Alles Denglisch oder was?

Fresh out of the Gymnasium after having successfully reached the Abitur, I was looking for interesting new academic routes. As I had fostered my love for languages during my time in school, I was keen on choosing a programme taught in English or another foreign language. However, within the borders of Germany and close to my home the possibilities seemed quite scarce.

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‘In English, please!’

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‘In English, please!’, our high school teachers used to tell us when we were talking in Dutch to each other in class. For me, this didn’t only apply to our English classes, but also to subjects such as history, mathematics or geography, as I went to a bilingual high school. Of course, we had the language skills to talk to each other in English, but we just didn’t feel like it. Dutch was easier, and it just felt strange to talk to each other in a foreign language. Some teachers even wanted us to talk to each other in English in the corridor, or during breaks. Sometimes, this led to rather funny situations where my friends and I suddenly switched to an exaggerated, extremely formal type of English when the teacher was close enough to hear us. On other occasions, we liked to talk to each other in Dunglish-  English with a very strong Dutch accent and mixed with Dutch vocabulary (“what ar joe going toe doe in de weekend? I know it not, have you sin to the bioscoop to go with me?”). Of course, this was also partially intended to mock the efforts of some teachers who insisted on the use of RP (received pronunciation), and correctness in speaking.

Some teachers even wanted us to talk to each other in English in the corridor, or during breaks

The next step – University English

Having finished high school, and deciding to enroll for a university programme taught entirely in English, I knew that I would be hearing less Dutch than I did during high school. According to Wilkinson (2011), EMI has today become commonplace in many institutes of higher education where English is not the native language. Maastricht University is a good example of an EMI (English as a medium of instruction) institution, as many of its programmes are offered entirely in English. EMI means that the main language of instruction is English, with the aim of increasing the abilities of students to speak, read and write in English.

The most intensive form of an English-language environment is, in my opinion, during tutorials. Not only are you listening to people speaking in English, you also speak English yourself and interact with other group members. This leads to a real immersion into the English language. Lectures are of course also an example of an English-language environment, but here the immersion occurs in a more passive way, because it is mainly the professor speaking, and the students listening.

Thus, the type of education which is common at Maastricht University can be labeled as CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), a term referring to receiving education of a specific subject in a language which is not the own language of the students. When a programme uses CLIL, there are both the aims of teaching the subject itself to students (content) and of learning to speak a foreign language (language learning). I think that, for a programme such as European studies, CLIL is a suitable method of teaching, because many students will choose to go abroad, for example to pursue an international career in an international organization or company.

 I thought I had learned to speak and write English on a reasonably high level at high school, but now it appeared that quite a lot of the others were much better in expressing themselves in English than I was.

When we had our first tutorial for the European studies programme at Maastricht University in September 2012 for the course ‘the Idea of Europe’, I was quite impressed by the level of English of some of my fellow students. I thought I had learned to speak and write English on a reasonably high level at high school, but now it appeared that quite a lot of the others were much better in expressing themselves in English than I was.

Reading academic English

For the first readings, I also had some difficulties in reading and understanding the type of English used. Suddenly, we had to read books such as ‘Inventing Europe’ by Gerard Delanty. Some of the wordings really puzzled me, and I sometimes had to read the same sentence up to five times to understand what it was what the author actually meant. His writing style is quite academic, and he likes to use sophisticated language. Even almost three years later, I would not be able to read his texts without struggling to find out what he actually meant. Of course, I think that reading such texts have contributed to my level of English, but I still doubt whether it was necessary to give us such tough reading materials already in the very first course of the first year of the programme.

 I sometimes had to read the same sentence up to five times to understand what it was what the author actually meant

I expected that my English would improve when compared to the first year, which indeed happened. However, I think that it was mainly in the first year that my English improved a lot. During the second and third year, there was some progress, but most of it was, I think , during the first year. In addition, we have learned to express ourselves in a more formal, acadamic way (“in addition” itself being an expression which I only started to use during university).

Reflection

Then, suddenly, you find yourself already in your third year, finishing your bachelor’s degree. Following a course on languages and multilingualism in Europe, it is the first time during the ES programme that we actually need to reflect on our own language use. I think that having been in an English-speaking environment has improved my ability to communicate in English. Of course, I had already been used to this during high school, where I had bilingual education. Still, I would not consider myself comparable to a native speaker of English.

Of course, this cannot really be expected from a student whose area of study is not English language and culture. As mr. Charles van Leeuwen (2015) discussed in his lecture, most people use English as a ‘lingua franca’, meaning a somewhat simplified form of English, which is still good enough for a large number of purposes. Thus, rather than having to speak ‘RP’, at university we can speak our not-so-perfect version of English, just like many of UM’s staff members. And this works fine. ‘In English, please’ – yes of course, but no need to talk like the queen’s mother.

English Medium Instruction: a positive development?

English medium instruction is becoming increasingly common at universities around the world. This is a logical consequence of a globalizing world in which the de facto lingua franca is English. But while this may seem like a positive development to a lot of people, there are also concerns among some people regarding the implications of this development.

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My English Medium Instruction experience…

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When I started looking for studies for after High-school, Maastricht almost directly caught my interest. This was not only because of the beautiful city, but also for its international environment.  I originally went to Maastricht’s Open Day to get information for the law study, however I didn’t like it as much as I hoped I would have. When we walked out of the faculty, my mother saw a sign with an arrow and the name European Studies. The name sounded interesting so we decided to go and listen to the presentation. After the presentation I knew for sure, this was my study!

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Foreign Languages as a medium of instruction. When is it useful?

The statuses of languages with regards to, among others, politics, social class and education are subjected to constant change. During the last decades English resumed the function of the dominant academic language, a position priorly held by Latin and German.

One of the manifestations of this trend is the tendency of countries in which English is not the official language to offer courses in English and use the principle of English Medium Instruction (EMI) to their advantage. In accordance with Wilkinson (2011), universities in non-English speaking countries will make use of EMI in order to attract foreign students, to obtain a better ranking and to prepare their students for the international job market. Continue reading Foreign Languages as a medium of instruction. When is it useful?

Maastricht y el inglés.

English for me, as a child, was exactly this.

Before the age of 10, when I started having English classes at school, English was something I just didn’t care for. All Disney movies were translated to Spanish, movies had subtitles and English song were something I sang randomly, without really understanding what I was saying or pronouncing. In Mexico, singing without knowing what you’re saying is called “Wachabacheo” and I was a master at it. On top of that, many of my teachers (who were mostly old French ladies) insisted in making us listen to Charles Aznavour or Boris Vian instead of those “cochonneries américaines”. Continue reading Maastricht y el inglés.

EMI at Higher Education Institutes: A Commentary

We are taughtTeaching Quotes, Baba Dioum, Teachers Quotes, Life Lessons, English Quotes, English Teachers, Favorite Quotes, Classroom Ideas, High SchoolsIs proficiency in the English language at EMI (English Medium Instruction) universities a means to an end or an aim for itself? Did I and Do I acquire English language skills merely for the sake of grasping the academic content of my studies or is language learning a goal which itself represents a vital objective of my academic training?

 

I personally think that both goals require equal attention, particularly as both aims are intertwined: Language learning can be stimulated by the employment of related meaningful academic content and the comprehension of academic content may be more lasting once acquired in the non-native language, English.

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English Medium Instruction: Wie viel Englisch vertragen wir?

Weltweit bieten immer mehr Universitäten englischsprachige Bachelor- und Masterstudiengänge an. Besonders verbreitet ist dieses Phänomen in den Bereichen Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaft, aber auch Naturwissenschaften und Medizin ziehen zunehmend nach. Dabei werben Fachhochschulen und Universitäten mit Internationalität und ausgezeichneten Chancen auf dem weltweiten Arbeitsmarkt. Doch wie viel Englisch vertragen wir eigentlich? Als deutsche Studentin in den Niederlanden habe ich selber die Erfahrung mit einem englischsprachigen Studium gemacht, und habe dabei viele Vorteile aber auch Nachteile erkannt. Wie passend, da doch heute der Welttag der Englischen Sprache ist.

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