FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The language committee here creates a web page of frequently asked language questions at KTH.

You are welcome to mail your questions to the language committee.

Question 1:

How should you use Swedish and English at examination? Are we obliged to implement all procedures concerning the assessment in Swedish if an individual student so desires?

Answer:

If it is stated in the official course syllabus that English will be used for the course and the students are informed about it at the start of the course, then a student may not require that the exam should be given in Swedish. However, a student cannot be prevented from answering in Swedish and fail because of this.

KTH is a Swedish government agency whose activities are governed by laws and regulations in Swedish. Course syllabi and other legally binding documents must therefore be in Swedish. English versions of legally binding documents such as couse and programme syllabi, curricula, protocols, etc. should only be seen as translations without legal effect.

Examination is an exercise of public authority. Students must always have the right to hand in their answers to an examination in Swedish, unless the test concerns knowledge of language ​​and linguistic terminology, irrespective of which language is mainly used in the teaching.

If a course is taught in a language other than Swedish, it must be prescribed in the official course syllabus. Students must be informed in advance that another language will be used. This applies even if the essential elements of the course will be given in another language and especially when another language is used in the examination.

On page 40 in "Rättssäker examination" (by Högskoleverket) the language of examination is discussed (in Swedish).

Question 2:

Do we need to have Swedish translations of every English web page where we describe the research of our group?

Answer:

It depends on the intended target group. Web pages that are only intended to be read by specialists in the area do not have to be translated into Swedish. But it is a good idea to describe the research of a research group in a popular scientific way in Swedish, to make it more accessible to the general public in Sweden.

The language policy does not require that there is a Swedish version of every web page. The language policy proposes a conscious language choice related to the intended target group. Since the research is mainly funded by the Swedish tax payers, they are entitled to know what results their money led to. And since Swedish is the official language in Sweden they are entitled to read about it in Swedish. Therefore we recommend each research group to maintain a web page with a popular scientific presentation of the research in Swedish.