Language Use in University Teaching and Research. Contributions to the Annual Conference 2014 of EFNIL in Florence

The use of languages in tertiary education and university research has been discussed at many conferences by linguists, educators, and language planners in the several decades since English has increasingly been used as medium of instruction and publication in institutions of higher education in non-Anglophone European countries. This development has also been discussed in EFNIL at various occasions. Thus, the 2014 EFNIL annual conference aspired to provide the participants and the interested public with a detailed picture of the current linguistic situation of tertiary education and university research in various European countries. The conference was held at the venerable Accademia della Crusca in Florence, the oldest language academy in Europe. This academy was run by Francesco Sabatini, its president at the time and one of members who founded EFNIL in 2003.
This publication renders the written versions of the conference contributions. The presentations by the official representatives of different European institutions do not only stress the importance of the conference topic but can also be considered a form of encouragement for the EFNIL activities in the interest of European multilingualism. From these contributions we can learn about the initiatives of the European Commission and corresponding programmes to enhance multilingualism, especially in the field of education within the states of the Union. Several of the expert speakers also describe and discuss the current use of languages in academia from a historical point of view. Their articles are followed by detailed reports on current language use at several European universities. A comprehensive account of the contributions to a lively panel discussion on a desirable future of language use in university teaching and research concludes the main part of the book.
An additional result of the EFNIL conference in Florence is the “Resolution concerning language use in university teaching and research”. It is an appeal to the universities and policy makers to promote the use of the various national languages besides English and possibly other languages. The appendix presents this resolution in 25 European languages. Similar to previous volumes, the list of the current EFNIL member institutions is also included. This list shows that the official languages of all states of the Union and several other European countries are represented by competent institutions in this European linguistic network.