意大利學術界何必抵制英語

MILAN — Most students look forward in life; too many teachers look back. A tad depressing as sentiments go, perhaps, but it sums up Italian universities.

米蘭——大多數學生展望未來；太多教師卻在回顧過去。這麼說或許有點傷感，但這卻是意大利大學的真實寫照。

Take Milan Polytechnic. With around 40,000 students, the Politecnico di Milano is the largest and most prestigious technical university in Italy, offering undergraduate, graduate and other advanced courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 1863, just two years after Italy was united, Milan Polytechnic ranks well internationally; many of its graduates now grace the faculties of schools like M.I.T., Caltech and Oxbridge. Among the Politecnico’s distinguished alumni are the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Giulio Natta and the architects Aldo Rossi and Renzo Piano, the latter of whom designed the New York Times building in Manhattan.

就拿米蘭理工大學(Milan Polytechnic)爲例吧。這所學校的意大利文名稱爲Politecnico di Milano，有4萬學生，是意大利規模最大、最負盛名的理工大學，提供工程、建築和設計領域的本科、研究生和其他高等教育課程。1863年，意大利統一短短兩年之後，米蘭理工大學即已建校。它在國際上排名出衆，很多畢業生現在麻省理工、加州理工和牛津劍橋這樣的名校任教。傑出校友中包括諾貝爾化學獎得主居里奧·納塔(Giulio Natta)，建築師阿爾多·羅西(Aldo Rossi)和倫佐·皮亞諾(Renzo Piano)。曼哈頓的紐約時報大樓就是皮亞諾設計的。

Yet the Politecnico has a problem. As you know, here in Italy we speak Italian. Beautiful though our language may be, it is not the medium of choice for engineers when they’re building a beltway in Norway or designing a dam in Vietnam. For better or worse, the global tongue of engineers is English. Hoping to attract more international students, the Politecnico decided in 2011 to run its master’s courses and doctorates in English only.

不過，米蘭理工也有一個問題。你知道的，在意大利，我們講的是意大利語。這門語言雖然美麗，但對於那些要修建挪威繞城公路，或者設計越南水壩的工程師來說，卻並非上上之選。無論好歹，工程師的全球通用語言就是英語。米蘭理工2011年決定用全英文進行碩士課程教學和博士培養工作，希望能吸引更多國際學生。

And then all academic hell broke loose.

然後，學術圈就全亂套了。

Over 100 faculty members went to court to block the plan, citing a 1933 royal decree that makes Italian the official language of academia. Who cares if the decree was issued under fascism and driven by Benito Mussolini’s obsession with banning words like “cocktail” and “sandwich”? So what if Italian Politecnico students speak good English already, and use only English-language textbooks? So what if their future job applications, interviews and business meetings will all be in English?

逾百名教師聯名訴至法庭，要求阻止這個計劃，理由是1933年的一項王室法令把意大利語定爲學術界的官方語言。他們纔不管這項法令是在法西斯統治下頒發的，由癡迷於取締“雞尾酒”和“三明治”等詞語的貝尼託·墨索里尼(Benito Mussolini)推動。如果米蘭理工的意大利學生已經能說一口流利的英語，使用全英文的課本了，如果他們未來的求職申請、面試和商務會議都是用英語進行的，又怎麼樣呢？

And requiring English-language teaching was obviously a good move for the university: The Politecnico’s international enrollment shot up. But for some faculty members, all that matters is their cozy routine. They don’t feel comfortable teaching in English. Period. And in 2013, the regional administrative court said they were right. Teaching in English was out.

對於這所大學而言，要求用英語教學顯然是明智之舉：米蘭理工的國際學生人數直線上升。但對於一些教員而言，重要的只是他們習以爲常的小日子。用英語授課讓他們感覺不舒服，就是這樣。2013年，該地區的行政法院說他們說得對，不能用英語授課。

But there was more to come. The recalcitrant academics then went on a nationwide campaign against their university’s decision. Unwisely, the guardian of the Italian language — the Accademia della Crusca, based in Florence — backed them, saying, “We note with regret and intense concern the creeping marginalization and abandonment of Italian in the upper tiers of university education.” Never mind that the English-language requirement applied only to master’s degrees and doctorates at a technical school where students learn how to build bridges and don’t deconstruct Dante. The defenders of Italian were on the warpath.

然而，事情並未就此了結。頑固的學者們隨後又在全國範圍內掀起了反對米蘭理工決定的活動。意大利語的守護者、位於佛羅倫薩的“秕糠學會”(Accademia della Crusca)不明智地採取了支持他們的立場，出面表示，“我們遺憾地注意到，最高學府中正在逐步邊緣化和遺棄意大利語，我們對此強烈關注。”他們完全無視這個計劃涉及的是一所讓學生研習如何修建橋樑、而非解構但丁的理工學校，針對的只是它的碩士和博士學位教育。意大利語的捍衛者們來勢洶洶。

Administrators at the Politecnico refused to be intimidated, and appealed the ruling. Last month the Council of State, which vets the legality of Italian administrative policies, ruled that it was up to the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest legal body, to decide whether English-only university teaching violates Article 33 of the Italian Constitution: “Art and science are free, and teaching them is free.” The question is whether teaching in English hampers students’ free access to knowledge. But one could put it differently, and ask whether universities should be free to teach in whatever manner they think best serves their students.

米蘭理工大學的管理層沒有被嚇退，他們對這個裁決進行了抗訴。上個月，負責審覈意大利行政政策合法性的國務委員會(Council of State)裁定，應由本國最高法律機構憲法法院(Constitutional Court)來決定，在大學裏進行全英語教學是否違反了意大利憲法第33條：“藝術與科學是自由的，其教育也是自由的。”現在的問題是，英語授課是否阻礙了學生對知識的自由獲取。但你也可以換個問法：大學是否可以用他們認爲最適合學生的方式，不受約束地自由教學?

Interestingly, the people one might expect to be most up in arms over English-only teaching, the students themselves, have taken it in stride. The Politecnico’s rector, Giovanni Azzone, told me: “Students write to me about everything from the lack of parking spaces to washrooms that don’t work. Not one has ever complained about the courses in English.”

你可能以爲最反對英語授課的是學生本身，有趣的是，他們卻對此泰然處之。米蘭理工大學校長喬瓦尼·阿佐內(Giovanni Azzone)對我說：“學生寫給我的投訴信裏，從缺少停車位到洗手間故障，各種各樣的問題都有，但從來沒有人抱怨過用英語授課。”

I had an early taste of this mood in 2011, soon after the university adopted English for graduate degree courses. In a speech to students on the Politecnico’s main campus in Milan, I introduced myself in Latin — still a cool, international language — and then spoke in English.

2011年，米蘭理工的研究生課程採用英語教學之後不久，我對這個現象就早早有過體驗。當時我在該校的米蘭主校區對學生髮表演講，先用拉丁語——仍然是一門很酷的國際語言——自我介紹，然後用英語發言。

The students didn’t miss a single word. They took notes. They laughed at my jokes. They asked intelligent questions. Some faculty members failed to laugh or, I suspect, follow what I was saying.

學生們完全跟上了我的發言。他們做筆記，被我的笑話逗樂，還問了一些睿智的問題。有些教師則沒有笑，我還懷疑他們沒有聽懂我的意思。

But they did ask questions in Italian, like: “I’m past 50. What would you say if I told you that I don’t feel comfortable teaching in English?” My answer: “I’d wonder where you worked, which academic journals you wrote for and what international conferences you attended. What kind of a teacher are you?”

但他們當中，確實有人用意大利語提了問，比如：“我已經年過50，如果告訴你，用英語授課讓我感覺不舒服，你又怎麼看呢？”我回答：“我會很好奇，想知道你曾在哪裏工作，爲哪些學術刊物撰寫文章，參加過哪些國際會議。你是哪門子老師？”

There was one question I didn’t ask at the time, but would like to ask now. Why is Italian academia so slow to change? Could the reason perhaps be that none of the country’s 13,279 tenured professors is younger than 35? Only 15 are under 40; the average age is 60. Time to face the future, signori professori, in any language you like. Just look in the right direction.

當時有一個問題我沒有說出口，但現在我想問問。爲什麼意大利學術界對變化如此抗拒？會不會是因爲：全國有13279名終身教授，但沒有一名年齡在35歲以下，只有15名未滿40歲，平均年齡卻高達60歲？是時候面對未來了，教授先生們，不管你喜歡哪門語言。請把目光投向正確的方向。