General and academic Dutch - intermediate level

Teacher(s)

Bufkens Hilde (coordinator);

Language

Dutch

Main themes

The course is structured around themes related primarily to the daily life in a Dutch speaking environment, to the academic world and to the Flemish and Dutch culture in broad sense.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to : UNDERSTAND (reading or listening) : the argumentative scheme of factual texts, television programmes and newspapers written in current language and related to cultural matters or contemporary problems academic course notes related to his field of study most of an academic lecture related to his field of study, a normal conversation Level: B1+ SPEAK : expose his points of view and defend them keep, with some ease, a conversation or discussion with a native speaker, in standard language, on a general topic or a topic related to his field of study Level B1+ WRITE : a simple and coherent text on a familiar topic which is of direct interest to him or which is related to his field of study Level  B1- CULTURE the student has a knowledge of Dutch and Flemish cultural aspects and is able to use the appropriate strategies to establish contacts with native speakers . the student can perceive the differences and similitudes between his own culture and the culture of the target language

Content

This teaching unit aims at developing the communication practice while reinforcing the mastery of the code (vocabulary, grammar) through:

• Role plays, debates on various topics and discussions based on articles, videos
• Individual presentations  of a previously selected press article
• Group presentations on a topic related to the Flemish culture or on a topic related to the students'field of study
• A cultural trip to Flanders (visit of a Flemish town or an exhibition), chosen,  prepared and organized by the students.

Subject to the health context and the number of students enrolled, this excursion will be replaced by a powerpoint presention about the natural, architectural and artistic treasures of Flanders. 

Teaching methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

The Teaching Unit consists of classroom activities as well as a-learning activities.
Subject to the health conditions, the number of students enrolled and the availability of auditoriums, this course will either be given in face-to face mode or in distance learning mode by means of the platforms Teams and Moodle.
The more general vocabulary related to daily life, to the news items and to contemporary problems as well as the academic vocabulary are presented in the self-tuition syllabus.
The specific Dutch grammatical structures are also presented in the self-tuition syllabus with exercices and key to exercices.
The revision and expansion of the general vocabulary as well as the revision of grammatical points will be exercised through oral practice activities and self-tuition tests on the Moodle e-learning Platform. This will  require the spontaneous study of the code by the student who is responsible for perfecting his linguistic knowledge.
The debates, discussions and presentations also require a certain amount of preparation by the student. 

Evaluation methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

1. Continuous assessment (class participation, daily work, individual presentation of a press article) : 5 %
2. Oral test at the end of the quadrimester: group presentation on a topic selected by the students related or not to their field of study, in agreement with the teacher : 30 %
3. Oral interactive test at the end of the term based on the different topics and role-plays seen during the lessons: 15 %
4. Oral exam: individual presentation of a press reading file or a cultural file: 50 %

The different oral evaluations will take place in the classroom at the end of the quadrimester and/or during the January and/or June or on Teams according to the health context.
Warning: We apply the "absorbent absence" system. All parts of the tests are compulsory. If the student is absent (without official proof) for one of the parts of the evaluation (except formative tests), this will imply an “absence” mark for the entire evaluation. A student who has not taken part of this assessment will therefore be prohibited from enrolling in the other parts of the assessment. If the student does not pass the January test or hand in a medical certificate, he / she must take the exam again in the August session. Attendance at the course (face-to-face and / or distance learning) is compulsory. If the teacher considers it useful, she could suggest that the jury oppose registration for the course exam for a student who has not regularly followed the learning activities (RGEE - art . 72) During the August session, the student is required to complete an assignment and present an oral exam, the criteria of which will be defined by the teacher. Permanent assessment marks will only be taken into account if this is to the benefit of the student. If the health situation (or other crisis situation) does not allow a permanent assessment (for example following a switch to distance education), then: The activities and tasks would be adapted to allow work at home and the delivery of it remotely. Orals would take place on Teams. The weighting of these different parts could therefore be slightly modified.

Other information

Students who wish to enrol for this teaching unit must:

• have NO other Dutch class in their programme of that academic year
• receive the permission of the course coordinator at the ILV (i.e. make sure there is room left in the existing group(s))
• subsequently receive the permission of the restricted jury in their faculty in order to integrate this teaching unit into their year programme (no possibility to enrol as a 'free' student).

This teaching unit also aims at helping students to prepare their Erasmus stay in a Dutch speaking environment.

• Training staff: Classes in group of 15 to 20 students
• The teacher is available during his office hours and can be contacted by email
• Workload : 30h classroom hours
  42 hours of self-tuition

Bibliography

• Dossier de théorie grammaticale en ligne
• Grammatical theory file on the Moodle Platform

• Syllabus d'auto-apprentissage « néerlandais général et académique » LNEER1300 - LNEER1500
• Articles de presse
• Videos
• Plate-forme d'auto-apprentissage Moodle UCL

Teaching materials

• Dossier de théorie grammaticale en ligne
• Grammatical theory file on the Moodle Platform

Faculty or entity

ILV