Working group of the language centers
| Working Group of Language Centers at Universities (AKS) |
|
|---|---|
| purpose | Cooperation, exchange of experience and information in language teaching at universities |
| Chair: | Dr. Peter Tischer |
| Establishment date: | 1970 |
| Number of members: | about 150 |
| Seat : | Bochum |
| Website: | www.aks-sprach.de |
The " Arbeitskreis der Sprachenzentren an Hochschulen eV " (formerly " Arbeitskreis der Sprachenzentren, Sprachlehrinstitute und Fremdsprachinstitute eV " ( AKS for short )) is a non-profit association in which German and international language centers at universities and comparable institutes are united.
aims
- University-specific academic, technical and general language offers
- Institutional anchoring
- University-specific qualification profiles for language teachers
- Science-based language teaching
- Education policy networking
history
The AKS was founded in 1970 and registered in 1972 in the Bochum register of associations as the "Working Group of Language Centers, Language Teaching Institutes and Foreign Language Institutes (AKS)".
In the 1970s, German higher education was characterized by major upheavals. There have been many university startups, often on the basis of existing academic institutions. A reorientation also took place with regard to the (foreign) language skills that university graduates need and that were expected of them. Foreign language skills should no longer depend solely on individual biographies or private initiatives. However, the philologists did not feel that they were responsible for broad language training for students in all faculties. The transfer of foreign language skills to all students should be a central task of universities in the future.
Accordingly, institutions were created with names such as language centers, language teaching institutes, foreign language institutes or similar, which, despite all the differences in status, structure and equipment, had the central task of providing students with university-appropriate foreign language teaching.
The AKS was founded as the umbrella organization of these institutions for cooperation and mutual support. His objective was to specify and further develop the specifics of foreign language teaching at universities and colleges, to train the necessary staff and to disseminate and represent the resulting knowledge within and outside the university system.
The AKS is a founding member of the European umbrella association of language centers CercleS, which was founded in Strasbourg in 1991.
Membership structure
There are currently around 150 institutional institutions such as universities and technical colleges as well as personal and supporting members in the AKS.
Certificates
UNIcert ®
UNIcert ® is the seal of quality offered under the sponsorship of the AKS for the training, testing and certification of foreign language skills that are relevant for prospective academics. The certificates obtained according to uniform quality standards have been available since 1992 at accrediting universities in Germany and in other European countries as an additional qualification to accompany studies. UNIcert ® has been part of the Network of University Language Testers in Europe (NULTE) since 2018 .
AKS-FOBIcert ®
AKS-FOBIcert® is the AKS advanced training certificate. It was created in 2014 with the aim of making further education and training courses for language teachers at universities better known and standardizing them. Since then, numerous training providers have gone through the accreditation procedure and are posting their workshops on the ks-fobicert.de Internet portal . There, language teachers can use a search mask to research and book events with the desired focus, at selected locations or with specific speakers.
The certificate comprises three levels (basic, professional expert), each of which is defined by a number of completed work units (1 AE = 45 min) in accredited events in five different subject areas. Further training courses that have been completed within a period of up to eight years are eligible. The AKS-FOBIcert® documents the participation in relevant and high quality advanced training for language teachers and thus contributes to ensuring the quality of language teaching at universities.
Prices
- AKS prize for good teaching at universities
- Bremen Research Prize
Web links
Cooperations
The AKS works together with other organizations whose activities also include language training:
- CercleS , European umbrella organization of language centers ([European Confederation of Language Centers in Higher Education / Confédération Européenne des Centers de Langues de l'Enseignement Supérieur])
- DAAD , German Academic Exchange Service
- gast , The Society for Academic Study Preparation and Test Development e. V. (gast) is the supporting company of the TestDaF Institute.
- HRK , university conference, voluntary association of state and state-recognized universities and colleges in Germany.
Meetings
Publications
- Documentation of the symposium
- Foreign languages in teaching and research
- Foreign languages and university
- AKS newsletter
Websites
Individual evidence
- ^ Resolutions and position papers. In: Working Group of the Language Centers. Retrieved on July 2, 2019 (German).
- ↑ About us. In: Working Group of the Language Centers. Retrieved on July 2, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Our members. In: Working Group of the Language Centers. Retrieved January 16, 2020 .