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Language Learning in Higher Education

Journal of the European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CercleS)

Editor-in-Chief: Szczuka-Dorna, Liliana / O’Rourke, Breffni

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

Lidy Zijlmans
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  • Radboud in’to Languages, Centre for Language and Communication at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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 / Anneke Neijt / Roeland van Hout
Published Online: 2016-10-06 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2016-0026

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Abstract

This article reports on an investigation of the challenges and benefits 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 non-native 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. In search of predictors for successful learning of Dutch (our first research question), LexTALE tests were administered to determine linguistic competence in the students’ first language, German, and their second language, English. In addition, we collected data on their educational background and language learning history. None of the LexTALE scores stood out as ‘the’ predictor for success in learning Dutch; German was a slightly better predictor than English. The best predictor appeared to be the students’ general educational level, expressed in mean grades for final exams in secondary education. We then studied the role of proficiency in the foreign languages needed for academic success. Language data on L3 Dutch were gathered at the start and were compared to study results after the first six months and at the end of the first year. The level of Dutch as a second language correlated with study results, expressed in 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

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About the article

Lidy Zijlmans

Lidy Zijlmans is senior lecturer for Dutch as a Second Language at Radboud in’to Languages, the Language Centre of the Radboud University Nijmegen. She has developed teaching tools and published text books for DSL. Currently she is doing research on the role of second language in Higher Education. She is presenting the results of this research at the 2016 CercleS conference.

Anneke Neijt

Anneke Neijt is professor emeritus of Dutch linguistics at the Radboud University Nijmegen. She has published on Dutch syntax, phonology, morphology and orthography, and she was formerly president of the Association for Written Language and Literacy. Together with the other authors of this article she developed a course on Dutch as a second language for the Master’s in Linguistics in Nijmegen.

Roeland van Hout

Roeland van Hout is professor of applied linguistics and variation linguistics at the Radboud University Nijmegen. He is the author of several monographs (e. g. with Rietveld on statistics in language studies) and editor of volumes on language variation, language attitude research and second language acquisition.

Published Online: 2016-10-06

Published in Print: 2016-10-01

Citation Information: Language Learning in Higher Education, Volume 6, Issue 2, Pages 473–493, ISSN (Online) 2191-6128, ISSN (Print) 2191-611X, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2016-0026.

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