The Power of Students’ Subjectivity Processes in Foreign Language acquisition: The Example of the Language Profiles at Roskilde University, Denmark

Since September 2012, Roskilde University offers a new series of supplementary courses to all students within human and social sciences – in addition to their specific studies. The overall aim of these courses, which run from 1st to 3rd semester, is to sustain and develop the competences of the students in reading and communicating in French and German as part of their academic learning process (Bojsen 2012). In this framework we are already on new ground within the established practice of FL teaching and learning in Denmark as this practice has traditionally been confined to language courses and degrees and diplomas in particular foreign languages. However in this case, the students are not inscribed as students of foreign languages. Their subjectivity process is thus not that of a student of French or German, but rather of pedagogy, cultural studies, economics, development studies or other educational programmes situated within the two faculties.
As a consequence, we are trying to meet and influence the subjectivity processes that the students go through as they enter university. This article offers a presentation of how we work with the notion of subjectivity and interlanguage in the ongoing development of this innovative work which is carried out in a test period running from 2012 to 2016 provided that the necessary funding remains available.