The history of the teaching of foreign languages in the low countries

Abstract

Summary The history of foreign language teaching in the Low Countries has not received a great deal of attention so far. The Low Countries cannot be said to be exceptional in that respect. Very little study has been made of the many primary and secondary sources that have come down to us from the Renaissance. What we do know of the history of Dutch FLT, shows no fundamental differences with what is known about FLT developments elsewhere. That conclusion holds true for the major issues of what aspects of language should be taught in FLT and how these should be taught, and for the particular role played in these matters by linguistics. The Netherlands, however, might turn out to be an extremely interesting country for the study of the history of FLT. It is a country in which there has always been a great deal of FLT and the country is internationally recognized for the quality of its FLT. On the other hand, there is virtually no Dutch contribution to the great developments in the field, especially with regard to reaching methodology.