Equality in two tracks Literary Studies
This project is about the equality in the two tracks of the bachelor’s programme Literary Studies/Literatuurwetenschap at Utrecht University. There is a bi-lingual track in which the students have 6 out of 8 courses in their first year in Dutch, as well as an all-English track. The project focuses on the equality in courses which were taught in both languages, with both Dutch as Medium of Instruction (DMI) and English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). The project goals were to ensure equality (≠ equal), for the chances students have to be successful in their studies and resulted in a list of factors may contribute to equality (see below).
Download the full report: Equality in the bi-lingual and English Tracks
Background
As the start point in both tracks is diverse, students in different tracks may differ in their needs in order to achieve an equal chance at success. Therefore, this report answers the question: Which factors are important to ensure students in the bi-lingual and English tracks to have equal chances to be successful in their studies?
This project took place in academic years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. During these academic years, education was disturbed due to measures related to the worldwide Covid19 pandemic. This means that less activities could be organised on campus and that some students were not in Utrecht while studying because they had to study online. This may have caused inequalities between Dutch and international students, probably affecting perceptions of the study.
Project description
Literary Studies started an English track in 2018, in addition to the already existing bi-lingual track. The two tracks of the bachelor Literary Studies share the same Croho-label and hence work towards the same end goals. During this project we have used a variety of methods in order to create an overview of both tracks and the important factors that contribute to equality. Data from these methods were taken together and analysed to distil these important themes:
- Expectations about the study programme
- Course materials
- Assessment
- Guidance
- Teacher and in-class interaction
- International classroom o
- Interaction outside of the classroom
Goals
The project goals were to ensure equality (≠ equal), for the chances students have to be successful in their studies.
Results
Our conclusion in this project is that the EMI and DMI classes of Literary Studies have overall achieved the equality they strive for. If you are working with two variants (bilingual and English) of the same program, resulting in the same diploma, the following list of factors may contribute to equality between the two tracks. Undeniably this list is not exhaustive.
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- Share the same information with students who are orientating for their studies. Make sure Dutch and English communication are in line with each other and contain as much information.
- Make sure that students know of the existence of two variants/tracks when they are orientating for their studies.
- Make sure to pay attention to settling in a new country for international students at the beginning of the first year.
- Involve the study association with both the DMI and EMI groups and make sure that collective events are organized.
- One teacher for a DMI and EMI course increases the chance of equal courses. If this is not possible, regular consultation between the various involved teachers in the same course in the DMI and EMI class is advised to stimulate comparable content of the courses.
- We noticed that extra information about presentation skills was experienced as useful by both the EMI and DMI groups. It may be worthwhile to investigate the already existing programs about these skills in the faculty, to see whether it is possible to join in these skills programmes, which may be available in the form of online modules.
- It is advisable to make the honours programme accessible for students from both tracks, also the students who do not speak Dutch.
- Preparing students in the DMI group for listening to and speaking in English in courses the DMI and EMI groups take together may be beneficial, as the DMI group might experience a disadvantage to the EMI group that takes all course in English.
- A study programme that consists of both an EMI and a DMI variant has an advantage for Dutch students, as they can also take advantage of the possible extra instruction or expectation management that international students need because of their different educational backgrounds.
- Taking advantage of the diversity by connecting to students’ backgrounds, using various examples and teaching materials from all parts of the world, makes the international classroom a rich learning context. The Dutch group may also benefit from the international classroom through experiences of teachers in the international group who also implement these in the Dutch group, but also through collaboration between the DMI and EMI groups.
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