Multilingualism-day 2021

EMBRACING, STIMULATING AND APPRECIATING MULTILINGUALISM IN A FLEMISH UNIVERSITY OF APPLIES SCIENCES: WHAT, WHY AND HOW?

In the professional bachelor programmes - which are more focused on the Dutch-speaking professional field - a choice for Dutch as language of instruction is obvious. Moreover, Odisee research into the correlation between success rates and language skills among 8,052 first-year students shows that it is indeed necessary to train Dutch language skills, also because they are an important lever for social and economic mobility and society. Yet, in this super-diverse and globalised world, we cannot continue to cling to a one-sided Flemish-Dutch frame of reference that keeps the superdiverse reality outside the school walls.

With the approval of an 'Odisee-wide Multilingual Policy Plan'  the Executive Committee of Odisee instructed the Language Policy Steering Committee to harness the multilingual and cultural baggage of Odisee students. As a result, the diverse language backgrounds of students are valued as an advantage and as a talent, they are evaluated and certified instead of seen as a deficit or even an obstacle to teaching and learning. After all, a positive language attitude towards all languages has a positive influence on the well-being of all students.