Dutch language and culture

Teacher(s)

De Rycke Katrien (coordinator); Labate Simon;

Language

Dutch

Prerequisites

Level A2 of the «Common European Framework of References for Languages».

Main themes

The topics addressed in class aim at arousing the undergraduates' interests in Dutch-speaking countries' culture and history, both past and present.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of the course, the students should be able to   grasp the general content of articles and reports on topics connected with their interests or their field of study. Reading comprehension : level B1 of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages » understand the gist of TV  programmes concerning general topics and oriented towards their fields of interest in standard and clearly articulated English language. Listening comprehension: level B1 of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages » give their opinion on general topics (history, advertising, media, culture, ') covered in class. Speaking: level B1-  of the « Common European Framework of References for Languages ».

Content

Portfolio of texts and videos: cultural written and audio-visual sources about historical themes, art, language, lifestyle and  mindset of the people living in dutch speaking countries.

Teaching methods

The UE (course) is mainly given face-to-face with e-learning support.

• Training learners to become autonomous readers of authentic written documents
• Broadening the students' vocabulary scope
• Teaching key grammar points such as tenses, auxiliaries, connectives and the passive voice.
• Listening decoding strategies in a foreign language
• Role plays, debates, discussions

As regards speaking skills, the emphasis will be on fluency rather than accuracy.
Depending on the (health) situation, the course can be given in a hybrid or "comodal" way or we might possibly have to switch to distance learning.

Evaluation methods

The UE / course is based on continuous assessment with tests during the year and an exam in December or January and May or June.
Continuous assessment + December exam = 40% (written exam)

• vocabulary (25%)
• grammar (15%)

Continuous assessement + May exam = 60%

• Written exam
  reading comprehension: 20%
  listening comprehension: 20%
   
• Oral exam: discussion based on themes seen in class: 20%

Students who don't succeed in january or who handed in a medical certificate, must retake the exam in june.
This means they will be examinated on both the parts of january and june. If they don't take the exam, they will lose the benefit of this part of the exam and be given 0/20 for this part.

If students don't take the oral and/or written exam in june, they will be given an "unjustified absence", even if they have taken all the other parts of the exam.
Attendance at the course is compulsory. If the teacher deems it useful, he/she may ask the jury to prohibit a student who has not followed the learning activities regularly to register for the course examination (RGEE - art. 72).
If, for whatever reason, we switch to online and distance teaching, then:

• The results of the tests taken in class will be taken into account.
• The tests that have not been taken will be cancelled.
• The written exam will take place on a platform with “proctoring” (remote monitoring). If the proctoring platform for the written exam cannot be used for any reason, the written exam will be cancelled and be replaced by an oral assessment based on a discussion of the topics covered in the course and with vocabulary questions.Taking into account the health situation, if the possibility is however left to us to organise a face-to-face written examination, we will opt for this possibility and will organise a face-to-face written examination.
• The oral exam will take place on TEAMS.

If the teacher has doubts about a student's performance in a written exam, the teacher will question the student orally on the same subject in the days following the assessment in order to verify the student's competence.

Online resources

http://moodleucl.uclouvain.be

Teaching materials

• Syllabus

Faculty or entity

ILV