“Teachers need to speak better English”

Employees of Tilburg University need to speak the English language better. This is stated in the initiative proposal of Fractie Front to the University Council. According to the fraction, both teaching and support staff often do not speak sufficient English. This needs to change, the fraction says.

Since 2006 there is a mandatory level test for English language for both sitting and new staff of Tilburg University. The level is adjusted to the function of the employee, however, nothing is done with the test results. Only the employee in question and the Language Center, the institute that takes the test, know the results. Therefore, the Language Center is not allowed to share this with someone other than the employee. This has to change according to Fractie Front. ‘Employees who have not achieved the required standard, should receive advice with a compulsory character. As a result the employee has to accomplish the level of English that is established for his or her position within a year’, it says in the proposal.

Another proposal is that the English language will become part of the University Teaching Qualification for instructors who teach in English. If the level stays behind, the teacher must achieve the test within a year. In the meantime, he or she may be still teaching. This proposal is not preferred by Fractie Front because it only concerns future teachers.