De Haalbaarheid Van Engelstalig Onderwijs in Nederland

One way of internationalizing education is introducing an international language - such as English - as the medium of instruction. But for Dutch lecturers English is a foreign language, of which they problably have a less adequate command. This may raise the issue whether the quality of their instruction is affected by a change of instructional language. Research conducted at Delft University of Technology reveals that Dutch lecturers experience language-related limitations because of the switch from Dutch to English. These limitations pertain to their vocabulary, the redundancy of their subject matter presentations, and their clarity and accuracy of expression. Other findings reveal a decrease in lecturers' speech rate, their expressiveness and their improvising skills. Lecturers' reduced use of these teaching behaviours may decrease student learning. Developing teaching-performance-based language tests and language courses focusing on 'teaching in English' are one way of reducing this potential loss of educational quality.