8. Maintaining Danish as an academic language

This principle highlights the importance of learning to understand and use academic Danish as a key element of any bachelor degree programme. Learning a subject means acquiring academic knowledge; the methods, theories and practice of applying this knowledge in practice; and being able to read, talk and write about, discuss and disseminate such knowledge to many different target audiences across many different genres. Learning to interact with others and communicate knowledge at an appropriate academic level are skills that all students must acquire, regardless of their linguistic and educational background. It is therefore important that UCPH’s study programmes, in particular the bachelor degree programmes, integrate such skills into the courses. Interacting and communicating at an academic level must be explicitly addressed, practiced and discussed as key elements of all courses, and of the learning process generally, which lecturers and students have a shared responsibility to work actively on.

It is not only while studying that students must be able to understand and apply academic Danish, but also in all probability in the job they will do after university. UCPH’s graduates are employed in a wide range of different jobs, so degree programmes should be aimed at preparing students for these jobs regardless of whether they become upper-secondary school teachers, veterinary surgeons, pharmacists, researchers or lawyers.

Since communicating and interacting in Danish must be learned in the context of studying a specific subject on a programme, it should not be assumed that students have already acquired these skills during their upper-secondary education. As a result, universities can benefit greatly from collaborating with upper-secondary schools on reading strategies and genre knowledge as part of the preparation for further education.

On some courses, students can choose between different languages, e.g. for assignments and exams, so in this context it is even more important to talk about language choice and language use, as communication can vary significantly from language to language. As a teacher, you can involve your students in the following activities, which are designed to raise awareness of academic communication:

• discuss what characterises good and appropriate academic interaction and communication, both orally and in writing, based on, for example, presentations, articles and former students’ assignments
• discuss language choices and how communication can vary across different languages
• focus on the different genres, including specific genre characteristics that are typically associated with an academic subject
• focus on the speech acts that are used in different situations and with different types of tasks. These could, for example, include: describe, define, categorise, justify, compare and discuss
• give individual and constructive feedback on students’ written and oral interaction and communication in multiple languages

If you are a manager, teacher or supervisor, you are always welcome to contact CIP to learn more about how we can help integrate training in academic Danish and communication into your degree programme or course. CIP has many years of experience of developing initiatives to integrate academic language and communication into degree programmes, and we are happy to offer our services as sparring partners and teachers. In the longer term, it is usually more cost-effective if local teaching staff can take over and facilitate the exercises and activities involved in training in academic communication in Danish and other languages.

If you’re interested in knowing more about what we offer at CIP and our prices, please contact us at cip@hum.ku.dk or by phone + 45 3532 8639.