For Jensen, in Maastricht for an evening of discussion on the anglicisation of higher education, this is an example of “where it goes wrong” when English becomes the dominant language at a university. “This is far-reaching and has consequences for the identity of the university and the identity of the city. What message are you giving? You could at least just put ‘Universiteitsbibliotheek’ here and possibly – in a smaller font – the English translation underneath. Then foreign students immediately learn two new words: ‘universiteit’ and ‘bibliotheek’.”
Internationalisation
Jensen is one of two speakers at the evening session organised by Studium Generale within the framework of the seventh ICLHE conference (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education) half October in Maastricht. The other speaker is Abram de Swaan, emeritus professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam.
According to a message on Twitter, Jensen was looking forward to a little debate with UM president Rianne Letschert. The latter recently reacted to a recurring discussion about internationalisation and the accompanying anglicisation, at the beginning of the new academic year, using words such as ‘nationalistic’ and ‘populistic’. Unnecessarily polarising, according to Jensen. “Very disappointing.” And moreover, not true, she says. “I am not against English and I fully support internationalisation,” Jensen emphasises. “Internationalisation is very useful, but does everything have to be in English? I have just been awarded the Erasmus chair at the Université Catholique de Louvain to promote Dutch beyond the borders; that is also internationalisation. The same applies to foreign students who come here to study and learn Dutch.” Letschert was not present to give a reaction.
The fact that universities nevertheless choose to offer study programmes in English (Jensen: “I am in favour of offering those programmes in Dutch too”) is also because of the way in which they are funded, De Swaan remarks. In this way, they attract more (foreign) students and “the universities are paid per student. That is a perverse stimulus. But to be honest, if foreign students are in doubt as to where to study, I also say the Netherlands: good education for a relatively low price – “a good deal” they would say.”
Multilingualism
Jensen and De Swaan agree on most aspects, but not about multilingualism. Where Jensen argues in favour of promoting multiple languages at a university – so not just English and Dutch, but also German, French, Spanish, et cetera - De Swaan thinks that this would create “a mess”. “We have lost the battle against English. But let us hold on to our own language. This also has to do with self-respect, self-esteem. You are making a right fool of yourself when you start calling the Stadsschouwburg, the International Theatre Amsterdam. Stadsschouwburg is a beautiful word.” And to the hilarity of those in the hall he demonstrates how that sounds when a foreign person pronounces it: the ‘stadsskoewburgh’.
Before you switch to English, ask yourself three things, he says: “For what level is it intended, for what discipline and for whom. Fellow scientists from around the world can just speak to each other in English, but if you want to translate science for a wider audience, you should do so in your own language.”
Lost knowledge
By continually preferring English, both speakers agree that something always gets lost in the transfer of knowledge. Jensen: “Vocabulary is less extensive, you can’t make jokes, irony and nuances are lost. Your story becomes less rich.”
“I have written 4 to 5 books and 20 articles in English and still I find my English not up to much,” De Swaan says. “Why not? Because I can’t say ´niet veel soeps´ (not up to much) in English. I didn’t grow up with that language, I didn’t sing the children’s songs.”
When Jensen voices her amazement about the study programme of Psychology be taught in English (“you are talking about people’s state of mind, about their feelings.”), there is an objection from the audience, from Harald Merckelbach in fact, dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (where most courses are in English). “Can you name an empiric study in which it is proven that the transfer of knowledge loses quality,” he asks Jensen. Yes, she can, but her answer doesn’t satisfy him: “That is a very bad study.” Jensen mentions a couple of other examples and adds that teaching in English does not always lead to language deficiency, “but it requires a lot of practice to do it properly. And even then, not everybody succeeds.”