2. International employees’ Danish-language skills

Principle 2.1 states that tenure-track assistant professors, associate professors, and professors are expected to be able to contribute to teaching in Danish 3-6 years after their employment. Principle 2.2 points out that it is vital that this expectation be communicated clearly in job adverts, job interviews, and during the first years of employment.

Prospective employees cannot be expected to know the University of Copenhagen’s language policy in detail when applying for a job or being interviewed for a position. It is therefore vital that expectations regarding language are communicated clearly in job adverts as well as during job interviews. It is the responsibility of the relevant management team to make sure that this happens.

In addition to making the Danish language requirement explicit, it is equally important for management to explain what the requirement entail (and what it does not entail), why the requirement is there in the first place, and how it can be fulfilled in practice. This will naturally involve stipulating what kind of support and services prospective and current employees can expect to help them meet the language requirement (as discussed under Principle 2.1).

For some applicants, the prospect of having to learn a new language as part of a new job will – quite understandably – seem like a daunting task that will take time away from other important tasks. For others, being invited to learn the local language might be a welcome challenge and something that is seen as a ‘natural’ part of taking up a position in a new country. No matter what the starting point is, it will be important for management and employees to establish an open and frank conversation about the challenges and opportunities involved in working in a country where English is the default working language in many academic contexts, but where Danish also continues to play an important role in informal contexts as well as more formal settings.

For management, it will be important to state clearly how the Danish language requirement can be fulfilled in practice. It might not be possible to describe this in detail in a job advert, but it would be quite possible to refer to a page on the department website detailing how language learning is supported and organized within the department. Such a webpage would also be a good place to explain what being ‘able to contribute to teaching in Danish’ is taken to mean in the context of the department, perhaps by citing specific examples of successful parallel language practices already in place at the department.

These matters should also be touched upon in job interviews - not to scare off prospective employees, but to provide a fair understanding of what the expectations are and ideally also to dispel some of the worries that applicants might have regarding the language requirement.

After the recruitment phase, it will be important to ensure an ongoing dialogue about language with the individual employee. For many employees, the Danish language requirement generates stress and anxiety, and it will be important to offset this by setting explicit and realistic goals, for instance as part of the annual MUS, and also as part of a more general department policy.

At CIP, we are more than happy to offer advice on how best to communicate about the language situation at the University of Copenhagen and the challenges and opportunities it presents.

We can also facilitate workshops for departments or other units at UCPH that would like inspiration for how to implement the language policy locally. We have developed various workshop formats that are useful for facilitating what can be quite difficult conversations about language. Such conversations may also involve the question of how the department might best welcome new employees and help them settle in the multilingual language environment at the University of Copenhagen – and Denmark more generally.

Post recruitment, we offer Danish language courses that are directed specifically at teaching-related activities. This means that we offer help in developing language skills required for specific communicative tasks in academic contexts rather than developing general language skills.

If you’re interested in knowing more about what we offer at CIP, please contact us at cip@hum.ku.dk or +45 35 32 86 39.