For a language policy in the internationalized university

Internationalization processes in universities of many European countries involve the introduction of the English language as the medium of teaching and studying, English being the widespread lingua franca in international relations. The use of English interferes with the final process of acquisition of the students’ native languages such as German and Italian and may slow down and perhaps even hinder the attainment of the highest level of competence in either the native language or English itself. The consequences of this kind of cross-linguistic contact, which pertain on the long run to the language profile of countries such as Germany and Italy, are discussed with respect to the development of the individual’s language competence and to the potential conflicts provided by available grammatical means of different languages in the operation of “thinking for speaking”. On the basis of a thorough study of the multilingual environment of a Turkish university, and of a recent survey of the Master degree’s courses taught in English in Italy, a set of directives for an efficient language policy in the internationalized university is proposed. These directives involve the gradual and optional introduction of English as a medium of teaching according to the nature of the scientific field of study of different subjects, and the engagement of both scientific societies and universities in a monitoring action of the multilingual behavior of students and teachers. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015