Maastricht and Groningen have already made the transition and the debate is underway in Twente: whether to introduce English as the language of instruction at the university, including in the Bachelor’s programmes.
The administration of TU Delft has no plans to impose any decision in this regard. The faculties are free to choose whether and when they will make this transition.
In 2015, the Executive Board (EB) of Twente University launched a progressive plan: English is to be the language of instruction by 2018, and all Bachelor’s degree programmes must be in English by 2020. The subsequent debate – which is ongoing – confirms the EB of TU Delft’s view that a ‘top-down’ decree is not the best way to incorporate more English into the university.
Indeed, the University Council in Twente has postponed its approval decision twice. The council is of the opinion that the programmes should be able to decide for themselves whether to provide instruction in English. Moreover, the faculty employee-participation bodies should also give their assent. According to the university magazine UTNieuws, the President of the Twente University EB does not wish to pile ‘plans on top of plans’. He nevertheless reluctantly agreed that it would be determined which parties should be allowed to have input on the issue.
The TU Delft EB will probably be spared this type of discussion. The EB often prefers to allow new initiatives to develop from the ground up. This ‘bottom up’ motto also applies to the incorporation of English. “We are opting for an alternative, organic approach”, says board member Anka Mulder, affirming that the EB will not be developing any comprehensive plans.
English minors
This is not to say that TU Delft will not be shifting towards English; in many cases, this has already taken place. The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering has been offering a Bachelor’s degree programme in English for years and all of its Master’s programmes are taught in English. In addition, a large proportion of the students (6% of all Bachelor’s students and 30% of Master’s students), doctoral candidates (66%) and other salaried staff (30%) are of non-Dutch origin. Some faculties would like to increase the international intake even further. Moreover, the university is currently consciously expanding its search procedure for deans and support staff to include other countries. On 1 May, Canadian Peter Russell will begin serving as dean of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. The search for a new dean for the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management is also extending across national borders.
All of these international staff members want to be involved in discussions during meetings and other sessions, as well as in employee-participation processes. According to Anka Mulder, the shift towards English is inevitable. She herself furthered the shift with the decision that all minors are to be taught in English by 2016. Lecturers whose skills are lacking will be given training. “We will be sure to provide proper support for English-language skills, as needed”, she says. The faculties will be free to further their own plans.
Pragmatic
A tour of the faculties indicates that they are addressing the issue of English in a pragmatic manner. The language is creeping into lectures and other sessions as needed in a seemingly natural fashion, although Dutch has certainly not been written off entirely. Only three Bachelor’s degree programmes currently have concrete plans to make a complete transition in the coming years, while others are still in discussion or have opted for a combination of languages. None of the faculties has plans to change the official language of instruction.
Bert Geerken, dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, has experience with a complete shift towards English within a Bachelor’s degree programme. This year, Applied Earth Sciences is being offered for the first time (replacing the previous Technische Aardwetenschappen) and, in his view, it is going well. This is not to say that it will be followed by a Bachelor’s degree programme in Civil Engineering. “That is obviously the drift, but we are implementing it gradually, and in consultation with the waning field. We do not wish to alienate our students from the labour market in the Netherlands. Moreover, we will not be recruiting international students for civil engineering. We have our hands full with the intake from the Netherlands. For this reason, we will be maintaining Dutch for at least the first two years. The third year will be – in fact, is already – taught in English. This enables us to prepare students for the Master’s degree programme”.
English is also already included in the Bachelor’s degree programmes of the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE). “Beginning this academic year, modules are allowed to be taught in English as needed”, explains Hans Hellendoorn, Director of Education. Besides, most of the literature is in English, the minors are taught in English and almost all students write their final projects in English. The minutes of meetings are translated. “Nevertheless, we have no plans to change the entire programme to English”.
Hellendoorn emphasises that, wherever possible, Dutch will remain the language of instruction. “New staff members are encouraged to learn Dutch. The management team includes an Englishman and a German, but we conduct meetings in Dutch. For other events, we shift to English if the majority of participants do not have a sufficient command of Dutch”.
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Sciences (EEMCS) also does not intend to make any radical changes to the language of instruction. “It would be artificial to do everything in English when no English speakers are present. If we need to, however, we shift to English”, explains Hans Tonino, Director of Education. This is often the case. In some sections, 60% of the staff members are non-Dutch.
Beginning in 2016 or 2017, the EEMCS faculty is planning to phase English into two of its three Bachelor’s degree programmes: Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. “The number of international lecturers is increasing”, explains Tonino. “Moreover, for demographic reasons, we expect to have passed peak intake of Dutch students in a few years. We hope to be prepared for this situation”.
Loss of nuance
In the faculties of Architecture and the Built Environment, Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) and Technology, Policy and Management (TPM), the plans are not as concrete. They usually conduct meetings in Dutch, using English when needed. With regard to the Bachelor’s degree programmes, they are weighing the advantages and disadvantages.
To start with TPM: the acting dean, Jeroen van den Hoven, ‘is closely following’ what is going on. “In my opinion, there are no fundamental barriers, with the exception of substantive reasons”, he says. Some modules are closely associated with Dutch law and Dutch institutions. “That makes it difficult to do them in English”.
The same applies to Architecture and the Built Environment. For this reason, many students are not eager to shift to English. Acting dean Hans Wamelink sees advantages, even though he has yet to reach any definitive conclusion. “It would allow us to increase the intake of international students and it would be good preparation for the Master’s degree programme”. There are plans to offer the Bachelor’s degree programme in English beginning in 2017, although Wamelink would first like to take stock of ‘what is and what is not possible’.
While a date (albeit uncertain) has been set in Architecture and the Built Environment, the discussion in IDE is just starting. Dean Ena Voute has no plans to shift the Bachelor’s degree programme entirely to English. It may not even be necessary: half of the curriculum is already taught in English, as the lecturers do not have sufficient command of Dutch.
Voute would like more English to be spoken in her faculty. “Although I try to encourage it, it’s not as much of an issue for us. Our field is relatively young”. Voute also takes her audience into consideration. “Obviously we shift to English when necessary, but it would be silly to do so for one person in an auditorium filled with 200 people”. Voute says that she ‘appreciates it greatly’ when international staff members are able to chat in Dutch around the coffee machine. “However, Dutch is not required”.
Tim van der Hagen, the dean of Applied Sciences (AS), holds a different opinion. To be sure, for substantive reasons, his faculty will be shifting to an English-language Bachelor’s degree programme in nanobiology in September 2016, and some departments are so international that English has long been the language of instruction.
Nevertheless, van der Hagen says that he feels ‘somewhat reserved’ about it. The other AS Bachelor’s degree programmes will remain in Dutch for the time being and the management team conducts its meetings in Dutch. “Our native language offers such a wealth of nuance. It makes it easier for people to express themselves when problems arise or when emotions and feelings are involved. We are a Dutch university. It would be a shame for us to be speaking nothing but English in 20 years. We would lose our language”.
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