Föreläsningar out, lectures in.
English is used more and more as the language of instruction at Swedish universities. But no one seems to know to what extent. Or how it affects the students.
The first-year students at the civil engineering program for ecotechnology are of to a flying start with the course “Hydrology and water ecology” on the schedule. Even though English is a universal language within many fields at the Faculty of Engineering, LTH, the first-year courses are usually given in Swedish. Until now. The new environmental technicians are the first technology students at LTH who have a major part of their education in English already from year one.
– It has become more common and probably will be even more common with regards to the Bologna Process. Many of the new master’s programs that are starting will largely be given in English, says Lars André, manager of Student Services at Lund University.
Like many others Lundagård has spoken to he is convinced that English is gaining ground at Swedish universities, and that this is just the beginning.
Globalisation in the classroom
The reason behind it is, above all, the increased internationalisation of the university.
– If we are to accept exchange students it is the only solution. I see it as a great advantage to globalise the classroom, says Björn Hansson professor at the Department of Economics.
– Almost all engineers and architects end up working for companies with strong international connections. Then it is not enough to know only the Swedish terminology, says the assistant dean at LTH, Per Warfvinge.
It is difficult to find any figures stating how much of the teaching that is done in English. The Higher Education Ordinance, largely controlling how universities are run, does not regulate the language of instruction. It is up to each university or faculty to decide.
So classes in English have surfaced here and there over time. There is no information on how many there are, neither for the country nor specifically for Lund University.
English lecture – fewer questions
No one seems to know how students are really affected by having more and more of their lectures in English.
– That is what we would like to study. We are thinking about starting a research project next year to see how teaching methods work in English, says Per Warfvinge.
Björn Hansson, who has taught the same economics classes in both languages, thinks that the students are more quiet if the lecture is held in English.
– Sometimes it is almost comical. At one lecture I was asked only one question, and that was from someone who thought that I wrote too far down on the board. There were not a lot of questions when the lecture was in Swedish either, but at least there were a couple of follow-up questions and discussions, he says.
He is supported by the meagre, yet existing, Swedish research on the area. In 2005, researchers at Uppsala University and the University of Kalmar studied how 22 students of physics handled lectures in Swedish as well as English. The result shows that it is mostly the tendency to ask questions that decreases when the lecture is no longer held in the student’s mother tongue.
No research on the consequences
Hedda Söderlundh is a postgraduate student at Uppsala University. Right now she is investigating to what extent Swedish students understand English course literature. She thinks that it is odd that universities allow English to take over without knowing how it affects the students.
– There is a lot of talk about it, but there are hardly any facts, she says.
Photo: Emma Svensson
Translation: Lin M Grimhammar
