Italian university switches to English By Sean Coughlan, BBC News education correspondent 16 May 2012 Last updated at 09:49 GMT Milan is crowded with Italian icons, which makes it even more of a cultural earthquake that one Of Italy’s leading universities – the Politecnico di Milano – Is going to switch to the English language. The university has announced that from 2014 most of its degree Courses – including all its graduate courses – will be taught and assessed entirely in English rather than Italian. The waters of globalisation are rising around higher education – and the university believes that if it remains Italian-speaking it risks isolation and will be unable to compete as an international institution. “We strongly believe our classes should be international classes – and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language”, says the university’s rector, Giovanni Azzone. 
As línguas têm um papel importante na comunicação entre pessoas de diferentes culturas. Diante do movimento de internacionalização no ensino superior, a universidade Politecnico di Milano decidiu
elaborar exames em língua inglesa para o ingresso na universidade.
ampliar a oferta de vagas na graduação para alunos estrangeiros.
investir na divulgação da universidade no mercado internacional.
substituir a língua nacional para se inserir no contexto da globalização.
estabelecer metas para melhorar a qualidade do ensino de italiano.