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<h1>Shifting Views on International Students and Teaching in English in the Netherlands</h1>
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<p><span style="text-align:justify">In a progressively
more polarized world, a nuanced approach to internationalization is
increasingly important and it should not be a debate about the numbers
of programs taught in English, international students, or branch
campuses.</span></p>
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By </h2>
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<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/users/hans-de-wit" title="View user profile." class="gmail-username">Hans de Wit</a> </div>
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January 27, 2018 </div>
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<div class="gmail-views-field gmail-views-field-disqus-comment-count"> <span class="gmail-field-content"><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/world-view/shifting-views-international-students-and-teaching-english-netherlands#disqus_thread">0 Comments</a></span> </div> </div>
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<div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-body gmail-field-type-text-with-summary gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even"><p class="gmail-rtejustify">While,
elsewhere in the world, universities compete fiercely with each other
to attract international students and increase the number of courses
taught in English, in the Netherlands—a country that has been on the
forefront on these two issues over the past two decades—an intense
debate is taking place in politics, in the media, and in the higher
education sector itself, on the risks and challenges related to the
increasing international commodification of higher education.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Dutch higher education has the highest percentage
of courses taught in English among non-English speaking countries and
has seen its number of international students increase every year, to a
total of 112.000 in 2016–2017, the majority coming from Germany
followed, far behind, by China. Dutch higher education also received
permission from the former government to engage in cross-border
operations, as long as no public funding is invested in them and there
are sufficient guarantees of academic freedom. All in all, the picture
looks bright, in particular compared to other countries such as the
United States, where the combination of a changed political climate and
the high cost of study threatens international student recruitment. But,
over the past months, an intense debate has emerged in the Netherlands
about the effects of these developments.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong>Opening a Branch Campus in China</strong></p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Current plans by the University of Groningen to
open a branch campus in Yantai, China, are fiercely opposed by students
and academics within the university as well as the media and some
political parties. High costs, a lack of interest from Groningen faculty
to teach there, fear that the project will distract the university from
addressing quality issues at home, and concerns about academic freedom,
are the main points of discussion. Whether the university council will
support the leadership’s plans in China remains to be seen.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong>Teaching in English</strong></p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">The increased number of courses taught in English
is also being questioned by Dutch academics, students, the media, and
political parties. The leading conservative party in government is
advocating a massive increase in the recruitment of international
students. Last year, amid heavy protest from the academic community,
Pieter Duisenberg, the conservative party’s higher education
spokesperson in parliament, was appointed president of the Dutch
Universities Association, signalling a support for that policy. But
other political parties, the media, and representatives of student and
faculty groups have begun to question this pressure to increase the
number of courses taught in English. Psychology students at Radboud
University in Nijmegen protested the fact that they had to take courses
in English, even though they had selected a program taught in Dutch. A
Danish (!) faculty member at the same university criticized the fact
that her master’s students had to use the English translation of Vondel,
a classical Dutch author, in their master theses. Last September,
Annette de Groot, a retiring psychology professor at the University of
Amsterdam, made this issue the topic of her farewell lecture under the
title “Dutch required!” These are just a few of many cases that caught
media attention.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">The issue is not so much that English is used as a
language of instruction; what is questioned is the presumed
inevitability of English “in our age of globalization” and the potential
impact on the quality of teaching. A 2017 study by the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences addressed some of these issues.
In a balanced way, the study raises issues of quality, implications for
the labor market, participation, and social impact. The academy
recommends that the language of instruction must be a conscious choice.
It also recommends that, although language policy is set at the
institutional level, the language of instruction is best decided at the
department or program level, with due consideration for the nature of
the program of study, the educational resources to be used, the specific
profession for which students are being trained, and so on. It states
that institutions must be aware of the associated costs and benefits,
opportunities and risks, and advantages and disadvantages. And the
decision to use a particular language of instruction should be firmly
anchored in a language and internationalization policy.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">The study has been well received by the higher
education community in the Netherlands, since it provides a balanced and
nuanced approach to teaching in English, compared to the polarizing
debate taking place in the media. But it remains to be seen whether its
recommendations will help slow momentum towards more English language
incorporation or if those opposing the use of English will be satisfied.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong>More International Students?</strong></p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">The issue of international student recruitment was
also heavily debated in 2017. In the first place, it was related to the
issue of the increasing use of English in study programs. Second, due
to the lack of sufficient services to support those students, in
particular, accommodation, also in short supply for local students. And,
third, because of the increasing student/teacher ratio. From 2012 to
2016, overall enrollment grew by 11 percent, while the number of
teachers only grew by 6 percent. To a large extent, the growth in the
student population is the result of growing numbers of international
students. This has led to serious concerns about the quality of
teaching.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">In reaction to all these developments, the rector
of the University of Amsterdam— a key institution in numbers of both
international students and courses taught in English—addressed the need
to limit internationalization in her anniversary address to the
university. Karen Maex, a Belgian national, made her speech in English
and stated that the University of Amsterdam is at risk of becoming a
hostage to its success in internationalization, stating, “What we spend
too little time thinking about is the optimal balance on three different
levels: the balance between Dutch and international students; the
balance between English and Dutch in the wider university environment;
and the balance between programs taught in Dutch and English.” Maex made
an appeal for a more balanced international approach, less dependence
on international (in particular German) students and asked the new
minister of education to address these challenges and limits in her new
strategy of internationalization of higher education.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong>Setting Limits and Focusing on Quality</strong></p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">In an increasingly polarized world, a nuanced
approach is important. Internationalization should not be a debate about
the numbers of programs taught in English, international students, or
branch campuses. The discussion should be about why, what, how, and
when, focusing on improving the quality of higher education. The address
of the rector of the University of Amsterdam and the study of the
Academy of Sciences are important signals on how the higher education
community should address the limits and effects of internationalization.
Opponents on both sides in the Netherlands—in the media, politics and
academic circles—should give up extreme positions and pay greater
attention to issues related to relevance and quality. The minister of
education should not succumb to pressures and take an extreme stand. And
other countries should follow the debate and its outcomes closely.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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