Integrating Content and Language: The Role of Other Languages Than English in an International University

The article presents a study of a five-year strategic project carried out at the University of Copenhagen from 2013 to 2018, with a focus on the role of languages in educational programs across the university. The project was based on needs analyses with students and program directors, and its main output was the development of diverse, locally appropriate models for integrating content and language. Whereas the university’s language policy of parallel language use prioritizes the use of English and Danish for academic purposes, the study underlines the need to include not only these two languages but also to build on other languages for subject specific purposes. The use of languages such as German, French, Latin, Arabic, and Chinese in study programs are motivated by traditional practices as well as by new orientations in the academic labor market. Their value is grounded in disciplinary logic, and they are further developed through bottom-up initiatives. However, the study shows that the formal inclusion of these languages in a university language policy also requires an explicit support from university management.