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<span>Shakespeare in trouble: Dutch fret about English on campus</span>
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AFP<div class="gmail-pubStamp"><div class="gmail-col-sm-5 gmail-col-xs-12 gmail-noPadding gmail-noMargin"><span class="gmail-col-sm-3 gmail-col-xs-3 gmail-noPadding gmail-noMargin"><b>Published </b></span>Jun 4, 2018, 11:17 am IST</div><div class="gmail-col-sm-6 gmail-col-xs-12 gmail-noPadding gmail-noMargin"><span class="gmail-col-sm-2 gmail-col-xs-3 gmail-noPadding gmail-noMargin"><b>Updated </b></span>Jun 4, 2018, 11:17 am IST</div></div>
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<div class="gmail-strap"><span>Some 90 percent of the Dutch population speaks English, to the envy of many of its less anglo-competent neighbours.</span></div>
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<img src="https://s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/images.deccanchronicle.com/dc-Cover-brlo3m5nogcdhlq9is6aerqp00-20180604111519.Medi.jpeg" class="gmail-coverimg" alt="Shakespeare in trouble: Dutch fret about English on campus. (Photo: Pixabay)" title="Shakespeare in trouble: Dutch fret about English on campus. (Photo: Pixabay)">
<div class="gmail-storyimg-caption"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-camera"></i> Shakespeare in trouble: Dutch fret about English on campus. (Photo: Pixabay)</div>
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<p><strong>THE HAGUE: </strong>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. Britain's exit from the European
Union (EU)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>
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<p>Some 90 percent of the Dutch population speaks English, to the envy
of many of its less anglo-competent neighbours. To add to the
attraction, many local universities are much cheaper than their British
or US-based counterparts. English usage is particularly dominant at
Master's degree level. </p>
<p>Some "65 percent of bachelor's degrees are in Dutch while 15 percent
of master's degrees are in Dutch," education ministry spokesman Michiel
Hendrikx told AFP. That some 85 percent of all master's degrees are
presented in English riles the largest teachers' association, whose
acronym BON stands for "Better Education Netherlands" in Dutch. "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. 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. "We are witnessing a
'languicide'," he told AFP. "We always advocate diversity but here
we're killing a minority language." </p>
<p>"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.The eastern Twente University and the
southern University of Maastricht offer two master's degree courses in
psychology exclusively in English. BON called it an "impoverishment of
the teaching quality and a dangerous abandonment in the learning of the
Dutch language." </p>
<p>"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. 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. Verbrugge said BON was unsure whether the lawsuits
would be successful "but at least we've raised the issue for
discussion." 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></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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