Английский язык. Система упражнений для формирования грамматической компетенции студентов: ситуативный контекст. Тимофеева Т.И. - 92 стр.

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TEXT 3. GOVERNMENT POLICIES ARE THREATENING THE

DOMINANCE IN EUROPE OF BRITISH UNIVERSITIES

In the days not so long ago when British universities were full of optimism and self-

confidence, and the smell of fresh paint was everywhere, I received a visit from an

academic working in France. He was on a mission to find out why the UK higher

education sector was doing so well compared to our European counterparts. He

showed me a world ranking table, which listed 29 UK universities in the top 200,

compared to Germany, with 14, and France, with three, just above Spain's two and

Italy's zero. His beloved Sorbonne, perhaps the one university in continental Europe

that the man on the Clapham omnibus can name, was nowhere to be seen. What could

they do to catch up?

Before answering that question, a bit of wallowing and boasting seems in order. At

the end of the second world war the UK, with the US and USSR, was one of the three

world super-powers. World influence, empire and economic strength all faded, but

academia, alongside snooker and darts, is one of the few areas where we retain

world-class status.

Speaking English, the international language of scholarship, must be a huge

advantage. I was once told that America once debated whether to adopt English or

German. This is a load of nonsense, apparently, but it raises a fascinating question.

How would things have turned out if America had adopted German? One thing's for

sure: our university world rankings would suffer, though I doubt that this would be

the biggest story. But speaking English is not all there is to it. Like it or not, the

research assessment exercise changed attitudes to publication. League tables and

research assessment, both crude and potentially distorting of academic values, are

made for each other.

In addition, the government understood that if you wanted a flourishing university

system it would cost money. True, we were "comfortable" rather than wealthy.

Money always was tight, but if something was important, funding would be found.