Page 11 - ELG1704 Apr Issue 446

NEWS

Academic unease over Extremadura bans

English ‘supremacy’ Clil selections

A major reform of the bilingual school
system has been announced by the gov-
ernment of Extremadura, the autonomous
By: Claudia Civinini 2008) to introduce a law which would
guarantee the supremacy of Danish at region of south West Spain. The new
university. order, which aims to rationalise the system
The ruling by the Italian Constitutional The Dutch press reported last year that which has spread since its introduction in
Court (see main story) was greeted with university student surveys in the country 2005, bans selection based on language
delight by the Accademia della Crusca, highlighted problems in the English ability and mandates mixed level classes.
the institution devoted to the study and proficiency of both students and lecturers. Over 20,000 students in Extremadura
preservation of the Italian language. Some academics also said that lectures are currently enrolled in bilingual sections
The language watchdog said it was given in English by second language and the educational authorities aim to
pleased that the ruling made clear that speakers ‘may lack passion, subtlety and increase the number while improving
internationalisation couldn’t relegate humour’. standards. Bilingual sections, where
the Italian language to a subordinate Some groups of academics expressed students are taught some school subjects
position or exclude it from whole fields concerns about the supremacy of the in a foreign language, will be closed if
of study. Similar English language in they do not pass a new form of external
concerns had been academia. German evaluation.
raised in 2013 association The bilingual school movement in the
by the Académie Creative Commons ADAWiS, for Castilian speaking regions has become a
Française, the example, supports political football, as the Gazette reported
French counterpart the use of German last month, with left-wing critics concen-
of the Accademia, as a language for trating their fire on the admission tests
when ministers science. It claims which control entry. To qualify, students
proposed a new law the dominance must pass a language test which grades
to allow universities of English in the them as ‘bilingual’ in the target language,
to use more English- field may cause almost always English, a process which
medium teaching. knowledge to get favours children from families which can
The law passed, lost (for more afford to pay for private lessons.
but public outrage on this issue, see Exam results from bilingual schools in
didn’t. January 2017 Madrid show that children selected to
Reactions in Gazette). enter bilingual sections outperform their
northern Europe The concerns peers not only in English but in science,
have not been of the German maths and Spanish.
so heated, but Accademia della Crusca far-right party
concerns raised Alternative für
by the introduction of English-medium Deutschland (AfD) however, are more of Nigeria reverts to
programmes at university are the a political nature.
same: a possible loss of domain for the In its manifesto, the party said that the indigenous languages
native language, the inability to access German language is the central element
education and information for those of the country’s identity, and that it is Plans are afoot in Nigeria to make all
who do not speak English, and a possibly ‘worrying’ to see that English is replacing primary schools teach science and
poorer quality of teaching and learning German as the language of science and technology in indigenous languages rather
if lecturers are not highly proficient in the economy. The party also recently than in English - in a bid to make them
English. called for Germany to step back from the more popular among students.
The introduction of English-medium Bologna Process, the European Union According to Ogbonnaya Onu, the
higher education didn’t go completely agreement that ensures the comparability minister for science and technology, the
smoothly even in Denmark, where the of higher education degrees across government was worried about low levels
nationalist party tried twice (in 2006 and member countries. of interest in the subjects both at school
and university. The reason, he said, may
lie in the fact that students find it hard to
ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION IN FIGURES learn these subjects in English – the most
common language of instruction.
Around 2 per cent of all university to the THE rankings) with the highest
Some academics have spoken out
students in continental Europe study number of EMI courses in these against the policy, saying it may be
in English. (source: Study.eu) countries:
Top countries in Europe with English Leiden University: 214 masters and 6 addressing the wrong problem about the
lack of engagement, which they believe is
medium courses: undergraduate course in English.
The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Universität Leipzig: 75 masters and 41 lack of funding.
Choosing which of the many indigenous
Denmark and Spain. undergraduate courses.
(Source: StudyPortals.com) Stockholm University: 100 masters and languages to use to teach in may even
require a referendum, they said.
The top three universities (according 7 undergraduate courses.

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