The role of second language in higher education: A case study of German students at a Dutch university

What is it about?

This article reports on an investigation of university students taking a degree course in a language other than their mother tongue. Our study was conducted from the point of view of the nonnative students themselves, and our primary concern was the role of language. We investigated the academic achievement of German students studying in a Dutch-English academic environment. Dutch is the main language of instruction, and English the main language of the literature used. We collected data on educational background and language learning history. Former education was the best predictor for study succes, but the level of Dutch language proficiency also correlated with study results, (ECTS); the correlation was even higher with mean grades on exams. This indicates that language proficiency does play a role in study success. Keywords: plurilingualism in higher education, academic language needs, study-abroad research Lidy Zijlmans, Radboud in’to Languages, Centre for Language and Communication at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, E-mail: l.zijlmans@let.ru.nl

Featured Image

Why is it important?

As internationalisation is becoming more and more important in Higher Education. More and more students gather scientific and professional knowledge and skills in another language than their mother tongue. How does this effect the result in higher education. Is there a higher drop out chance than when studying in a L1?