The number of university programmes taught exclusively through the medium of English around the world is rising, and when the partial use of English is taken into account (for example, when the language of instruction is the local language but the textbook is in English), then the role of English in higher education is seen to be pervasive indeed. The increasing use of English has, however, been driven to a great extent by policy, rather than by bottom-up preferences on the part of participants in English-medium settings, making it relevant to ask what their perceptions and understandings of the phenomenon are.

This paper will present the results of a large-scale survey of Swedish university teachers and their views on and experiences of the use of English in higher education. The findings show that teachers identify both positives and negatives, but also describe a situation in which there are only limited attempts to accentuate the former and mitigate the latter.