Article published in:
Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 9:1/2 (2020) ► pp. 38–59

Language policy and the law

How Dutch universities legally justify English-medium instruction

| Leiden University | Utrecht University
Universities in the Netherlands are currently faced with finding a balance between the implementation of English-medium instruction and the protection and promotion of Dutch. In this article I analyse university language policy documents from a discursive and critical perspective. I explore the intertextual transformations involved in a multilevel process of policymaking; that is, as policy discourse shifts from the state legislation governing the language of instruction in higher education to the codes of conduct for language of the publicly funded universities. The institutions use various discursive strategies, including intertextuality and recontextualisation, to legitimate their reinterpretation of the basic legal principle ‘Dutch, unless’ as ‘English, unless’ (at master’s level, and increasingly at bachelor’s level too). Although the current law is set to be amended, it appears the proposed new law will simply require universities to do more paperwork while continuing on their current path.
Keywords: language policy, higher education, universities, critical discourse analysis, discursive approaches to language policy, English-medium instruction, language of instruction, internationalisation, Netherlands
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
  • 3.Data and method
  • 4.Context: Stated language of instruction vs statistics on language of instruction
  • 5.Results of the textual analysis
    • 5.1Nature of teaching
    • 5.2Organisation of teaching
    • 5.3Quality of teaching
    • 5.4Origin of students
    • 5.5Additional rationale: Preparing students for master’s phase
  • 6.Discussion and latest developments
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 27 May 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.19028.edw
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Language policy and the law
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