National assessment of English in primary education in the Netherlands - This presentation will focus on the results that were collected in a nationwide assessment of proficiency in English (2006) in the final year (group 8 – age 11/12) of primary education. The position of English in the primary curriculum, teacher training, methods used, time spent on English lessons and results of the assessment in reading, listening, speaking and vocabulary will be discussed.
English teaching and exams at secondary schools in the Netherlands - Recently teaching methods for the older students (15 – 18 yrs) at Dutch secondary schools have undergone major changes. The debate on whether these changes are for better or for worse is still raging. The basic ideas behind this reform are that students need to take more responsibility for their own learning and that they should learn more skills instead of just gaining knowledge.
