DITALS Centre - Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language

The DITALS Centre, project partner of EAQUALS International Association - Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality in Language Services - since 2008, undertakes research and offers services relating to the design, implementation and administration of the DITALS Certification (Certification of Competence in Teaching Italian to Foreigners).

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.

The DITALS Centre also organises:

• In presence and online DITALS orientation courses;
• DITALS Master Course (60 Credits), post-graduate 1-year course, implemented both in presence and online;
• DITALS Master Course (60 Credits) for specific geographical areas and/or specific learner profiles, post-graduate 1-year course, implemented both in presence and online;
• Advanced DITALS Course (20 Credits), implemented both in presence and online or online only;
• Advanced CLIL - Content and Language Integrated Learning - Course (20 Credits) for teachers of non-linguistic subjects at Italian secondary schools;
• Master in Teaching Italian Language and Literature (60 Credits), post-graduate 1-year course, implemented both in presence and online, open to Italian and non-Italian citizens resident abroad;
• Course for DITALS trainers and administrators, structured in three modules (one in
presence and two online).

DITALS Centre projects and research

• L-Pack 2: Citizenship Language Pack for Migrants in Europe – EU project for the development of educational material for migrants www.l-pack.eu
• EPG: European Profiling Grid – EU project for the development of a grid relating to language teaching skills in Europe www.epg-project.eu
• CLODIS: corpus for the analysis of teacher-talk in classes of Italian as a Foreign Language.

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 recognised within the work arena and valid in many educational contexts in Italy and abroad.