Taalhandel Onder de Loep1

In the Netherlands a considerable amount of language teaching activities is offered by non-subsidized commercial language institutes. This article describes a survey that was carried out among a number of these institutes in the Amsterdam area. The aim of the survey was to describe the different ways in which these institutes work (what they offer, how and to whom; how results are assessed?). The results of the research may be used for the purpose of certification of non-subsidized language teaching activities. For certification a distinction should be made between certification of the system (how should the system work for the learner to have the best chances of success) and certification of the product (the language proficiency that is aimed at).