Languages, policies and interculturality in Danish Higher Education, 2019-24

Research on higher education has generally assumed that internationalisation, language, student diversity and interculturality are connected. In the 2010s, scholars would argue that the adoption of English as a teaching medium supported intercultural competence development because it enabled diversification through international student recruitment. However, in Denmark such views were disrupted when, in 2019, the government changed its policy, requesting that universities reduce their intake of internationals. Within a year, programmes previously registered as “international” became “Danish”, admitting only applicants with knowledge of the Danish language. The chapter contains an analysis of the policy and practice-scapes emerging after the 2019 disruption. First, we examine European, national and institutional policy regimes shaping higher education, pointing to discrepancies between EU and Danish governance principles. Second, we consider the implications for linguistic and pedagogic practice in a BA programme in International Studies. We conclude by suggesting that disruption can create openings as well as closure, challenging the assumption that internationalisation, multilingualism and interculturality are always linked.