DITALS Certification for Italian Language Teachers
America-Italy Society of Philadelphia is an official DITALS testing location affiliated with Università per Stranieri di Siena
The DITALS Certification is a cultural qualification granted by the University for Foreigners of Siena that certifies the possession of the theoretical and practical competences needed to fulfill the role of teacher of the Italian language to foreigners after an examination consisting of written and oral assignments.
Esami di Certificazione DITALS
DITALS Certification attests that holders have the theoretical and practical skills necessary to work as L2 Italian teachers.
There are three levels of DITALS Certification.
• DITALS BASE: certifies a basic teaching competence in Italian as a Foreign Language and is addressed to Italian teachers abroad whose native language is not Italian and Italians starting out on the training process.
• DITALS Level I: certifies a good teaching competence in Italian as a Foreign Language, especially with regard to specific students (children; teenagers; adults and the elderly; immigrants; university students; learners of Italian origin; learners with a specific mother tongue; tourist-hotel staff; Catholic clergy; USA - University Study Abroad students; opera singers).
• DITALS Level II: certifies an advanced teaching competence in Italian as a Foreign Language, whatever the context and learner profile.
Why choose DITALS Certification?
Because DITALS Certification:
• ensures assessment of the teaching competence in Italian as a Foreign Language on the basis of valid and reliable criteria, in accordance with the parameters laid down by the European Profiling Grid;
• is chosen each year by more than 2000 Italian and foreign candidates;
• is increasingly recognized within the work arena and valid in many educational contexts in Italy and abroad
Applicants
The exam for the DITALS Certificate can be taken by Italian citizens and foreigners who fulfil the following requisites:
– excellent knowledge of the Italian language;
– university degree in the area of humanities or, in the absence of such, certification that the candidate has taught a minimum of 150 hours of Italian to foreigners;
– certificate of attendance in a language-teaching training course consisting of at least 30 hours of lessons.
Exams and evaluations
The exam consists of sections on theory and practice. The sections on theory are designed to test skills in the areas of linguistics, socio-linguistics and language instruction. The sections on practice test the abilities to analyze and integrate teaching material, to develop teaching material, to create lesson units, and to create tests in comprehension, production and evaluation. The exam is composed of four sections and requires five hours for the written exam (sections A, B and C) and approximately 10 minutes for the oral part (section D):
Section A: Analysis of didactic materials
Section B: Construction of didactic materials
Section C: Knowledge of theory (20 questions)
Section D: Oral language teaching ability (an audio recording of the candidate, who is asked to confront orally tasks in communication connected to the role of a teacher of Italian to foreigners).
To be awarded the DITALS Certificate, it is necessary to obtain the minimum score in each section. Within one year of the first DITALS exam, candidates may attempt in subsequent sittings to pass those sections in which the minimum score was not reached (for a small extra fee). The evaluation of the tests is carried out by the DITALS Scientific Commission of the University of Siena for Foreigners, whose decision is final and not subject to question.
Sites and dates of the exams. The DITALS exam takes place at the University of Siena for Foreigners in July and December, as well as at other accredited institutions within and outside of Italy (AISPhila in Philadelphia).
A fee is charged to take the exam.
For further information, please contact Michele Pergola: michele.pergola@aisphila.org