Cover not available
Article published In:
Journal of English-Medium Instruction
Vol. 2:1 (2023) ► pp.50–78

A multi-layered comparative analysis of English-medium instruction in the Netherlands

The language ideological debate

| NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
ORCID logo | NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences | University of Groningen
The rise of English in Dutch higher education has been accompanied by a language ideological debate that affects students’ and lecturers’ lives at the micro level, policy and planning at the meso (institutional) level and is related to the macro perspective (national political agenda). This study explores how language ideologies and attitudes play a role in this debate by comparing lecturers’ perceptions of the use of English in higher education to general language ideologies reflected in the Dutch printed press. A thematic analysis was conducted, including a three-dimensional investigation incorporating a vertical approach (macro, meso, micro) combined with a horizontal approach focusing on ideological themes present at the vertical level. Our data consist of 151 news items and 20 interviews with lecturers in higher education. Results show that monolingual language ideologies are the norm in both the perceptions of teaching staff and the Dutch media. Lecturers were generally more positive towards the exclusive use of English than the printed media. The study suggests that the Dutch/English dichotomy and accompanying persistence of a monolingual language ideology contrast with the reality of the Netherlands as a multilingual community. Implications for language policy and practice within EMI are presented.
Keywords: language ideology, language attitudes, higher education, English-medium instruction
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • (Language) ideology and language attitudes in HE
    • Language ideologies in the media
    • Language ideologies in EMI
  • Methodology
    • Methods of data collection and sample
    • Data analysis
  • Results
    • Language ideologies in the Dutch printed press
      • Status and solidarity
      • Language ideologies at the micro level: The personal dimension
      • Language ideologies at the meso level: The educational dimension
      • Language ideologies and attitudes at the macro level: The national dimension
    • Language ideologies in the perceptions of teaching staff
      • Status and solidarity
      • Language ideologies and attitudes at the micro level: The personal dimension
      • Language ideologies and attitudes at the meso level: The educational dimension
      • Language ideologies and attitudes at the macro level: The national dimension
    • Overlap between language ideologies and attitudes
      • Status and solidarity
  • Discussion
    • Language ideologies in the media
    • Language ideologies in the perceptions of teaching staff
    • The ideological disparities between the printed press and teaching staff
  • Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 12 December 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jemi.21028.van
References (28)
References
Ajsic, A., & McGroarty, M. (2015). Mapping language ideologies. In F. Hult & D. C. Cassels (Eds.), Research methods in language policy and planning (pp. 181–192). Wiley.Google Scholar
Blackledge, A. (2000). Monolingual ideologies in multilingual states: Language, hegemony and social justice in Western liberal democracies. Sociolinguistic Studies, 1 (2), 25–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blommaert, J. (2006). Language policy and national identity. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method (pp. 238–254). Blackwell.Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3 (2), 77–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage.Google Scholar
Dafouz, E., & Smit, U. (2022). Towards multilingualism in English-medium higher education. A student perspective. Journal of English-Medium Instruction, 1 (1), 29–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Jong, F. (2018). English as medium of instruction in higher education in a cross-national context. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.Google Scholar
Doiz, A., Lasagabaster, D., & Sierra, J. (2011). Internationalisation, multilingualism and English-medium instruction. World Englishes, 30 (3), 345–359. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013). Globalisation, internationalisation, multilingualism and linguistic strains in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38 (9),1407–1421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Earls, C. W. (2016). Evolving agendas in European English-medium higher education: Interculturality, multilingualism and language policy. Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020). Language policy and the law. How Dutch universities legally justify English-medium instruction. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9 (1–2), 38–59. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, R. C., & MacIntyre, P. D. (1993). On the measurement of affective variables in second language learning. Language Learning, 43 (2), 157–194. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hamid, M., & Jahan, I. (2015). Language, identity, and social divides: Medium of instruction debates in Bangladeshi print media. Comparative Education Review, 59 (1), 75–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensen, C., Denver, L., Mees, I. M., & Werther, C. (2013). Students’ attitudes to lecturers’ English in English-medium higher education in Denmark. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 13 (1), 87–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensen, C., & Thøgersen, J. (2011). Danish university lecturers’ attitudes towards English as the medium of instruction. Ibérica, 22 1, 13–34.Google Scholar
Kling, J. (2015). “You try with a little humour and you just get on with it”: Danish lecturers’ reflections on English-medium instruction. In S. Dimova, A. K. Hultgren, & C. Jensen (Eds.), English-medium instruction in European higher Education: English in Europe (pp. 201–222). De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Macaro, E., Curle, S., Pun, J., An, J., & Dearden, J. (2018). A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education. Language Teaching, 51 (1), 36–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. (2012). Research methods in second language acquisition: A practical guide. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Margić, B., & Žeželić, T. (2015). The implementation of English-medium instruction in Croatian higher education: Attitudes, expectations and concerns. In R. Plo Alastrué & C. Pérez-Llantada (Eds.), English as a scientific and research language: Debates and discourses (pp. 311–332). De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Muresan, L., & Nicolae, M. (2015). Addressing the challenge of publishing internationally in a non-Anglophone academic context: Romania – a case in point. In R. Alastrué, & C. Pérez-Llantada (Eds.), English as a scientific and research language (pp. 281–310). De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pinto, S., & Sá, M. H. (2015). Language learning in higher education: Portuguese student voices. International Journal of Multilingualism, ( 13 )31, 367–382.Google Scholar
Ricento, T. (2013). Language policy, ideology, and attitudes in English-dominant countries. In R. Bayley, R. Cameron, & C. Lucas (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 1–23). Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Richards, K., Ross, S., & Seedhouse, P. (2012). Research methods for applied language studies. Routledge.Google Scholar
Spradley, J. P. (2016). The ethnographic interview. Waveland Press.Google Scholar
van Dijk, T. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. Sage.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, R., & Gabriëls, R. (2021). Englishization of Dutch higher education: Divergent language policies and practices. In R. Wilkinson, & R. Gabriels (Eds.), The Englishization of higher education in Europe (pp. 237–258). Amsterdam University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Robinson-Jones, Charlie, Joana Duarte & Dymphi van der Hoeven
2024. Students’ attitudes towards accents in English-medium instruction: The role of cosmopolitan and motivation orientations. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 68 ► pp. 101330 ff. DOI logo
Shao, Lijie & Robert Wilkinson
2023. English-medium instruction in multilingual university settings. Journal of English-Medium Instruction DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.