Translating language policy into practice: Language and culture policy at a Dutch university
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Kevin Haines
Kevin Haines has worked in international higher education programmes in the Netherlands since 1992. He specialises in guiding teachers and students in small group settings in English-medium instruction (EMI). He is co-author of the IntlUni Principles and a member of the University of Groningen’s International Classroom project team.
and
Anje Dijk
Anje Dijk holds a degree in linguistics. Throughout her career she has developed innovative teaching materials and worked as an advisor and project leader on educational development projects and innovations. She has been the Director of the University of Groningen Language Centre since 2004. She is also the Chair of NUT, the Dutch/Flemish national association of Language Centres, and she is member of the University of Groningen’s Language and Culture Policy project team.
Abstract
The CEFR will only achieve its potential in higher education if it is embedded in a meaningful way in the wider processes of the university. One means of embedding the CEFR is through policy, and in this article we report the development of a language policy in the broader context of internationalization at a Dutch university. We describe some the challenges involved in developing and extending this policy to stakeholders across the complex environment of a modern university, particularly from the perspective of one of the key players in this process, the university Language Centre. A growth of English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes has coincided with a greater emphasis on internationalization in the university’s strategy, and this has resulted in the establishment of an International Classroom (IC) project and a supporting Language and Culture (L&C) policy. The L&C policy aims to be both top down and bottom up, with a dual language focus on English and Dutch, while also recognizing the inter-relation between linguistic and intercultural skills. We believe that the growth of EMI programmes has acted as a catalyst for the extension of the L&C policy beyond the EMI setting to the university as a whole, and that the CEFR can play a role in providing a bridge from an EMI-focused perspective on internationalization to a discussion of language policy as it affects the entire university community.
About the authors
Kevin Haines has worked in international higher education programmes in the Netherlands since 1992. He specialises in guiding teachers and students in small group settings in English-medium instruction (EMI). He is co-author of the IntlUni Principles and a member of the University of Groningen’s International Classroom project team.
Anje Dijk holds a degree in linguistics. Throughout her career she has developed innovative teaching materials and worked as an advisor and project leader on educational development projects and innovations. She has been the Director of the University of Groningen Language Centre since 2004. She is also the Chair of NUT, the Dutch/Flemish national association of Language Centres, and she is member of the University of Groningen’s Language and Culture Policy project team.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of all members of the Language & Culture Policy task force and the Language & Culture Policy project group at the University of Groningen. We are also most grateful to Franka van den Hende, project manager of the International Classroom project, for her support and to our colleagues in the MAGICC and IntlUni projects, Estelle Meima, Jeroen van Engen and Rubén Comadina Granson. We very much appreciate the support given to these endeavours by Professor Elmer Sterken.
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©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Fostering engagement with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Learning from good practice in university language centres
- The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the European Language Portfolio, and language teaching/learning at university: An argument and some proposals
- Aligning ESP courses with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
- Implementing CEFR principles in introductory Norwegian language courses for international students: Opportunities and challenges
- EPOS – the European e-portfolio of languages
- Translating language policy into practice: Language and culture policy at a Dutch university
- The ELP through time: Background motivation, growing experience, current beliefs
- Using the ELP as a basis for self- and peer assessment when selecting “best” work in modern-language degree programmes
- Biografische Methoden der Kompetenzanalyse für die Reflexion von Sprachkompetenz–Portfolioarbeit in der Praxis
- Creating task-based oral foreign language exams linked to the CEFR in higher education
- From the learning diary to the ELP: An e-portfolio for autonomous language learning
- The classroom and beyond: Creating a learning environment to support learners of Japanese at CEFR levels A2.2 towards B1
- Access granted: Modern languages and issues of accessibility at university – a case study from Australia
- The role of second language in higher education: A case study of German students at a Dutch university
- Plurilingual proficiency as a learning objective for a multilingual curriculum in the study of business in Finland
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Fostering engagement with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Learning from good practice in university language centres
- The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the European Language Portfolio, and language teaching/learning at university: An argument and some proposals
- Aligning ESP courses with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
- Implementing CEFR principles in introductory Norwegian language courses for international students: Opportunities and challenges
- EPOS – the European e-portfolio of languages
- Translating language policy into practice: Language and culture policy at a Dutch university
- The ELP through time: Background motivation, growing experience, current beliefs
- Using the ELP as a basis for self- and peer assessment when selecting “best” work in modern-language degree programmes
- Biografische Methoden der Kompetenzanalyse für die Reflexion von Sprachkompetenz–Portfolioarbeit in der Praxis
- Creating task-based oral foreign language exams linked to the CEFR in higher education
- From the learning diary to the ELP: An e-portfolio for autonomous language learning
- The classroom and beyond: Creating a learning environment to support learners of Japanese at CEFR levels A2.2 towards B1
- Access granted: Modern languages and issues of accessibility at university – a case study from Australia
- The role of second language in higher education: A case study of German students at a Dutch university
- Plurilingual proficiency as a learning objective for a multilingual curriculum in the study of business in Finland
