“My request is based on the fact that it seems to me that there is no doubt that Portugal is (still) a country with a single official language, which is Portuguese”. This is what professor Jorge Bacelar Gouveia writes in a complaint sent to the General Inspectorate of Education and Science (IGEC) against the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
At issue is the fact that the university requires, in an international competition procedure, proficiency in spoken and written English. At the same time, the document does not include as a mandatory requirement knowing how to speak and write Portuguese. The competition is for the hiring of a full professor in the public service, for the Faculty of Law, particularly in the area of Public Law.
Furthermore, the required documents, such as the CV and the scientific/pedagogical project, must also be sent in English. Only supporting documents can be presented in Portuguese.
In the constitutionalist’s argument, these rules of the notice “put into crisis, in a flagrant way, the linguistic regime in force in the Portuguese Republic” and the requirements are described as “outlandish”. In the view of the professor at the University of Lisbon, “it is not clear how, given the official status of Portuguese, this is not even mentioned in the notice”.
The academic also adds that the jury includes members who “do not speak Portuguese”, something that, according to him, “will be natural in the case of an open competition for a career in the public service in Portugal”. With irony, he notes that this will be “a pioneering case, in the Portuguese public service, in which the model of ‘bilingualism’ began to be adopted in the writing of application documents, with absolute equality between Portuguese and English…”.
The complaint mentions that he also filed a complaint with the university rector, Paulo Pereira, who took office in October. In the letter, Bacelar Gouveia describes this notice as “the most illegal law teaching competition” he has ever seen in his “long life of 35 years of teaching”.
“Fully compatible commitment”
To DN, official source from Universidade Nova de Lisboa argues that the standards were met and that the two languages can be compatibles. “NOVA University of Lisbon fully complies with all legal and regulatory standards applicable to its activity. As a public university, NOVA values the Portuguese language and culture; however, this commitment is fully compatible with the legal requirement to open international competitions for hiring university teachers“, reads the response sent to the newspaper.
The university also emphasizes that internationalization is one of the pillars of the institution, a fact that justifies the requirement of English. “With internationalization being one of the pillars of the institution, mastery of the English language can be an essential requirement, since several curricular units are taught in this language and the University integrates global networks, welcoming students and teachers of multiple nationalities.”
amanda.lima@dn.pt