The internationalization of the linguistic landscape of Utrecht University

Abstract

The internationalization of higher education is a concept that has been examined in many studies (Butrym, 2020; Ohajionu, 2021; Choi, 2021, etc.). This paper started by exploring the topics internationalization and higher education; what the effects are of internationalization and how internationalization links to the linguistic landscape of a higher education intuition. Although several studies explored these topics, this study wants to add to the already existing literature by examining the extent of internationalization of the linguistic landscape of a specific university, namely Utrecht University. This was done by conducting fieldwork on the premises of Utrecht University. At each building that Utrecht University owns pictures of signs were taken inside and outside of the entrance. With these pictures, an analysis was conducted. Through this analysis, it was determined which actors placed signs, in which language and where. In addition, the experience of international students was investigated through a questionnaire. This questionnaire existed of ten signs accompanied by questions that determined if they understood what the signs meant. The answers of the respondents were compared to each other. The main finding of this study is that there are three social actors who create signs and that the international students mostly do not understand Dutch signs; even though the signs are relatively simple. Through this, the conclusion was drawn that the linguistic landscape of Utrecht University is diverse and to some extent internationalized.