Flemish Community Commission strengthens language support of Brussels students

Flemish Community Commission strengthens language support of Brussels students
Credit: Belga

The Flemish Community Commission (FCC) is investing €200,000 in projects that provide language support to students at the Erasmus University College Brussels (EhB) and Odisee.

The projects improve the language skills of vulnerable students in the graduate and teacher training programmes and ensure multilingual students who are ready for the Brussels job market, according to a press release from Sven Gatz, Minister of Multilingualism for Brussels.

“In order for students to graduate multilingual, the language support focuses on Dutch, as well as French and English,” Gatz said.

“This way, they are even better prepared for the Brussels labour market, where multilingualism is a must.”

In the French-speaking education system in Brussels, less than 10% of pupils graduate with a decent knowledge of Dutch.

The language support projects at Odisee and EhB were launched in early 2020 with the support of the FCC.

With this grant, EhB and Odisee can continue the language support projects next academic year.

In addition to tailor-made language support for individual students, a digital platform will be created where students can engage in self-study at their own pace, Gatz announced.

Group courses will also be organised, where students can be coached around certain language themes.

When the campuses come back to life this autumn, the colleges are organising low-threshold activities where students can practise their oral language skills.

The universities of applied sciences are also working on the professionalisation of lecturers.

In consultation with the heads of the study programmes, they’ll examine how language support can best be linked to the subjects and the curriculum.

The teaching materials are examined and adjusted and workshops are organised for lecturers.

By teaching them how to make their lessons more linguistically effective, the impact of language support will be even greater and it will become permanently anchored within the university colleges, says Gatz.


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