dinsdag 8 november 2011

Multilingualism in education and in the Dutch labour market: do we understand each other?

Symposium

10 November 2011 at 13:30 hrs, welcome coffee at 13:00 hrs
Europe House, Korte Vijverberg 5-6, 2513 AB Den Haag

Please note, there is limited space therefore, we kindly ask you to confirm your presence to the following e-mail address: aleksandra.parcinska@britishcouncil.nl.

If you were you not able to attend, please, feel free to pass this invitation on to your colleague.

Overview
Multilingualism is becoming increasingly important, most notably in the business world. More than two in five European small and medium enterprises are engaging in international activity whilst approximately one quarter are directly involved in export as new markets are emerging. In addition, more and more people move to work in a foreign country.

Dutch people learn from childhood one or more foreign languages at school.
· Is the level of teaching and learning foreign languages in the Netherlands high enough for the international job market?
· Is English sufficient or is it time to pay more attention to other (“real”?) foreign languages, like Russian or Chinese?
· Do international organizations find the right multilingual candidates?
· What is the value of language tests?

Education specialists, recruitment agencies and employers operating in a multilingual environment will present the state of affairs in their fields. They will discuss the current situation and future challenges, make suggestions for improvements and possibilities for collaboration. The meeting is foreseen as a platform for open dialogue with each other and the audience. We would like to look for answers together.

Presentations and discussion will be conducted in Dutch. Please, refer to the attached file for detailed programme.

The afternoon symposium will be preceded by workshops for language testing experts from various language institutes in the Netherlands.

http://languagerichblog.eu/
http://language-rich.tumblr.com/