Bilingual degree options require improvement
Lola Adeyemo
Gateway Writer
Feb 15, 2012
More faculties should consider offering bilingual degrees. Even though the university is experiencing significant budget cuts, these should be made more available to students — or at least be in the works.
Presently at the U of A, both the Faculty of Business and the Faculty of Nursing partner with Campus Saint-Jean to provide students with the opportunity to graduate with a bilingual degree. For the bilingual BComm degree, students enrol in Campus Saint-Jean for their first year, and when admitted to the Faculty of Business in their second year, they switch back and forth between classes at the main campus and Campus Saint-Jean, either business courses in French or free electives.
Robin Cowan, Assistant Dean, Student Services and Community Affairs in the Faculty of Arts, explained that she had never heard about such a proposal being considered for the Faculty of Arts. She further indicated that such an idea would have to be “approved by the Deans (of both Faculties)and the government structures.” The program would then be evaluated to see if it should be a priority.
Bilingualism and multilingualism should be at the forefront of the discussions in all reputable universities if their students are going to play a vital role in the future of this increasing globally interdependent world.
Research by cognitive neuroscientist Ellen Bialystok indicates that bilingualism “sharpens the mind.” People who are actively bilingual use more of their executive control system which in turn makes their brain function more effectively. A similar result was concluded by researchers at London’s Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, who studied the brain densities of bilingual people. If universities serve to engage the minds of students, they should examine initiatives that encourage students to employ their minds in a new way. Aside from this neurological boost, the intensified mélange of cultures validates the importance of languages.
The purpose of a bilingual degree is that it would allow the students to interact with literature, history, politics, culture and society, at a more profound level. Learning a new language opens up a new world and the possibilities of understanding different perspectives. Each student is able to relate to thoughts in the author’s own language without a middleman. A bilingual degree can challenge university students to think differently.
With Canada as a bilingual country, we already have an edge. We just need to push further for it to mean something in the future. We need to go beyond French immersion, and encourage students to pursue studying in second languages. In the words of German businessman, Karl Albrecht, “change your language and change your thoughts.” The day will come when bilingual degrees will be a norm and we as a university should plan so that we are not playing catch-up.
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