<div dir="ltr">
<h2 class="gmail-story__title gmail-size-ten gmail-mt-1 gmail-pb-3 gmail-border--bottom"><a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1411955/shakespeare-in-trouble-dutch-fret-about-english-on-campus" class="gmail-story__link">Shakespeare in trouble: Dutch fret about English on campus
</a></h2>
<div class="gmail-my-3 gmail-ml-sm-0 gmail-ml-1 gmail-d-block gmail-d-sm-inline-block gmail-float-none gmail-float-sm-left"><span class="gmail-story__byline gmail-font--arial"><a href="https://www.dawn.com/authors/7805/charlotte-van-ouwerkerk">Charlotte Van Ouwerkerk</a></span><span class="gmail-divider"></span><span class="gmail-story__time gmail-font--arial">June 04, 2018</span> </div>
<div class="gmail-d-block gmail-d-sm-inline-block gmail-clearfix gmail-float-none gmail-float-sm-right"> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-social--facebook gmail-social--count gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1 gmail-my-2">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1411955&display=popup&ref=plugin" target="_blank"><span style="height:1px;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;width:1px">Facebook Count</span><span><span class="gmail-count">0</span></span></a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-social--twitter gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1 gmail-my-2">
<a href="https://twitter.com/share?text=Shakespeare%20in%20trouble%3A%20Dutch%20fret%20about%20English%20on%20campus%0A&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1411955&counturl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1411955" target="_blank"><span style="height:1px;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;width:1px">Twitter Share</span></a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-hidden-xs-down gmail-social--print gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1 gmail-my-2">
<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/print/1411955"> </a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--email gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1 gmail-my-2">
<a></a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--comment gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-social--count gmail-text--400 gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1 gmail-my-2">
<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1411955#comments"><span class="gmail-count">0</span></a>
</div></div>
<div class="gmail-template__main gmail-clearfix gmail-modifier--open gmail-px-1 gmail-modifier--widedefault gmail-modifier--blockquote-center-narrow">
<div class="gmail-story__content gmail-pt-1 gmail-mt-1"><p>THE HAGUE: The
growing popularity of English as a medium of instruction at Dutch
universities is ringing alarm bells among local lecturers and students,
with some now even calling for government intervention. </p>
<p>As Shakespeare’s mother tongue spreads in lecture halls across the
county’s 14 universities, the Dutch education department is finalising a
proposal to deal with the matter. </p>
<p>Britain’s exit from the European Union next year has only accelerated
the phenomenon, with international students flocking to the Netherlands
which provides an ideal base for those wishing to study in English
within the EU. </p>
<p>Some 90 per cent of the Dutch population speaks English, to the envy of many of its less Anglo-competent neighbours. </p><div class="gmail-ad gmail-py-2 gmail-ad--adjustable gmail-my-4 gmail-border--ends gmail-d-none gmail-d-sm-block">
<div class="gmail-ad__label" style="max-width:728px">Advertisement</div>
<div class="gmail-js-ad gmail-clearfix" style="max-width:728px;max-height:90px;text-align:center;margin:0px auto;overflow:hidden">
<div class="gmail-radWrapper gmail-ad__wrapper" style="width:564.3px;height:69.7624px;max-width:100%">
<div id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-1455520357400-2" class="gmail-ad__wrapper__slot" style="width:728px;height:90px"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/1029551/DAWN-LB-728x90-MIDDLE_0__container__" style="border:0pt none;display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px"></div></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>To add to the attraction, many local universities are much cheaper than their British or US-based counterparts. </p>
<p>English usage is particularly dominant at Master’s degree level. </p>
<p>Some “65 per cent of bachelor’s degrees are in Dutch while 15 per
cent of master’s degrees are in Dutch”, education ministry spokesman
Michiel Hendrikx said. </p>
<p>That some 85 per cent of all master’s degrees are presented in
English riles the largest teachers’ association, whose acronym BON
stands for “Better Education Netherlands” in Dutch. </p>
<p>“The Dutch language is gradually disappearing from campuses,”
lamented BON’s chairman Ad Verbrugge, stressing the “seriousness” of an
“unprecedented situation in Europe.” </p>
<p><strong>‘Languicide’</strong></p>
<p>Pressed by heated debate from campus to parliament, the Dutch
Education Ministry will soon publish a letter “with the minister’s
position on the subject”, Hendrikx said. </p>
<p>This follows a report in February by the Royal Dutch Academy for Arts
and Sciences (KNAW), which blasted the Netherlands for “failing to
properly protect and uphold the quality of Dutch as a language and
over-estimating the importance of English”. </p>
<p>“Universities are forced to offer courses in English to remain in the
race” for international students in Europe, said Verbrugge, a
philosophy professor at the University of Amsterdam. </p>
<p>“We are witnessing a ‘languicide’,” he said. </p>
<p>“We always advocate diversity but here we’re killing a minority
language. We must preserve all European languages and cultures ... Dutch
students no longer master their native tongue,” he added. </p>
<p><strong>Lawsuit</strong></p>
<p>Verbrugge and BON have now launched a lawsuit against two Dutch
universities they accuse of killing the Dutch language through the
‘Anglicisation’ of courses. </p>
<p>The eastern Twente University and the southern University of
Maastricht offer two master’s degree courses in psychology exclusively
in English. </p>
<p>BON called it an “impoverishment of the teaching quality and a
dangerous abandonment in the learning of the Dutch language”. “We must
call the universities to order because they’re violating the law,” which
states that all lesson and exams must be in Dutch, the union said. </p>
<p>An exemption can only be made when the subject matter was directly
related to a different language such as English, for instance in
international business management studies. </p>
<p>BON says the effects of such a language policy can even be seen in the labour market. </p>
<p>Young expatriates graduating in English at Dutch universities are
often tempted to remain in the Netherlands which has a flourishing
economy and pleasant living environment, thus taking jobs from local
graduates, it said. </p>
<p>Verbrugge said BON was unsure whether the lawsuits would be successful “but at least we’ve raised the issue for discussion”. </p>
<p>Many Dutch students agree, saying they did not understand the value of “pretending to be English in front of
a lecturer who is just as equally Dutch”.</p>
<p><em>Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2018</em></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-template__footer gmail-clearfix gmail-modifier--open gmail-px-1">
<div class="gmail-row gmail-no-gutters">
<div class="gmail-col-12 gmail-col-sm-10 gmail-col-sm-offset-1">
<div class="gmail-row gmail-no-gutters">
<div class="gmail-col-12 gmail-col-sm-11">
<div class="gmail-ml-0 gmail-ml-sm-6 gmail-px-0 gmail-px-sm-2">
<hr>
<div class="gmail-row gmail-no-gutters">
<div class="gmail-col-12 gmail-col-sm-6">
</div>
<div class="gmail-col-12 gmail-col-sm-6">
<div class="gmail-mt-2 gmail-mt-sm-0 gmail-clearfix gmail-social-container">
<div class="gmail-social gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-social--facebook gmail-social--count gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1411955&display=popup&ref=plugin" target="_blank"><span style="height:1px;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;width:1px">Facebook Count</span><span><span class="gmail-count">0</span></span></a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-social--twitter gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1">
<a href="https://twitter.com/share?text=Shakespeare%20in%20trouble%3A%20Dutch%20fret%20about%20English%20on%20campus%0A&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1411955&counturl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1411955" target="_blank"><span style="height:1px;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;width:1px">Twitter Share</span></a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-hidden-xs-down gmail-social--print gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1">
<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/print/1411955"> </a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--email gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1">
<a></a>
</div> <div class="gmail-social gmail-social--comment gmail-social--icon gmail-social--black gmail-social--flat gmail-social--count gmail-text--400 gmail-float-left gmail-mr-1">
<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1411955#comments"><span class="gmail-count">0</span></a>
</div> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-row gmail-no-gutters">
</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>
</div>