Assessment Fairness
Are expectations clear?
Language, Concepts and Confidence
What does language enable or limit?
Consider how language choices affect access, participation, assessment and knowledge exchange.
Why this matters
Language is not only a technical matter. It shapes who can participate, how confidently students speak, how concepts travel across cultures, and how students are assessed. English may enable international access, but it can also create barriers. Local languages may be essential for cultural-sector knowledge and employability, but can limit access for international students. Programmes need to think about teaching language, academic writing, informal support and multilingual resources.
Key questions
- What languages are used for teaching, assessment and informal support?
- Who is advantaged or disadvantaged by these choices?
- How do students learn key concepts across languages?
- How are less confident speakers supported?
- What role can local languages play?
- Can translation or AI tools help, and what risks follow?
Notes & Resources
This section brings together resources, examples, references and practical ideas that may help you explore the topic further. Use what is relevant to your context, and adapt it as needed.
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Think beyond English as the default language of internationalisation
UNESCO's recent guidance considers multilingualism as a resource for more inclusive education, addressing language policy, linguistic diversity, learning materials and the capacities needed to support multilingual approaches.
Languages matter: Global guidance on multilingual education · UNESCO · 2025 updated 2026 -
Rethink multilingualism across university life
Explore a practical framework for considering linguistic and cultural diversity across teaching and learning, research, communication and governance.
Circle U. Language Compass · Circle U. European University Alliance · 2025 -
Explore the opportunities and tensions of English-medium education
A two-part resource examining the growth, benefits and challenges of teaching through English in higher education, including implications for students, staff, institutional practice and language support.
English in higher education: English medium · British Council · 2020 and 2021 -
Explore how concepts and knowledge travel across languages and contexts
What happens when cultural policy concepts travel between contexts? Translation is not simply finding another-language equivalent. Concepts and knowledge are reinterpreted and transformed through different cultural, institutional and power relations.
Cultural Policy in Translation: Performative Concepts, Narratives, and Knowledge · Thuy Tran · University of Manchester · 2025
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