Methodologies and Practices

The demand for foreign languages has been increasing in India with the opening up of new avenues of employment both in the public and corporate sectors. This, in turn, has given an impetus to the teaching of foreign languages and the Department of Germanic and Romance Studies is widely recognised as one of the most important centres in India.

While the Department introduced an undergraduate programme (BA Hons) in four languages in 2002, part-time courses in foreign languages have been introduced in several colleges of the University. Some languages are also being offered as discipline courses in the BA Programme of the University. The demand for foreign languages has also resulted in the introduction of courses at the secondary and senior secondary levels in schools across the country. As a result, there is an increasing demand for qualified persons to teach these languages. In view of this, the Department has developed a part-time postgraduation programme - Diploma in Foreign Language Education - in collaboration with the Delhi-based cultural institutes / embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain (Alliance Française, Max Mueller Bhawan, Istituto italiano di cultura, Instituto Camoes, Aula Cervantes of the Cultural Section of Embassy of Spain).

Research in the methodology of teaching of foreign languages has also been growing steadily and the Department encourages research on the processes of acquiring foreign language skills, particularly in the Indian context. Material production for regular teaching and innovative teaching techniques (like ICT in language teaching) adapted to Indian conditions is also an important focus. Proposals of working in close cooperation with other departments like the Departments of Education and Linguistics to encourage new directions in research are also underway.

DIPLOMA IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION
(French / German / Italian / Portuguese / Spanish)

The Diploma in Foreign Language Education is a postgraduation programme for the formation of foreign language teachers. It offers a methodology and holistic perspective on teaching foreign languages in general and specifically in an Indian context.

The course is aimed at preparing future teachers of French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. It has been developed by the Department of Germanic and Romance Studies, University of Delhi, in collaboration with the Embassies and cultural institutes of France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain (Alliance Française, Max Mueller Bhawan, Istituto italiano di cultura, Instituto Camoes, Aula Cervantes of the Cultural Section of Embassy of Spain in New Delhi).

The concept underlying the course is that of collaboration both between the institutions mentioned above and across the five languages. It has been uniquely conceived to bring together future teachers of five different languages (French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) in a common course structure to create a methodological and pedagogical base for foreign language teaching in India. The common theoretical component will be taught in English and the language specific parts in each of the languages concerned. The collaboration between institutions and across languages offers the scope for optimal utilisation of resources, for networking of materials and expertise for the conduct of the course, and also for learning from each other.

The conceptualisation as well as the detailed designing of the course emerged from a number of curriculum development seminars and practical training workshops held over three years with international participation of renowned scholars and experts in the field of Foreign Language Education.

The course is designed as a one-year, part-time postgraduation diploma. It will provide training in Foreign Language Education (FLE) and emphasize the how of foreign language education, on the basis of both didactic and linguistic theories and practice.

The course will comprise of 116 hours of theory and 120 hours of practical work. This will include workshops to be held on two intensive weekends. Observation of classes may be done at different colleges, cultural centres, and schools.

See Course Structure