How inclusive is the academic language policy for non-native speakers?

You are fully educated in English, as a Dutch student, but at work you suddenly must write pieces in Dutch. Tilburg sociolinguists question the inclusiveness of the current language policy. ‘If universities communicate exclusively in English, the gap between science and society will only widen.’

Excluding no one is the main argument for recommending English as the academic language of instruction, because every student and every staff member can speak and understand it. In addition, English is the lingua franca in publications and on international forums. Because of this exceptional position, English has become the dominant language on the campuses of the Netherlands in recent decades, and it has pushed Dutch and other languages to the margins.

‘We have gone much further with this in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries,’ argues Professor of Diversity in Language and Culture Jos Swanenberg. ‘Because in Germany, Belgium, or France, it is much less obvious that you switch to English. There, internationals are also supposed to do their best to learn to understand and speak the language of the country.’

Multilingualism

Even before the arrival of the new Dutch government, Swanenberg and linguistic ethnographer Max Spotti started a comparative study, within the framework of the European Civic Society Platform for Multilingualism (ECSPM), into language policy and the debate about it on the campuses of Tilburg and Eindhoven.

But the research is being caught up by practice: Tilburg University has already adjusted its language policy last year under the influence of the current political debate and the resulting legislation.

‘When we started this, there was no strong protest against Anglicisation in academia or against the internationalisation of higher education,’ Swanenberg says. In the meantime, it has been somewhat overtaken by reality, because the publication The Monolingual Campus and the Bilingual Campus was only published in January of this year.

The investigators make a strong appeal for multilingualism as a condition for more inclusiveness. Swanenberg: ‘In addition to English and Dutch, there are many more languages on campus, such as Romanian, Mandarin and perhaps also Brabant or Limburgish dialects. Those languages hardly get any attention and have a lower status than English or Dutch.’ As a result, users only use these languages in a small circle and cannot apply them in a scientific context.’

Voice

‘But it is important that those languages are also heard,’ says Swanenberg. ‘Because they give a voice to the cultural identities of our students and staff. And what they learn and research, they take back to the communities where they come from.’

It is therefore important to learn to communicate in those languages as well. If universities communicate exclusively in English, the gap between science and society will only widen, according to Tilburg sociolinguist Kristel Doreleijers, who has been cited in the article. And that is a position that both researchers wholeheartedly endorse.

Mixing languages

Languages are not as strictly defined as policymakers want us to believe, according to Doreleijers, quoted in the article. In reality we do not only speak English or only speak our own language. In fact, we mix languages all the time.

‘We are constantly switching between languages,’ Swanenberg explains. ‘Suppose you are talking to someone who speaks German. Because those languages are so similar, you speak some sentences in German, with an occasional Dutch word in between. Spaniards and Italians also understand each other perfectly that way.’

Counterproductive

The emphasis on monolingual English is therefore at the expense of that linguistic practice and of the cultural exchange between internationals from countries where English is not spoken, the researchers conclude. And with that, the language policy is in fact not inclusive but rather excludes other cultural values.

‘For example, when I talk to students from Colombia, I also want to know what values are important to them,’ says Swanenberg, ‘or know what the different perspectives of someone from Turkey are. By listening to each other, we learn how cultural diversity works in an international environment.’

Full-fledged language

In addition, the dominance of English is at the expense of Dutch as a fully-fledged language, the researchers argue. Because in practice, ‘Dutch unless’ usually becomes ‘English unless’. And apart from the fact that Dutch is enshrined in the constitution as the language of instruction, we want to preserve Dutch as a language that can and may be spoken in all areas of society, according to Swanenberg.

The university educates people for society. ‘The municipality of Tilburg employs Dutch native speakers who have been trained entirely in English by us,’ Swanenberg gives as an example. ‘And now they have to write documents in Dutch at the municipality. They never had to do that at university.

‘And imagine if we started using English for our legal system. Then Dutch would no longer be a language in the legal domain, Swanenberg adds. ‘I would think that would be very strange for the Netherlands. Dutch is a fully-fledged language that must be reflected in all facets of that society.’

Net asset value

And so, you also have to have the opportunity to communicate with each other in Dutch on campus, in the lab and in the lecture hall. ‘Dutch has an intrinsic value, also for the academic world,’ Swanenberg argues. ‘I am not against teaching in English at all. I do that with pleasure, but Dutch should also have the right to exist in an academic context.

Finally, Swanenberg makes a case for the region, because Tilburg University emphatically propagates that it is rooted in the south of the country: “If we, as Tilburg University, want to be at the heart of Brabant society, we must also pay more attention to the regional dialects and minority languages. So, in addition to English and Dutch, not instead of, but next to it. And I think we do not do that enough.’

See also:

Language policy and the paradox of inclusivity – Univers magazine

Lawsuit against anglicization of education – Univers magazine