Oksana Torubara (Associate Professor, Taras Shevchenko National University) on the Englishisation of higher education
On 10 March 2025, CULCOM hosted a talk by Oksana Torubara entitled ‘Englishisation of Higher Education around the World: The Case of Ukraine’. The rise of universities teaching in English, in addition to a local language, has become a global phenomenon. To some the use of the English language in higher education is a symbol of modernisation and internationalisation; others see it as an economic opportunity to attract international students; for still others it may represent a threat to the reproduction of knowledge in local languages. In her talk Oksana shared the meanings that Ukrainian university teachers ascribe to the Englishisation of the higher education sector – drawing on surveys with Ukrainian academics. In addition to the many benefits of Englishisation, Oksana highlighted the challenges reported by survey participants (e.g., related to English for publication purposes) and concluded with policy recommendations.
Oksana is a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Linguistics & English Language at Lancaster University and an Associate Professor at the Foreign Languages Department of Taras Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Collegium”.