Volume 9 takes up the questions – national, sociolinguistic, strategic, economic and educational – which arise in relation to the increasing use of English alongside national or vernacular languages, focusing on its use as the language of instruction in Danish Universities.

Inevitably, this also makes globalization a theme of this issue. The dilemmas of the universities, however, have a special character within this wider issue, partly because they are in the frontline of globalization processes, and partly because they are regarded as having new and enhanced social significance in the post-industrial society.

In addition to the academic articles in this issue there is a series of ‘position statements’ written by some of the major participants in the Danish debate on language policy in the universities. They were invited to state in about 500 words their essential views on the theme. Their contributions give some of the flavor of the argument that has been going on with increasing intensity in Denmark for the past ten years.