‘Politics should turn prevailing anglicisation around’

The call to The House of Representatives was initiated by the Vereniging Beter Onderwijs Nederland (BON, better education in the Netherlands), which has long been concerned about the anglicisation of higher education and which unsuccessfully fought the issue in court. The BON is afraid that Dutch will disappear entirely as a language of academia.

Almost 100 professors and former professors signed the call. Among them were Frits van Oostrom, Herman Pleij, Lotte Jensen and Beatrice de Graaf. More than 80 ‘writers and other public figures from the social and cultural sector’ also signed. They included Frits Abrahams, Adriaan van Dis, Geert Mak, Job Cohen and Aleid Truijens. The list does not, as yet, include any TU Delft professors.

This is what the Chair of the Executive Board, Tim van der Hagen, said a year ago about anglicisation.

Market share
The letter writers state that three quarters of the masters and a growing number of bachelors are currently in English and that universities and universities of applied sciences are thus in violation of the law. The law states that Dutch must be the main language in higher education unless there are sufficiently compelling reasons otherwise.

Students and teaching staff’s mastery of English is often said to be poor

The main reason that universities and universities of applied sciences offer ever more English is, according to the signatories of the letter, not because the world is globalising, but that the academic institutions can then attract more international students who contribute funds. ‘The battle for the ‘market share’ is the primary urge to anglicise education.’

The command of students’ and teaching staff’s English is sometimes said to be so poor that negative consequences on the quality of and accessibility to higher education ensue. Furthermore, it is said to be detrimental to the Dutch language and the opportunities for graduates on the Dutch labour market.

The scales are tipping
The signatories of the letter say that it is ‘indisputable that English, along with Dutch, occupies a prominent place in our university education system’. But they also say that the balance is being lost. ‘If the current trend continues, our universities will be completely anglicised in a few years, with all the consequences that follow. The anglicisation must, in part, be turned around. This will take courage and determination on the part of politicians.’

The House of Representatives is asked to look critically at the ‘Taal en toegankelijkheidI’ (language and accessibility) bill proposed by the Minister of Education, Van Engelshoven. The law should protect the Dutch language, set stricter conditions in offering other language courses and stimulate a ‘resurrection of Dutch language education options’, says the letter.

HOP, Hein Cuppen