UM officially bilingual soon
The Universiteit Maastricht may become a completely English-spoken university in the long term. This is one of the ideas of the Executive Board, laid down in the ‘Taalbeleid’ (Language Policy) note that has been submitted to the university council. For the short term, the plans are more definite: in three years’ time the UM will be officially bilingual.
No English minutes of meetings, lousy command of English by lecturers and students; these are just a few of the complaints that are sounding louder and louder now that the UM is becoming more international, both in terms of staff and of its student population. The Executive Board is now proposing to declare the institute officially bilingual and to set certain requirements with regard to linguistic abilities. All of this would apply to the education programmes, as well as the administrative and management processes.
As far as education is concerned, almost all Masters programmes are already in English. For the Bachelors programmes, it depends on the “nature of the subject or programme”; currently, 50 per cent is offered in English.
The basic principle is that whenever the programme is in English, the communication around it must also be in English. So no more announcements in Dutch about changes in timetables for foreign students. When it comes to official legal matters, such as appeal procedures, it is a little more complicated. In these cases, the law demands the use of Dutch. As a form of compensation, English summaries will be added from now on.
All university employees, both academic and non-academic staff, are expected to have a minimum level command of English in three years’ time. This goes for writing as well as speaking. For staff working in an international environment, requirements will be higher. Quality control will be part of the process, varying from discussions on language skills during job assessment interviews to monitoring of the education process. Students will also need to comply with certain requirements regarding their level of English. The opposite also applies, by the way: people from abroad who are here for a longer period will be expected to acquire some fluency in Dutch. There is no mention in the note of any sanctions for those who fail to meet the latter requirements.
The administrative and representative advisory bodies will also have to face up to it. From now on, the rule applies that minutes must also be made in English if more than 15 per cent of staff and students are from abroad. This is not a very precise measure, because does it mean only staff, only students, or only a combination of the two? During meetings, the principle is that either English or Dutch can be spoken; participants are expected to at least understand the other language. The note frequently refers to the importance of language courses and ‘facilitation’ of the command of a foreign language, but of course this all needs to be paid for. The glimmer of hope comes from a footnote, where it says that the UM has applied to the European Social Funds for a subsidy, and that it is expected that half a million euros will be available in 2006/2007.
Source: Observant, 23 February 2006
