fluency in English. This is just one of the complications that students in International programs face in their group communications. See the video below for the full interview with a Lund University student.

• Berns, Margie. (2009). English as lingua franca and English in Europe. World englishes, Vol. 28(2), 192-199.
• Swedish Higher Education Authority. (2013). Higher education in sweden: 2013 status report. Stockholm:Universitetskanslersämbetet.