Against the mainstream: universities with an alternative language policy

Scandinavian and Dutch institutions top the list of European universities outside Britain that increasingly promote English as an academic language. Inevitably, this linguistic change has taken place at the expense of the national languages. The present article deals with two exceptions to this otherwise overwhelming trend, Sámi allaskuvla, the Sámi University College in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, Norway, and Fróðskaparsetur Føroya, the University of the Faroe Islands. The official languages of these institutions are Sámi (primarily North Sámi) and Faroese respectively.