The Netherlands’ university association has defended the growth of English-language courses at Dutch institutions, claiming that it will “enhance the quality of education” and boost the country’s “innovative strength and competitiveness”. Figures revealed by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant in August found that 60 percent of courses at Dutch universities are taught in English, and this increases to 70 percent when only Masters degrees are counted. The analysis was based on 1,632 degree courses at 13 of the country’s most research-intensive universities.

The growth of English-language courses has come under fire from some academics; one scholar claims that lectures delivered in English “lose subtlety and humour” and Dutch students’ English-language skills are not strong enough to “write and express themselves properly and without mistakes”. A poll by Dutch students’ union LSVb last year also found that 60 percent of students are confronted with incomprehensible lecturers owing to the rise of teaching in English.

But Bastiaan Verweij, a spokesman at the Netherlands’ Association of Universities (VSNU), which represents the interests of the country’s 14 research universities, told Times Higher Education that the elements that make up an international classroom include “a good mix of students from home and abroad and an approach to content that integrates the students’ cultural backgrounds into teaching”.

Robert Tijssen, chair of science and innovation studies at Leiden University, says the growth of English-language courses is an “almost inevitable impact of internationalisation processes” throughout the higher education sector and although “quality issues will emerge” these will be “resolved within a few years”. “I expect more European countries will be going in this direction, especially the smaller nations with open societies and service-intensive, international trade-oriented economies; their university graduates will benefit most from enjoying dual-language higher education,” he says.