Insegnare in inglese abbassa la qualità: lo dicono Times Higher Education e la Conferenza dei rettori tedeschi

«Teaching in English arguably decreases the quality of teaching. The Rectors’ Conference of German Universities, in a widely disseminated resolution, pointed out this risk. […] In the end, what matters most in the job market are the technical skills acquired by students and these are best acquired through the mother tongue». A smorzare gli entusiasmi dei fan dell’internazionalizzazione è niente meno che Times Higher Education che pubblica un articolo intitolato “Why teaching in English may not be such a good idea“, firmato da Michele Gazzola, “member of the research group Economics and Language at the Humboldt University of Berlin and research fellow at the Institute for Ethnic Studies in Ljubljana“. Gazzola spiega il fenomeno europeo della rincorsa all’internazionalizzazione come un effetto collaterale delle classifiche internazionali delle università, che, sebbene basate su metodologie discutibili, sono costantementre riprese dagli organi di informazione. Tuttavia, ci sono studi che mostrano la maggior efficacia delle lezioni impartite nella lingua madre degli studenti. Anche la capacità di attrarre e trattenere i talenti stranieri potrebbe essere stata sopravvalutata: «Finally, teaching in English is not enough to attract and retain international students. In the Netherlands, according to official data published by the Dutch Ministry of Education, only 27 per cent of international students are actually working in the Netherlands after having obtained an English degree in that country […] One of the reasons discouraging international students from staying in Holland is their lack of skills in Dutch. Having studied two or three years only in English hinders the development of good skills in the local language and so it is harder for a country to retain their talent».

Link all’articolo: “Why teaching in English may not be such a good idea”

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