English-Medium Instruction In Higher Education In The Netherlands

On 29 March 2019, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant published an article titled Kamerleden, de toekomst van het Nederlands ligt in uw handen (‘Members of Parliament, the future of Dutch lies in your hands’) signed by 194 professors, writers, and representatives of the cultural sector (De Volkskrant, 2019). ‘By not appreciating Dutch’, they argued, the universities that embrace the Englishisation ‘are ignoring its important role in shaping our national identity and traditions’ (BON, 2019). The signatories were concerned about the consequences of the enormous increase in English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes in the Netherlands. Almost three-quarters of the master’s courses at Dutch universities are in English. In addition, more and more bachelor’s programmes are switching to EMI. The upshot, argued the signatories, is that the Dutch language is losing its academic status. The quality of education would suffer too. For professionals (doctors, policy officers, psychologists, and judges) that depend on highly proficient Dutch language skills at an academic level, the marginalisation of Dutch at universities is very disadvantageous. This development would also create a divide between the university and Dutch society. In this light, the deepening entrenchment of English would have repercussions for the cultural identity of the Netherlands, because it is largely based on a shared language. Failure to provide education in Dutch at an academic level would lead to an impoverishment of cultural life (Jensen, Pas, Rovers, & Gulik, 2019).