The National Strategy for Foreign Languages in Denmark
The National Strategy for Foreign Languages in Denmark
Cuando Las Culturas Se Encuentran Con Las Lenguas
Innovación, retos, y competitividad tecnológica
29-30 de marzo de 2019 | República de Panamá
Who am I?
Jørgen Christian Wind Nielsen, Danish citizenship by birth. I lived all my life in the Greater Copenhagen Area.
My biography
Graduated from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in 1982 with a master’s degree in Spanish and English business translation and interpreting. State authorized translator in Spanish. CBS website.Graduated from Roskilde University (RUC) in 2004 with a master’s degree in computermediated communication. Roskilde University website
Stagiaire in interpreting in The European Parliament, 1985/1986, website.
Since 1983 – for 35 years - employee in “The Union of Communication and Language Professionals, Denmark” (Erhvervssprogligt Forbund / Forbundet Kommunikation og Sprog), a FIT member association. This association celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, and I am on the Planning Committee. Visit the website
Over the years I have worked with language politics, cooperation with universities, conferences, International Translation Day, International Mother Language Day, the European Day of Languages, etc., and political lobbyism.
I have been a member of the Council of the Danish Language Council (Dansk Sprognævn). Visit the website
I was a board member and President of the Danish Language Society (Modersmål-Selskabet), website
In FIT, the International Federation of Translators, I have taken part in congresses since 1993 (except one), I have been on Task Forces, working groups, etc. FIT's website.
I have written many articles in newspapers, in books and on the internet:
Kommunikationsforum, blog 1
Kommunikationsforum, blog 2
Språkförsvaret (The Language Defence, Sweden): Search for Nielsen, Jørgen Christian Wind, where I am an honourable member, website.
First time in Latin America since 1983. I was in Cuba twice, in Grenada and travelled along Los Andes.
I have a private company, Wind Kommunikation.
Mobile phone: +45 2035 8675
mail: wind.nielsen@webspeed.dk
mail: wind.nielsen@webspeed.dk
Blogs:
http://myliuserichsensalle.blogspot.com/
Language News on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sprognyheder/
Photos from Panamá 2019 – the pictures I take
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NoLXfxTCGZGLkD869
Also on Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Flickr and Tumblr
My collection of Rolling Stones music
https://musicforwind.blogspot.com/2018/04/rolling-stones-record-collection.html
What is Denmark? Vikings?
Denmark in Northern Europe – on top of Germany
Source: https://www.infoplease.com/atlas/europe
Wikipedia
“Denmark is one of the most economically and socially developed countries in the world. Danes enjoy a high standard of living and the country ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including education, health care, protection of civil liberties, democratic governance, prosperity, and human development. The country ranks as having the world's highest social mobility, a high level of income equality, is among the countries with the lowest perceived levels of corruption in the world, the eleventh-most developed in the world, has one of the world's highest per capita incomes, and one of the world's highest personal income tax rates.”Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark
Use of mobile phones or smartphones 2013
Source:The Ministry of Culture
Use of social media 2016
År = Age
Source: The Ministry of Culture
What is this presentation about?
Denmark is a very small country and completely depending on full integration in global trade, increasingly based on digital communication, in order to maintain our high level of prosperity.
For years Denmark has experienced a lack of demand for foreign language programmes, resulting in the subsequent closing down of a big number of foreign language training programs at university level and below, including teacher training for public schools and high school. At a time in history where knowledge about foreign languages and foreign cultures is paramount, the pool of knowledge in the said domains is diminishing in Danish industry and in Danish society in general.
A network of influencers has worked for years to remedy the situation. Finally last year, the Danish Government allocated a huge sum of money to the language sector , accompanied by a report: “The National Strategy for Foreign Languages in Denmark” .
”So long, farewell, au revoir, auf Wiedersehen.”
“The interest of young people for languages is diminishing. But good language competences are essential for the formation of the youngsters, and the companies are increasingly hiring employees who know foreign languages”, says the Danish Minister of Education Merete Riisager.”
“The language subjects are losing out. This is unfortunately the clear conclusion if one takes a closer look at the interest of young people for languages. Therefore, today I have booked a meeting with the political representatives of the high school sector about the receding interest in the language subjects. I hope that we jointly can make some changes that make the young people opt for languages.”
”In 2017, only one in 10 opted for languages in high school, and at the universities the number of new students is decreasing. This year the number of new students decreased 15 per cent from 2017 to 2018. Even worse is business languages, where the decrease was 22 per cent. Less than 100 students have opted for German and French at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Aarhus as their first choice. It is easy to understand that we need to change this development.” Source.
What is the problem?
“The problem is nevertheless significant. The proportion of Danish high school students with three foreign languages fell from 33% in 2007 to 4% in 2015. Foreign language studies at university level are also declining, and it is a major quality issue that other disciplines and programs can only use texts in Danish and English.” Source: Hanne Leth Andersen, Head of Roskilde University.
The University of Aalborg, January 2019: "In 2014 we admitted 210 students at bachelor level. As of 2018 we admit only 83 at bachelor level because of the numerus clausus, and at the same time we couldn't even fill all seats on BA in Spanish and German and in Spanish and German at master level."
Read my presentation here.
Overview of closed language courses.
Development 2005 – 2015: From 92 to 52
This map is made by Arts, the University of Copenhagen. Can you imagine, drawing up maps over closed language programs!
University of Copenhagen
Bulgarian, Dutch, Korean, Greek
Copenhagen Business School
All translation and interpreting profiles except English: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian. Copenhagen Business School no longer has foreign languages except English
University of Roskilde
French and German. The University no longer has foreign languages except English
University of Southern Denmark
French, German, Spanish and Arabic business languages
University of Aarhus
Finnish, Czech, Hungarian, Italian
University of Aalborg
French
"When the last business language program, EOK, at CBS was closed down in September 2017, the Senior Management made reassurances that they didn’t plan any job cuts at that time.
However, they pointed out that supply and demand within the field of language could change in the future. And now it has changed". ... “In the autumn of 2017, CBS decided to phase out the BA programs EOK and IMK, and to convert the latter to the BSc portfolio. The execution of this phasing out/reorganization means that a number of tasks, related to subject areas that were previously central to CBS, will in time no longer apply". Source: CBS Wire 13. February 2019.
2016: Finally, a National Language Strategy
New strategy aims to get Danes speaking more languages
"Foreign language skills are vital for Denmark’s ability to benefit from partnerships with other countries", says (former) Minister of Science, Technology, Information and Higher Education Søren Pind.
Denmark’s government has announced an investment of DKK 100 million (15,345,400 usd) in an initiative aiming to improve Danes’ abilities to speak foreign languages other than English.
A high demand for, for example, French- or German-speaking engineers makes foreign languages such as these worthwhile for Denmark, a country which already excels in English, according to Pind. Source here.
“Denmark is a country with 5,5 million people with 500-600 million living in nearby countries. We are influenced by our surroundings and there are many places in which English is not first choice,” the minister said.
“It is important that Danes can get by in Germany and France, since we are an ancient trading country and an open economy," he added.
The aim of the new strategy is to encourage more Danish students to choose to learn more foreign languages in addition to English, rather than as an alternative to it. Language study programs will also be designed to train students in practical skills that can be used on the job market, in order to attract the most talented young people.
“Language skills are part of personal development. If we are to have adults with good and broad language skills, the work starts at a young age. Individual students must be inspired at an early age with high quality language lessons,” Minister for Education Merete Riisager stated in a written comment.
The central element of the new strategy will be the opening of a new national centre for foreign languages. DKK 99 million (15,191,946 usd) will be spent on the centre, where tasks will include development of language education at junior and high schools as well as colleges, teacher training programmes and universities.
The remaining DKK 1 million (153,454 usd) will be spent on training interpreters for international conferences, who will also be able to provide translation services for businesses and EU institutions. Source: The Local.dk
The languages strategy is an important first step
The Rector at Roskilde University, Hanne Leth Andersen 16 December 2017, says:
"Denmark now has a national languages strategy. This strategy did not make a lot of fuss about itself, probably because not all politicians agree on its importance. After all, the willingness to take action for foreign languages other than English is not the primary focus for everyone.
The problem is nevertheless significant. The proportion of Danish high school students with three foreign languages fell from 33% in 2007 to 4% in 2015. Foreign language studies at university level are also declining, and it is a major quality issue that other disciplines and programs can only use texts in Danish and English.
Without action, there will be more blind spots on the world map since people will not have access to historical sources, literary texts or to the internet in languages other than English. The result is a smaller universe, fewer shades and a poorer ability to meet the world – both in the labour market and as a citizen in society.
Of course, not only language teachers and researchers can see the problem – Danish business life has for a long time been warning about this: not only cultural heritage and general education is threatened, but also Danish companies' competitiveness.
Now, the Danish government has realised these dangers. With the new strategy, the government acknowledges the challenges and sets up two main objectives:
• • More students must choose foreign languages and achieve solid language skills beyond English, and
• • Language education, and language teacher education, must attract and retain the most talented students.
The strategy proposes seven initiatives. The most important is the establishment of a national centre for foreign languages. The government schedules DKK 99 million (15,191,946 usd) over the coming five years for this. The amount is difficult to judge, but the will to coordinate is central in the present situation. There will be a need to find more funding to support the work, but now that the government has declared its support, there is hope for more.
The national centre is to some extent inspired by the Norwegian language centre. The Danish centre will have two poles, one in the east and one in the west of the country, which corresponds to the idea formulated by Danish universities about establishing two power centres for foreign languages as the basis for more extensive cooperation with the professional colleges.
The new national centre should establish a coordination between all institutions offering language courses and integrating language skills into other courses. It should also support capacity building and development of languages strategies at schools and institutions. The overall strategy that applies from primary school to higher education is significant.
Local foreign languages strategies
The second initiative is a strong encouragement for municipalities and educational institutions to develop local languages strategies in order to strengthen foreign languages at individual schools and institutions; this call is necessary and should be an obligation. For many years, we have witnessed that French was closed down at local elementary schools because the continuation was not offered at the upper secondary schools in the area. And the other way around.
Also, institutions of higher education should develop language strategies focusing on how foreign languages integrate into other subjects. There is a serious need for academics who combine language skills with another professionalism, people who can handle German, French and Spanish, as well as Arabic and Chinese – at a high written and oral level – while having a professionalism beyond the language.
Lastly, it is positive that the strategy untightens certain regulations so that universities and teacher education colleges can continue the process of rethinking and strengthening their cooperation.
What the languages strategy does not mention, however, is that some of the reasons for the languages crisis are also structural, meaning that legislation, lack of resources or incentives in other directions have reinforced them.
An example is the high school reform, which has focused on sciences and caused a fragmentation of the languages and language levels, with too few students in each group and thus many cancellations.
It is important that the government sets out to utilise some of the actions used to strengthen the natural sciences – such as making mathematics obligatory – but now for the advantage of foreign languages.
A follow-up group will be established which will review progress annually, including the languages initiatives in recent years’ reforms and monitoring the specific initiatives in the strategy. Against that background, the national centre will make recommendations.
Then one would hope that more support will follow, and that institutions and professional bodies will use the strategy to move forward, together. It is time for action and no time for quarrelling."
Hanne Leth Andersen is a professor and rector of Roskilde University in Denmark. She chaired the working group on languages under the ministry of education, making recommendations for a languages strategy for the Minister in December 2016. She was also a member of the follow-up group for the Minister of Education and Research where the staff of the ministry was coordinating the work. Source: University World News
The Moderns Language Association, USA: A true national security threat — foreign language programs disappearing
By Dan Hamilton and Stacie Nevadomski Berdan Updated 5:00 pm PST,
Wednesday, February 20, 2019.
In January, the Modern Language Association reported that colleges across
the country have shut down a “stunning” 651 language programs over the past
three years. This astounding news did not make headlines. It is a quiet crisis
— and a harbinger of peril for the next generation of U.S. leaders. Source.
Conferences leading to the strategy
Languages are the Key to the World: One step further towards a national strategy for foreign language teaching, February 2012, link/. PicturesHearing on the strategy, 2016: Challenges, Perspectives and Solutions on the language front – Ministries of Education and Research. Pictures
Hearing on the strategy, Confederation of Danish Industries (DI) and The Danish National Union of Upper Secondary School Teachers, GL, 2017. Pictures
Yes to Languages, Confederation of Danish Industries, April 2016. Pictures.
New Year New Strategy, University of Copenhagen, January 2018. Pictures.
"The Danish Government's strategy A Strategy to strenghten foreign languages in the education system offers seven initiatives which as a whole will contribute to the development that more pupils and students will obtain solid language competences for the benefit of the individual, the labor market and society in general."
With the strategy comes DKK 100 million(15,345,400 usd) for the five year period 2018-2022 with the purpose to launch new initiatives.
Challenges, according to a conference in 2018:
How does the Strategy define the challenges:
- The young ones opt out the languages
- Lack of cohesion in the training progammes
- Too few graduates master languages in combination with other skills
- The quality of the language training programmes can be improved, but the provision of good language teachers may be a problem
- The closing down of small language and area studies
- Lack of translators in Danish companies and lack of (Danish) interpreters in the European Union
Objects of the Strategy:
- More pupils and students shall choose and obtain solid language competences besides English
- The language programs and courses shall be professionally strong and relevant so they can attract and hold the best students. This also applies to the language training for teachers
Seven initiatives from the Government:
- Establishing a National Center for Languages
- Formulating local language strategies in the municipalities and at the training institutions
- A mapping of existing post graduate training programs in foreign languages
- Room for experiments at the training institutions
- Rethinking of the small languages, setting up of a Council for small languages (it should be noted that small languages refers to number of students, e.g. Arabic, Hindi, Swahili and so on)
- Funding for a post graduate training course for conference interpreters (especially for the European Union)
- Advisory Group and a yearly status
Yes to Languages, Confederation of Danish Industries, April 2016. Pictures.
New Year New Strategy, University of Copenhagen, January 2018. Pictures.
Analysis according to this conference, a new book:
Point of departure: The market logic has failed. Political level:
- Educational policies as a tool for business and growth
- Navigation based on economic analysis and statistical material only
- Ideas about large scale economies and fast progression spoils the quality and destroys the professional environments
- Rentability as compass has only one result: Closing down of the language programmes
Example of a showcase in a Danish newspaper:
Attitudes: "The communication with the Spanish museum has been difficult because the architect in Alicante only speaks Spanish. Emails with details about the big viking ships have been written with the assistance of Google Translate, and this hasn't been ideal. "I am really uncertain about the texts in the exhition", says the curator Anni Mogensen (...) There has been a misunderstanding. The (Danish) National Museum has sent three text types related to each item, a shorter one, a longer one and a long one for the (Spanish) museum to choose. But the Spanish museum has put all the three texts on the wall together." Source: Newspaper Politiken, 22.06.2016
Official opening of the National Center for Foreign Languages, 2018. Pictures.
Welcome!
Resumé in English of the national strategy for foreign languages in Denmark – formulated by the Danish Ministry of Education. Summary of the government’s strategy for strengthening foreign languages in the educational system:
Foreign language skills are important to Denmark
Denmark requires a workforce that masters foreign languages at the highest level since language and cultural understanding forms a pivotal basis for Danish influence, growth and prosperity. As such language is of great importance for Denmark’s economic collaboration and trade with the world around us.
Foreign language skills are also an important prerequisite for Denmark’s ability to work across national boundaries on important international matters both on a Nordic, European and global level. When political leaders meet to make economic decisions or discuss humanitarian crises, foreign language skills and understanding of foreign cultures is a prerequisite for cooperation and influence.
Finally, foreign language skills give access to a diversity of knowledge, culture and history which opens doors to the world around us. Even though technology allows us to translate foreign language text without much language skills, technology does not provide linguistic understanding and cultural insight, which are prerequisites for being able to use the language correctly and benefit from all the opportunities that foreign languages afford us.
Reversing a negative development of the language area
For the past couple of years there has been concern for a generally decreasing level of foreign language competencies.
Both politically and within the educational institutions there has been a focus on strengthening language in the educational system. Unfortunately, our ambition of getting more stakeholders interested in languages has not yet been successful. On the contrary, fewer students are choosing languages in upper secondary schools or as a subject when studying to become a teacher, and the rate of applications to university language programs has declined.
During the last couple of years, a number of language programs at Danish universities have been shut down, and it continues to be a challenge that a number of municipalities do not offer a broad selection of foreign languages in primary and lower secondary schools.
Simultaneously, it has become apparent that there are a number of concerns in university language programs revolving around quality, which among other things becomes evident when considering high drop-out rates and high unemployment.
Furthermore, the business community and the EU interpretation service have indicated that they have trouble recruiting interpreters and translators with sufficient levels of language competence.
The government devotes DKK 100 million (15,345,400 usd) to reversing the development and launches seven new initiatives.
The purpose of the government’s language strategy is to support the connection between the supply of language education and the demand for language competences in Denmark. The government has the following objectives:
Objective 1: More students shall choose foreign languages and gain strong competencies within languages besides, or in addition to, English
Objective 2: Language education programs should be academically strong and relevant and attract and retain the most talented students. The same is true for language teaching as part of teacher training education.
Based on the objectives of the government the government is launching the following initiatives:
1. DKK 99 million (15,191,946 usd) has been earmarked for establishing and operation of a national centre for foreign languages. Its most important task will be to boost the language area across the entire education system. The centre will be rooted in both east and west Denmark.
2. The municipalities and the educational institutions are encouraged to devise local language strategies which states what is done to strengthen the foreign language at the individual schools and institutions.
3. A five-year free education pilot project will be established within the subject of foreign language education for teacher training programs and the university language programs, in order to strengthen the quality and attract more skilled students.
4. DKK 1 million (153,454 usd) will be devoted to a graduate program in conference interpretation in order to support a future supply of interpreters for Danish businesses and EU institutions.
5. An advisory group will be established, which will make an annual status of the development within the language area, including the language action which is included in last years’ reforms, as well as monitoring the initiatives in the language strategy.
6. The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science launches a mapping of existing foreign language offers within the area of adult education and continuring training. The mapping shall create an overview and help decide if the existing offers match the needs for foreign language skills in the labour market.
7. A Minor Subjects (small languages) council will be established to rethink the existing minor subjects scheme, which provides economic support to minor humanities subjects that safeguard a national interest.
Tasks for the Advisory Group
BackgroundIn the National Language Strategy to strenghten foreign languages in the educational system, the Government has decided to set up an Advisory Group
Purpose 1
The Advisory Group shall make an annual status on the development within the language area, including the efforts from the recent years reforms, and monitor the initiatives in the language strategy.
The Advisory Group shall particularly focus on
• Passing from one level to the next in the educational system
• Foreign language possibilities and choices in Primary School
• Possibilities and preferences in High School and academic level, including which languages are most preferred and the number of students
• The quality of the courses and the professional level of the students
• The needs of the labour market
Each year the National Center for Foreign Languages shall make recommendations for future initiatives. These recommendations shall be included in the work of the Advisory Group. The recommendations might articulate particular substrategies to help reach the goals of the national language strategy
Purpose 2
The language courses must be professionally solid and relevant so that they can attract and retain the best students. This also applies to language training at the teacher training courses. Key indicators must be established so as to support the work of the Advisory Group
Breaking News, January 30, 2019:
Improvement of the second foreign language in Primary School (French/German, from 5th grade)
"Prioritizing special subjects:
- The political parties agree to allocate 30 lessons extra to the start up of the 2nd foreign language as of the school year 2020/2021, so that the pupils get 2 lessons a week (instead of one) and so that they have a good language start and a sufficient outcome of the instruction in German or French."
Source: Altinget uddannelse
Confederation of Danish Industries – Do business in French speaking countries!
Conference in Copenhagen March 2019
"If you can manage in French, you can do business better on French speaking markets, and the population is increasing, and increasing fast in Africa. Come and listen to business leaders tell about their experience with doing business in French speaking countries. How good do you need to be in French to make a difference? And what role does Culture play?" Source.
Interview in the first newsletter from the National Center for Foreign Languages in Denmark, February 2019, with the Danish Minister of Education and Research Tommy Ahlers:
"To me it is a key issue, that Denmark has strong competences in foreign languages, so that we as a small nation can get along in a global world". Quotation Tommy Ahlers.
Q: "Why do you find it important to have a good knowledge of more than one language?"
A: "As stated also in the Government's National Strategy for Foreign Languages, the development indicates that the mayor European languages such as French and German will gain importance for Denmark in the years to come - and also outside of Europe we see signs that more Danes will need to master other languages than English. Only the fact that China will play a decisive role in the world economy will probably have a mayor influence on the language competences that we will need in future." Source.
Q: "It is a general belief that it is enough to know English, because all the world speaks English - what is your opinion about that?"
A true national security threat — foreign language programs disappearing
In January, the Modern Language Association reported that colleges across the country have shut down a “stunning” 651 language programs over the past three years. This astounding news did not make headlines. It is a quiet crisis — and a harbinger of peril for the next generation of U.S. leaders. Source .
A: "When one speaks and understands other languages, one can manage on a global level. This is why it is so important that you know other languages than your mother tongue".
By Dan Hamilton and Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, February 20, 2019
Time to Act – the Importance of Learning German and French as a Foreign Language in Sweden
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The Institut Français de Suède, the Goethe-Institut Schweden and the Representation of the European Commission in Sweden would like to invite you to a seminar focusing on the European language learning - especially French and German in Sweden.
https://ec.europa.eu/sweden/events/20190314-languages_sv
What would you do?
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