1. Netherlands Defence Staff Dr. C.J. Helsloot Language Coordinator cj.helsloot@mindef.nl BILC Seminar Varna, October 2010 Aligning training and testing in support of interoperability The present status in The Netherlands

2. Ministry of Defence 2 BILC Seminar, Varna L’Infinito […] E il naufragar mi e’ dolce in questo mare. Giacomo Leopardi, 1819

3. Ministry of Defence 3 BILC Seminar, Varna The scenario framework: 2010-2030

4. Ministry of Defence 4 BILC Seminar, Varna Aligning testing and training in support of interoperability Presupposes that: Language training takes place at different levels; Language training is task-specific; Language tests are available; Language training & testing is regulated and registered.

5. Ministry of Defence 5 BILC Seminar, Varna Aligning testing and training in support of interoperability Presupposes the existence of: a Language Policy a Defence Language Institute

6. Ministry of Defence 6 BILC Seminar, Varna Present status in the Dutch Armed Forces There is a Language Policy document accepted in 2007 by the Defence Administration but there is no Defence Language Institute

7. Ministry of Defence 7 BILC Seminar, Varna Present status in the Dutch Armed Forces No Defence Language Institute No implementation of the policy

8. Ministry of Defence 8 BILC Seminar, Varna Present status in the Dutch Armed Forces Language Policy document (BR 8.03; 2007) English is a basic military skill for (almost) all personnel Development of a STANAG 6001 test for English Registration of the languages known by all personnel Analysis of the language needs within all Staff and Ops commands Investing in languages other than English, e.g., French, Mandarin, Hindi, Russian, Arabic, Spanish Use of language learning technologies

9. Ministry of Defence 9 BILC Seminar, Varna

10. Ministry of Defence 10 BILC Seminar, Varna

11. Ministry of Defence 11 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present The Dutch armed forces consists of 70,000 employees  50,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilians Staff 2,000 Support Command 10,000 Defence Materiel Organisation 7,000 Army 26,000 Air Force 8,000 Navy 10,000 Marechaussee (MP) 7,000

12. Ministry of Defence 12 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present Which languages? Military Academy: English (once also French) Officers Military School: English Non-commissioned Officers

13. Ministry of Defence 13 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present Which languages? (non-individually taught) Russian until 1990 English since 1994 [German (Cold War; 1995 German/Dutch Corps)] Serbo-Croatian between 1998 and 2002 Pashto between 2007 and 2010 French since 2008

14. Ministry of Defence 14 BILC Seminar, Varna

15. Ministry of Defence 15 BILC Seminar, Varna

16. Ministry of Defence 16 BILC Seminar, Varna

17. Ministry of Defence 17 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present English Classes Initial education Officers  Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA): 80 hours ( only first year, only 36 contact hours) NCO’s  Royal Military School (KMS): 22 hours Secondary education Pre-deployment refresher courses: 30 hours (professional level) or 60 hours (functional level) Medical personnel course Writing Air Force school: air traffic controller course, F16 technician course Navy school

18. Ministry of Defence 18 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present Language Teaching Personnel English: 12 full positions (fte) French: 0,5 Russian: 1,5 Dutch: 1,5 Research personnel: 2 Support personnel Office for Interpretation: 3 Office for Translation: 8

19. Ministry of Defence 19 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present No English language education for: Civilians Privates/Corporals Conclusion At least 65% of employees of the Dutch military forces does not get any English language education. Lessons Identified ISAF English proficiency is mostly insufficient at all ranks.

20. Ministry of Defence 20 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: past & present Moreover, English proficiency is insufficient not only within the military, but throughout the Dutch society. Who’s to blame?

21. Ministry of Defence 21 BILC Seminar, Varna

22. Ministry of Defence 22 BILC Seminar, Varna Language policy in the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) Primary school Since 1986: English is compulsory at primary schools from the age of 10 years. Barcelona Convention 2002, 2 FLs at an early age. In 2008, the Dutch Council of Education (Onderwijsraad) advised teaching English much earlier, from 4 or 6 years. Although not yet compulsory, in 2010 about 200 primary schools have initiated Early Bird programmes.

23. Ministry of Defence 23 BILC Seminar, Varna Language policy in the Netherlands Secondary school Only since 1998 English is compulsory at all levels Pre-university school (VWO): 12-18 Higher general secondary school (HAVO): 12-17 Lower vocational level (VMBO): 12-16 German or French Arabic, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Frisian

24. Ministry of Defence 24 BILC Seminar, Varna Language policy in the Netherlands NEW Secondary school From 2012 on, there will be a minimum requirement: an insufficient mark for English is not allowed, almost insufficient, must be compensated Content and Language Integrated Learning Bilingual secondary schools (NLD-ENG) 112 pre-university education 25 higher general secondary education 20 lower vocational education National agency, European Platform, in charge of thequality control

25. Ministry of Defence 25 BILC Seminar, Varna Language policy in the Netherlands NEW Intermediate Vocational Education Community College English is compulsory, from 2010 onwards Catching up

26. Ministry of Defence 26 BILC Seminar, Varna

27. Ministry of Defence 27 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: present & future NEW Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Defence introduced military curricula Intermediate Vocational Education (16-18 years) Security and Craftmanship Level 1 (Corporals):90 contact hours of English Level 2 (NCOs):150 contact hours of English

28. Ministry of Defence 28 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: present & future NEW Pilot Survival course (SLP 1) through blended-learning Willem van der Plaat 2009 Digital course: Pashto for the Military

29. Ministry of Defence 29 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: present & future NEW Classes in English (CLIL) From 2011 at the Defence Institute of Intelligence and Security Out-in-the-field English, guided by language experts and highly proficient military content-based instructions

30. Ministry of Defence 30 BILC Seminar, Varna Present status in the Dutch Armed Forces Language Policy document (BR 8.03; 2007) English is a basic military skill for (almost) all personnel Development of a STANAG 6001 test for English Registration of the languages known by all personnel Inventory of the language needs within all Staff and Ops commands Investing in languages other than English, e.g., French, Mandarin, Hindi, Russian, Arabic, Spanish Use of new language learning technologies

31. Ministry of Defence 31 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: future Since 2008 Defence Language Platform By 1 Oct 2010, Project Team Language to draw up a plan for a Defence Language Institute

32. Ministry of Defence 32 BILC Seminar, Varna Language within the Dutch armed forces: future Defence Language Institute Education & training Research & Development Collaboration joint & combined Testing & Registration

33. Ministry of Defence 33 BILC Seminar, Varna The scenario framework: 2010-2030

34. Ministry of Defence 34 BILC Seminar, Varna Questions Which countries have a defence language institute? How are they organised? What are their aims and objectives? Are there models available regarding planning & control? I would be happy to get answers.