CNaVT Dutch

GCSE courses in Dutch are no longer offered by British exam boards. Students instead follow the Certificaat Nederlands als Vreemde Taal (CNaVT – Certificate in Dutch as a Foreign Language) qualification.

Students will follow the Maatschappelijk Informeel (INFO) course. This is at level A2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and in line with the level expected in GCSE language qualifications.

Aims of the course

All four language skills are systematically developed through the course and there is a focus on skills such as translation, understanding authentic and literary texts and spontaneous speaking as follows:

● To develop students’ understanding of Dutch to the point where they can understand everyday conversations and extracts from a variety of media.

● To develop students’ spoken Dutch to enable them to cope with everyday situations in which they may use the language, to relate events giving their opinions and to cope with unpredictable elements.

● To develop their reading skills so that they can understand the main details from a variety of sources written in Dutch including letters, brochures and newspaper articles or extracts from stories.

● To improve their written skills to allow them to write short business letters, to recount events, or produce brochures using a variety of verb tenses and expressing opinions about and reactions to events.

● To allow students to transfer meaning of sentences from the foreign language into English and from English into Dutch.

How will the course be assessed?

The exam is divided in three parts:

● Part A Listening and Writing, taking approximately 25 minutes

● Part B Reading and Writing, taking approximately 70 minutes

● Part C Speaking, taking approximately 20 minutes

Student must pass all sections to pass the CNaVT examination.