Anna Kristina Hultgren
Biographic Data
| ID | 755704 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anna Kristina Hultgren |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anna Kristina |
| FAMILY NAME | Hultgren |
| SIGNATURE | HULTGREN A K |
| AFFILIATIONS | The Open University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2379-1290 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 63 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
An analysis of the rise of English-taught programmes in the North Macedonian context
This study examines the proliferation of English-medium instruction (EMI) within North Macedonia’s higher education system, a context emblematic of broader regional trends towards Europeanisation in the Western Balkans. Moving beyond the steering at a distance framework (Kickert, 1995), we analyse EMI development through the lens of post-socialist state-building and marketisation. Employing social process tracing (Kaas et al., 2025), we analysed …
Adopting social process tracing in applied linguistics
Despite English-medium instruction (EMI) being one of the fastest growing phenomena in global higher education, there is still little clarity about what triggers universities to implement it. This is partially due to a lack of tools in EMI research for the investigation of causal relationships. This paper showcases how a rigorous adoption of social process tracing (SPT) can prove an effective tool to investigate causality in areas of applied ling…
English-medium instruction in European higher education
Notwithstanding the wide consensus that English-medium instruction (EMI) in European higher education has grown explosively since the turn of the century (Wächter, B., and Maiworm, F. 2014. English-taught programmes in European higher education: The state of play in 2014. Bonn: Lemmens), there has been little research which addresses issues related to operationalizing EMI, nor has a pan-European update on EMI figures been given since 2013. This s…
University autonomy is a predictor of English medium instruction in European higher education
Despite extensive research into English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in higher education, few if any studies have explored the role of higher education autonomy in driving EMI. This paper tests the novel hypothesis that university autonomy—spearheaded across European higher education through neoliberally predicated ‘steering at a distance’ reforms—predicts EMI. The data are multilevel with higher education institutions (HEIs) nested inside ed…
Neoliberal governance towards the non-German-speaking world in Austria's internationalization of higher education
As in many parts of Europe, Austria has seen increasing internationalization of its public universities since modernization reforms towards autonomy and accompanying steering-at-a-distance practices of state ministries. Here, we explore the sociolinguistic relevance of such neoliberal governance on this trend. In a novel turn, we invert the common lens on English as an incoming language to examine instead the monitoring of internationalization da…
English-medium education and the perpetuation of girls’ disadvantage
In our community, girls do not need this [English-medium education]. Interview with male teacher Nepal is classified as a low-middle income country (World Bank, 2023), and like other such countries, it is under international pressure to attain gender equality targets in order to receive international aid. However, Nepal is also permeated by widespread perceptions that girls are subordinate to boys, which influences girls’ access to education, inf…
Macro-level language policy and planning to promote and maintain English-taught programmes in Turkish higher education
This paper explores how higher education governance and macro-level (governmental) language policy and planning (LPP) impact (a) the growth and (b) sustainability of English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes in the Turkish higher education context, an Expanding Circle country (Kachru, 1985). We examine higher education policy documents and regulations and interview elite participants (N = 20), i.e. higher education administrative and governance…
University autonomy and the increasing shift to English in academic programmes at European universities
This paper centres on a dialogue with Liviu Matei, Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy at Kings College London, which aims to transcend sociolinguistic disciplinary boundaries by exploring the increasing use of English for higher education academic programmes at European universities within the context of university autonomy. Once Provost of the Central European University, forced to move from Hungary to Austria when its institutional…
New understandings of the rise of English as a medium of instruction in higher education
The rise of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) has prompted concerns over linguistic injustice, educational disadvantage, societal inequality and epistemic homogenization. As EMI tends to generate heated debates, its drivers need to be better understood. Borrowing conceptual frameworks from political science, this article proposes a new understanding of the drivers of EMI, pointing to the introduction of new steering tools in the 1980s to g…
English and/or Russian medium publications? A case study exploring academic research writing in contemporary Russian academia
English medium instruction
In virtually every research paper on this topic we come across we read that, in the particular context that the writer is operating, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is on the increase. But what exactly is EMI? If we consider every classroom around the world in which learners are exposed to English language as their second language (L2) we are faced with a huge variety: English as a foreign language (EFL); Immersion, English for academic …
Forum on English‐medium Instruction
During the first half of 2017, four scholars who know English‐medium instruction ( EMI ) well and view it from different perspectives took part in a round‐robin exchange. The forum contributors answered six sets of questions on aspects of EMI : defining terms; learning English in an EMI environment; the political or policy framework; learning a subject in a second language; teachers working in a second language; and EMI and multilingual education…
Vocatives as rationalized politeness
This study offers an extension of existing politeness theories by illuminating how changes in politeness conventions come about as a result of contextual specificities. Despite a surge in mediated service encounters, few studies to date have considered the linguistic enactment of politeness in call centres, mainly due to restrictions on access. Drawing on a linguistic ethnography of an onshore call centre in Scotland and data in the form of authe…
New perspectives on language and gender
Despite a shift to service-based economies, male-dominated, high-status workplaces have been the predominant focus of research into language and gender in the workplace. This study redresses this shortcoming by considering one female-dominated, low-status, highly regimented workplace that is emblematic of the globalized service economy: call centres. Drawing on 187 call centre service interactions, institutional documents, interviews, and observa…
Medium of instruction policies in Ghanaian and Indian primary schools
This paper reports on a rigorous literature review of research into medium of instruction in Ghana and India, whose language-in-education policies represent two contrasting models of use of local languages and the development of competence in English. The paper begins by briefly overviewing the language-in-education policy in these two countries and sets out the methodological approach underpinning this review. It then turns to the initial findin…
Englishization of Nordic universities
This article draws attention to a widening and unproductive disconnect between two sets of scholarly activities seeking to understand the Englishization of Nordic universities, and, more generally, the effects of globalization on language. While these scholarly activities are not internally homogenous, we shall refer to them here as “policy and practice.” Contrasting examples drawn from policy documents and linguistic practices in the context of …
English language use at the internationalised universities of Northern Europe
European universities have, since the late 1990s, undergone dramatic changes centred on internationalisation, harmonisation and competition. This paper is concerned with two specific consequences of these changes and their interrelationship: rankings and Englishisation, the latter defined as an increase in the use of English at universities of nation states where English is not the official language. Despite a recent surge in research into Englis…
Whose parallellingualism? Overt and covert ideologies in Danish university language policies
This paper aims to contribute to the study of multilingualism in the workplace by analysing top-down language policies advocating parallellingualism at Denmark’s eight universities. Parallellingualism, a key concept in Nordic language policy, has been suggested as a way to ensure an equitable balance between English and the Nordic language(s) without the former encroaching on the latter. Drawing on theories which consider discourses about languag…
Lexical borrowing from English into Danish in the Sciences
The emergence of English as an international language of science has generated prolific debates in the Nordic countries about ‘domain loss’, here defined as the national Nordic languages failing to develop adequate scientific terminology. This paper sheds some much needed empirical light on domain loss by examining the language practices of 10 scientists delivering undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics and computer science at the University…
Building rapport' with customers across the world
This paper identifies a particular 'rapport-building' speech style prescribed to call centre workers in four countries - Denmark, Britain, Hong Kong and the Philippines - irrespective of the language being spoken in the service interaction. It then compares Danish and British call centre workers' compliance with the prescribed speech style and finds that Danish workers adhere significantly less to it than their British counterparts. It is suggest…
“How May I Help You?”
This chapter, written by Ann Kristina Hultgren and Deborah Cameron, is concerned with questions in telephone interactions between customers and service personnel (“agents”) in a Scottish call center that is part of a large insurance company; the data involve inbound calls initiated by the customers. The company imposes standards on the agents relating to both efficiency and customer care, applying the same closely controlled strategies to both. T…
Building rapport' with customers across the world
This paper identifies a particular 'rapport-building' speech style prescribed to call centre workers in four countries - Denmark, Britain, Hong Kong and the Philippines - irrespective of the language being spoken in the service interaction. It then compares Danish and British call centre workers' compliance with the prescribed speech style and finds that Danish workers adhere significantly less to it than their British counterparts. It is suggest…
Vocatives as rationalized politeness
This study offers an extension of existing politeness theories by illuminating how changes in politeness conventions come about as a result of contextual specificities. Despite a surge in mediated service encounters, few studies to date have considered the linguistic enactment of politeness in call centres, mainly due to restrictions on access. Drawing on a linguistic ethnography of an onshore call centre in Scotland and data in the form of authe…
Whose parallellingualism? Overt and covert ideologies in Danish university language policies
This paper aims to contribute to the study of multilingualism in the workplace by analysing top-down language policies advocating parallellingualism at Denmark’s eight universities. Parallellingualism, a key concept in Nordic language policy, has been suggested as a way to ensure an equitable balance between English and the Nordic language(s) without the former encroaching on the latter. Drawing on theories which consider discourses about languag…
Forum on English‐medium Instruction
During the first half of 2017, four scholars who know English‐medium instruction ( EMI ) well and view it from different perspectives took part in a round‐robin exchange. The forum contributors answered six sets of questions on aspects of EMI : defining terms; learning English in an EMI environment; the political or policy framework; learning a subject in a second language; teachers working in a second language; and EMI and multilingual education…
Medium of instruction policies in Ghanaian and Indian primary schools
This paper reports on a rigorous literature review of research into medium of instruction in Ghana and India, whose language-in-education policies represent two contrasting models of use of local languages and the development of competence in English. The paper begins by briefly overviewing the language-in-education policy in these two countries and sets out the methodological approach underpinning this review. It then turns to the initial findin…
English language use at the internationalised universities of Northern Europe
European universities have, since the late 1990s, undergone dramatic changes centred on internationalisation, harmonisation and competition. This paper is concerned with two specific consequences of these changes and their interrelationship: rankings and Englishisation, the latter defined as an increase in the use of English at universities of nation states where English is not the official language. Despite a recent surge in research into Englis…
Lexical borrowing from English into Danish in the Sciences
The emergence of English as an international language of science has generated prolific debates in the Nordic countries about ‘domain loss’, here defined as the national Nordic languages failing to develop adequate scientific terminology. This paper sheds some much needed empirical light on domain loss by examining the language practices of 10 scientists delivering undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics and computer science at the University…
English medium instruction
In virtually every research paper on this topic we come across we read that, in the particular context that the writer is operating, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is on the increase. But what exactly is EMI? If we consider every classroom around the world in which learners are exposed to English language as their second language (L2) we are faced with a huge variety: English as a foreign language (EFL); Immersion, English for academic …
New understandings of the rise of English as a medium of instruction in higher education
The rise of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) has prompted concerns over linguistic injustice, educational disadvantage, societal inequality and epistemic homogenization. As EMI tends to generate heated debates, its drivers need to be better understood. Borrowing conceptual frameworks from political science, this article proposes a new understanding of the drivers of EMI, pointing to the introduction of new steering tools in the 1980s to g…
New perspectives on language and gender
Despite a shift to service-based economies, male-dominated, high-status workplaces have been the predominant focus of research into language and gender in the workplace. This study redresses this shortcoming by considering one female-dominated, low-status, highly regimented workplace that is emblematic of the globalized service economy: call centres. Drawing on 187 call centre service interactions, institutional documents, interviews, and observa…
“How May I Help You?”
This chapter, written by Ann Kristina Hultgren and Deborah Cameron, is concerned with questions in telephone interactions between customers and service personnel (“agents”) in a Scottish call center that is part of a large insurance company; the data involve inbound calls initiated by the customers. The company imposes standards on the agents relating to both efficiency and customer care, applying the same closely controlled strategies to both. T…
Building rapport' with customers across the world
This paper identifies a particular 'rapport-building' speech style prescribed to call centre workers in four countries - Denmark, Britain, Hong Kong and the Philippines - irrespective of the language being spoken in the service interaction. It then compares Danish and British call centre workers' compliance with the prescribed speech style and finds that Danish workers adhere significantly less to it than their British counterparts. It is suggest…
Lexical borrowing from English into Danish in the Sciences
The emergence of English as an international language of science has generated prolific debates in the Nordic countries about ‘domain loss’, here defined as the national Nordic languages failing to develop adequate scientific terminology. This paper sheds some much needed empirical light on domain loss by examining the language practices of 10 scientists delivering undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics and computer science at the University…
Englishization of Nordic universities
This article draws attention to a widening and unproductive disconnect between two sets of scholarly activities seeking to understand the Englishization of Nordic universities, and, more generally, the effects of globalization on language. While these scholarly activities are not internally homogenous, we shall refer to them here as “policy and practice.” Contrasting examples drawn from policy documents and linguistic practices in the context of …
English language use at the internationalised universities of Northern Europe
European universities have, since the late 1990s, undergone dramatic changes centred on internationalisation, harmonisation and competition. This paper is concerned with two specific consequences of these changes and their interrelationship: rankings and Englishisation, the latter defined as an increase in the use of English at universities of nation states where English is not the official language. Despite a recent surge in research into Englis…
Whose parallellingualism? Overt and covert ideologies in Danish university language policies
This paper aims to contribute to the study of multilingualism in the workplace by analysing top-down language policies advocating parallellingualism at Denmark’s eight universities. Parallellingualism, a key concept in Nordic language policy, has been suggested as a way to ensure an equitable balance between English and the Nordic language(s) without the former encroaching on the latter. Drawing on theories which consider discourses about languag…
Medium of instruction policies in Ghanaian and Indian primary schools
This paper reports on a rigorous literature review of research into medium of instruction in Ghana and India, whose language-in-education policies represent two contrasting models of use of local languages and the development of competence in English. The paper begins by briefly overviewing the language-in-education policy in these two countries and sets out the methodological approach underpinning this review. It then turns to the initial findin…
Vocatives as rationalized politeness
This study offers an extension of existing politeness theories by illuminating how changes in politeness conventions come about as a result of contextual specificities. Despite a surge in mediated service encounters, few studies to date have considered the linguistic enactment of politeness in call centres, mainly due to restrictions on access. Drawing on a linguistic ethnography of an onshore call centre in Scotland and data in the form of authe…
New perspectives on language and gender
Despite a shift to service-based economies, male-dominated, high-status workplaces have been the predominant focus of research into language and gender in the workplace. This study redresses this shortcoming by considering one female-dominated, low-status, highly regimented workplace that is emblematic of the globalized service economy: call centres. Drawing on 187 call centre service interactions, institutional documents, interviews, and observa…
Forum on English‐medium Instruction
During the first half of 2017, four scholars who know English‐medium instruction ( EMI ) well and view it from different perspectives took part in a round‐robin exchange. The forum contributors answered six sets of questions on aspects of EMI : defining terms; learning English in an EMI environment; the political or policy framework; learning a subject in a second language; teachers working in a second language; and EMI and multilingual education…
English medium instruction
In virtually every research paper on this topic we come across we read that, in the particular context that the writer is operating, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is on the increase. But what exactly is EMI? If we consider every classroom around the world in which learners are exposed to English language as their second language (L2) we are faced with a huge variety: English as a foreign language (EFL); Immersion, English for academic …
English and/or Russian medium publications? A case study exploring academic research writing in contemporary Russian academia
New understandings of the rise of English as a medium of instruction in higher education
The rise of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) has prompted concerns over linguistic injustice, educational disadvantage, societal inequality and epistemic homogenization. As EMI tends to generate heated debates, its drivers need to be better understood. Borrowing conceptual frameworks from political science, this article proposes a new understanding of the drivers of EMI, pointing to the introduction of new steering tools in the 1980s to g…
University autonomy and the increasing shift to English in academic programmes at European universities
This paper centres on a dialogue with Liviu Matei, Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy at Kings College London, which aims to transcend sociolinguistic disciplinary boundaries by exploring the increasing use of English for higher education academic programmes at European universities within the context of university autonomy. Once Provost of the Central European University, forced to move from Hungary to Austria when its institutional…
English-medium education and the perpetuation of girls’ disadvantage
In our community, girls do not need this [English-medium education]. Interview with male teacher Nepal is classified as a low-middle income country (World Bank, 2023), and like other such countries, it is under international pressure to attain gender equality targets in order to receive international aid. However, Nepal is also permeated by widespread perceptions that girls are subordinate to boys, which influences girls’ access to education, inf…
Macro-level language policy and planning to promote and maintain English-taught programmes in Turkish higher education
This paper explores how higher education governance and macro-level (governmental) language policy and planning (LPP) impact (a) the growth and (b) sustainability of English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes in the Turkish higher education context, an Expanding Circle country (Kachru, 1985). We examine higher education policy documents and regulations and interview elite participants (N = 20), i.e. higher education administrative and governance…
Adopting social process tracing in applied linguistics
Despite English-medium instruction (EMI) being one of the fastest growing phenomena in global higher education, there is still little clarity about what triggers universities to implement it. This is partially due to a lack of tools in EMI research for the investigation of causal relationships. This paper showcases how a rigorous adoption of social process tracing (SPT) can prove an effective tool to investigate causality in areas of applied ling…
English-medium instruction in European higher education
Notwithstanding the wide consensus that English-medium instruction (EMI) in European higher education has grown explosively since the turn of the century (Wächter, B., and Maiworm, F. 2014. English-taught programmes in European higher education: The state of play in 2014. Bonn: Lemmens), there has been little research which addresses issues related to operationalizing EMI, nor has a pan-European update on EMI figures been given since 2013. This s…
University autonomy is a predictor of English medium instruction in European higher education
Despite extensive research into English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in higher education, few if any studies have explored the role of higher education autonomy in driving EMI. This paper tests the novel hypothesis that university autonomy—spearheaded across European higher education through neoliberally predicated ‘steering at a distance’ reforms—predicts EMI. The data are multilevel with higher education institutions (HEIs) nested inside ed…
Neoliberal governance towards the non-German-speaking world in Austria's internationalization of higher education
As in many parts of Europe, Austria has seen increasing internationalization of its public universities since modernization reforms towards autonomy and accompanying steering-at-a-distance practices of state ministries. Here, we explore the sociolinguistic relevance of such neoliberal governance on this trend. In a novel turn, we invert the common lens on English as an incoming language to examine instead the monitoring of internationalization da…
An analysis of the rise of English-taught programmes in the North Macedonian context
This study examines the proliferation of English-medium instruction (EMI) within North Macedonia’s higher education system, a context emblematic of broader regional trends towards Europeanisation in the Western Balkans. Moving beyond the steering at a distance framework (Kickert, 1995), we analyse EMI development through the lens of post-socialist state-building and marketisation. Employing social process tracing (Kaas et al., 2025), we analysed …
Second Language Learning and Teaching (17 works) · Political science (15 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Linguistics (11 works) · Psychology (10 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (8 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Pedagogy (7 works)