Projects : Seminar : Intercultural competences

The course “Intercultural competences” is meant for teachers of Dutch that are interested in new methods for language and culture education, and that are connected to tertiary educational institutions outside the Netherlands and Flanders.

Central in this course is the concept of "intercultural competences". The introduction of "Competence based learning" has been one of the educational modernisations of the past years and the result is that all over the world competences are being defined, profiles created and portfolios put together. The course goals have been derived from the intercultural competences as defined in the Portfolio voor docenten Nederlands als vreemde taal. The course deals with subjects such as: Which competences are relevant for teachers of Dutch as a foreign language? How can a NVT-teacher put a portfolio together for themselves?

The next point of focus is didactics, with emphasis on the integration of language and culture. How can we integrate culture in language education and language in cultural studies? The Dutch as well as the Flemish culture will be dealt with. This happens in for instance the section that deals with the integration of recently released authentic material such as books, music, movies and websites. Another important subject dealt with is teaching the pragmatic aspects of communication. The main focus of the course is on the practice of teaching Dutch as a foreign language and where possible culture with a capital C will also receive some attention.

This course is organized on behalf of the Nederlandse Taalunie at the University of Amsterdam. The 'Steunpunt NVT' will be working together with teachers from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Flanders and Wallonia.

Information: Alice van Kalsbeek