Die Universität Luxemburg: eine dreisprachige Universität?

Abstract

Abstract Luxembourg is officially a trilingual country with most indigenous Luxembourgers speaking Luxembourgish, German and French, even if not necessarily all to the same standard. A high proportion (44.5 %) of the population consists of immigrants whose different linguistic repertoires add other languages to the multilingual landscape of the country. Multilingualism is a highly salient feature of Luxembourg’s society and plays out differently in different domains, such as home, school, work or public institutions. The country’s university, the University of Luxembourg, founded in 2003, is one of Luxembourg’s multilingual institutions, with English, French and German as official languages but with currently no explicit language policy. Study schemes and diplomas should be at least bilingual and students as well as staff should master at least two of the official languages. Neither the country’s national language Luxembourgish, nor the language of the proportionally highest migrant community Portuguese are part of the university’s languages. Due to the lack of an explicit and official document regarding the University of Luxembourg’s language policy and planning, in this chapter, I will focus on the current language situation in the areas of teaching, research and administration. After looking into the use of different languages in these domains and studying the existing guidelines regarding language use, I will identify the different actors responsible for and influencing the language planning and policy at the University of Luxembourg and situate them on the micro, meso and macro level.