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The National Languages Strategy aims to boost Britain's poor
record on languages by involving young children.
Children's progress will be assessed against a new scale
similar to music grades. The Government wants to expand the
number of foreign language assistants, language undergraduates
and volunteers from the community going into primaries to
teach under supervision. These assistants will be expected
to take a short training course, similar to teaching English
as a foreign language (TEFL) courses.
The main points of the strategy are:
- Languages optional at 14
- Every primary to have a languages coordinator by 2010
- Languages should be introduced to seven-year-olds in class
time by 2010
- A new grading system for language learners to sit alongside
existing qualifications
- A new qualification of teaching a foreign language to
help language speakers to work in classrooms
- Employers to be encouraged to support language learning
Languages for All: Languages for Life is available
at www.dfes.gov.uk/languagesstrategy.
(TES, 20 December 2002)
- Only about 21% of primary schools offer some form of language
teaching
- The most frequently cited reason schools stop teaching
modern languages is that fulfilling the statutory requirements
of the national curriculum is a higher priority
- The time allocated to language teaching increases through
the primary years, reaching an average peak of one hour
a week in independent schools and 45 minutes in state schools
- Most of those teaching languages in primary schools do
not have languages as their main responsibility
- The most frequently taught languages in primary schools
are in order: French, German, Spanish and Italian
- Many primaries have no link with their local secondaries
for language teaching
(Source: Findings from the most recent QCA report (2000)
on the language teaching available to key stage 2 pupils -
seven to 11-year-olds)
Centre for Information on Language teaching (CILT) and the
National Advisory Centre for Early
Language Learning
CILT focuses on the professional development of modern foreign
language teaching.
Both contactable at: 20 Bedfordbury, London WC2N 4LB. Tel: 020
7379 5101. Website: www.cilt.org.uk
and www.nacell.org.uk
The Government is ready to backtrack on its controversial
decision to allow pupils to drop all foreign languages at
age 14. Alan Johnson, the education secretary, admitted he
is "re-thinking" the optional status of foreign languages
after a sharp decline in the number of pupils studying them
since 2004 when they stopped being compulsory.
(TES, 15 September 2006)
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is hoping
that the end of compulsory language teaching in secondary
schools will lead to a renaissance in linguistic ability in
a nation notoriously adverse to acquiring a foreign tongue.
The DfESs decision to scrap compulsory language lessons for
the over-14s from 2004 caused an outcry, however, convinced
that younger children are more receptive to foreign languages
than older pupils, it decided to introduce language teaching
in primary schools instead.
The majority of children at 1,400 primaries that introduced
a language, usually French, in a pilot scheme say that they
enjoyed the experience so much that they want to carry on
with it in secondary school. By 2010 all seven to 11 year-olds
will be entitled to learn at least one foreign language in
school.
60% of pupils in secondary schools are dropping languages,
however, where pupils do decide to continue studying languages
beyond the age of 14, they are doing better. The A* to C pass
rate rose by seven percentage points in 2005.
There has also been a growing interest in non-European languages,
with a 35% increase from 2003 to 2005 in the number of entries
for Mandarin at GCSE. The number of entries for Arabic at
GCSE rose from 1,854 in 2004 to 2,183 in 2005.
(The Times, 11 August 2006)
Almost two in three Britons are unable to speak a language
other than English, a survey for the European Commission showed.
62% of respondents from the UK admitted they could not speak
any language other than their mother tongue. This compared
with an average of 44% across the EU and just 1% in Luxembourg,
the top-ranking country.
Only Ireland, with 66%, outdid Britain, but the situation
is complicated there because 11% of the population count Irish
as their mother tongue - and virtually all of those can also
speak English.
About 700 people were interviewed in every EU country in November
and December 2005 for the report, Europeans and their Languages.
The survey monitored progress towards the EU target for all
citizens to speak two languages in addition to their mother
tongue. But the study found only 38% of Britons spoke at least
one foreign language, 18% at least two, and 6% at least three.
This compared with an EU average of 56% speaking at least
one foreign language, 28% at least two, and 11% at least three.
The survey also confirmed that English was the most widely-spoken
foreign language throughout Europe, with 51% of EU citizens
able to hold a conversation in English.
(Independent, 23 February 2006)
Boring lessons and exacting standards are the chief reasons
teenagers shun modern languages, reports Michael Shaw. Only
a fifth of 15-year-olds now learn a foreign language, a survey
published today shows.
Headteachers blame a lack of high-quality language teachers
and say uninspiring lessons are putting teenagers off. The
Government's decision to make the subject non-compulsory is
only partly at fault.
The survey by the Secondary Heads Association highlights
the sharp drop in take-up of modern languages since the Government
made the subject non-compulsory for over-14s a year ago. Its
findings are more alarming than a survey last November by
Cilt, the National Centre for Languages, which suggested that
more than a third of teenagers were abandoning languages.
(TES, 28 October 2005)
Survey shows the richness of community bilingualism but few
opportunities to take exams. Karen Thornton reports
At least 93 languages other than English and Welsh are spoken
by more than 8,000 pupils across Wales, according to a new
survey. But outside of Cardiff there is little provision for
children to study their family language to exam level, either
in school or after lessons.
CILT Cymru, the national centre for languages in Wales,
is hoping the survey findings will encourage more local authorities
and schools to work together to provide joint lessons and
exam opportunities for young people.
At present, some children in Flintshire travel to Chester
for Arabic lessons and to Liverpool for Cantonese.
Ceri James, director of CILT Cymru, said: "One of the
problems is there are lots of languages and learners out there.
But except for some schools in Cardiff, it is difficult to
arrange any provision or exam entries.
"Schools and local education authorities have to rationalise
and collaborate.
"We are always saying Britain is very poor on learning
languages but we have this big native resource here that is
ignored. The armed forces and other employers are looking
for people with Arabic and Urdu skills.
"If children can get recognition for their abilities
via qualifications, they might have more confidence to use
their languages in work," he added.
The survey figures are believed to be underestimates because
only 13 out of Wales's 22 LEAs were able to provide information
about community languages.
(TES Cymru, 23 September 2005)
Primary pupils are to be taught a foreign language for at
least an hour a week from the age of seven after a pilot study
proved successful. The majority of pupils at the 1,400 primaries
which introduced a language - usually French - said they enjoyed
the experience and wanted to carry on with it at secondary
school, according to a report published by the Department
for Education and Skills.
Lord Adonis, the schools minister, announced an extra £49.5
million for training next year in preparation for 2010 when
all primaries will be expected to teach at least one foreign
language.
(Telegraph, 19 October 2005)
A celebration of community languages in schools is one way
of ridding Britain of its reputation as the world's language
"dunce" and promoting better relations between different
ethnic groups, education experts believe.
They say gloom over the slump in take-up of traditional
foreign languages in secondary schools is masking a success
story over the learning of ethnic minority languages. At least
15 foreign languages have shown an increase in take-up at
A-level during the past four years, all spoken by ethnic minority
groups in the UK.
In addition, after-school clubs in state schools teach a
total of 61 ethnic minority languages to their pupils.
The rise in A-level take-up covers languages such as Chinese
and Russian - study of which is considered important for the
future health of the economy - as well as Asian languages
including Urdu and Gujarati. Just before this year's A-level
results were announced, Sir Digby Jones, director-general
of the Confederation of British Industry, said it was essential
for Britain's world business links for more pupils to start
studying these languages so tomorrow's business leaders could
pull off deals in these countries.
Research for the Centre for Information on Language Teaching
(Cilt), published yesterday, shows a revolution in the take-up
of non-traditional languages in secondary schools. The number
of students taking A-level in Chinese has increased from 1,375
to 2,062 since 2001, Russian from 469 to 636 and Urdu from
485 to 739.
Experts say promoting ethnic minority languages could also
persuade native English speakers to take an interest in them.
Cilt's research, by the University of Stirling, found the
linguistic map of Britain was changing, with multi-lingualism
spreading from typically multi-ethnic areas to more "traditional"
parts. In Wrexham, for instance, a total of 25 home languages
are now spoken, including Portuguese, Polish, Tagalog and
Shona.
(Independent, 23 September 2005)
The number of teenagers who took French and German at A level
fell in 2005 to the lowest yet, despite more students entering
for exams overall than ever before. The numbers studying maths
and science recovered slightly. Just 14,484 pupils studied French
and 5,901 studied German.
Business leaders cautioned that trade would be harmed unless
the decline were reversed, as Britain would be increasingly
unable to win deals abroad. However, the Government insisted
that with a total rise overall of 473 people studying languages
- including Spanish, Italian, Mandarin and Russian - students
are simply choosing different courses.
Amid the celebration of the 23rd year-on-year increase in A-level
passes to 96.2% and A grades up to 22.8%, Ellie Johnson Searle,
director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, admitted that
the outlook for the study of European languages was not so rosy.
"It's a stark picture for French," she admitted, adding:
"Those figures have halved in the past ten years."
Since 1992, the number studying French A level has dropped by
nearly two thirds, from 31,261. For German, the drop is a third.
However, as the interest in Spain and the so-called Beckham
effect show no signs of wearing off, Spanish overtook German
for the first time with 6,230 entries at A level.
At the same time, more than 2,000 students took Mandarin and
those taking AS level rose by almost 10% to 3,596.
Neil Bentley, the head of skills and employment for the CBI,
acknowledged the modest rise but said that in general the low
numbers were a worrying sign of complacency. He said: "With
only 4% studying them, it underlines a move away from speaking
foreign languages, back to a British arrogance where English
is the only language of use.But in reality just talking English
doesn't cut the mustard, so if we don't have young people with
language skills, we're not going to win the deals."
(Times, 19 August 2005)
Not many primary pupils can speak French, German, Latin,
Japanese, Spanish and Punjabi. But researchers hope these
polyglot pupils will leap ahead when they settle down to learn
one language at secondary school. A three-year project teaches
365 primary children a term each of six languages during Years
5 and 6. They then have their progress monitored during Year
7 at secondary school.
The aim, according to director Peter Downes, is to see whether
language awareness at an early age can accelerate the learning
of a specific language later on. "We are testing the
hypothesis that it's better for children in primary school
to learn about languages than to learn one specific language
for a number of years," said Mr Downes, retired head
of Hinchingbrooke school, Huntingdon, and a former president
of the Association for Language Learning.
The £150,000 project, which started last Christmas,
involves 15 classes in nine schools from Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire,
Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn
Foundation, directed by the Secondary Heads Association, and
will be evaluated by Manchester University in 2007. Pupils
will learn basic phrases in all languages, but will also look
at more general concepts such as word gender, how you learn
a language, and the ways different languages use word order
or represent sounds. Mr Downes said that the advantage of
language awareness over a specific language is that it benefits
pupils starting any language at secondary school.
(TES, 12 August 2005)
Eating spaghetti and tuna fish on a boat trip with a ballet
dancer will never be the same again. Not in Germany, at least,
where a spelling reform comes into effect this week designed
to simplify a language that for centuries has baffled foreigners,
and in particular English-speakers. Mark Twain, tortured by
the language, said: "If it is to remain as it is, it
ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead
languages, for only the dead have the time to learn it."
The reformers have taken Twain's advice to heart and have
tried to introduce some logic in German spelling. The aim
is to make it more accessible not only to the likes of Mark
Twain (who, being dead, has presumably come closer to mastering
the lingo) but also to immigrant children.
The changes, which apply also to Austria and Switzerland,
have provoked uproar in the press. Many newspapers, from Die
Welt to Der Spiegel, are refusing to comply with the new rules.
Parents are upset, worried that their children will be marked
down by over- zealous teachers. Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Germany's
leading literary critic, describes it as a "national
catastrophe".
The actual reform seems hardly worth the fuss. The silent
"h" is dropped. Spaghetti becomes spagetti. Tuna
fish, currently Thunfisch, becomes Tunfisch. Compound nouns,
so beloved of the German language, will be spelt according
to logical rather than aesthetic principles. Ballet dancer
is now spelled Balletttänzer with three "T"
letters in the middle. Until this week it was all right to
drop one of those ts. The same goes for the boat trip (Schifffahrt)
and, just in time for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, an international
football game, Fußballländerspiel.
The real problem is that the reforms have come from above,
worked out by a group of linguistic scholars meeting behind
closed doors and sponsored by the Government. Die Welt complained
yesterday that its reporter had three times been thrown out
of a room where the master spellers were deliberating.
One thing is for sure. Mark Twain's favourite hobbyhorse,
the sheer length of German compound nouns, has not been reined
in. His treasured word was Waffenstillstandsunterhandlungen
(ceasefire talks) and it appeared intact again in the German
press, seemingly unbattered by time or reform.
(Times, 3 August 2005)
English, Welsh and French teachers are to work together in
a scheme aimed at laying the foundations for a trilingual
Wales. It is hoped the project, involving 16 schools or school
clusters from across the country, will also end the tradition
of secondary language departments working in isolation. The
triple literacy action research project, run by CILT Cymru,
the Assembly government-funded national languages centre,
is due to start in November 2005. It is based on the theory
that understanding grammatical similarities between different
languages can aid learning. For example, a Welsh teacher could
explain to pupils how adjectives in French generally come
after the noun - as in Welsh. Everyday teaching duties, such
as reading the register, could also be undertaken in different
languages.
In addition to bringing secondary language departments together,
the scheme - aimed at five to 14-year-olds - should ensure
a smooth transition from primary to secondary for young language
learners.
(TES Cymru, 29 July 2005)
At Rockcliffe primary school in Cumbria, fairy tales and
nursery rhymes are being used to introduce children as young
as five to modern foreign languages. Youngsters pick up through
"music" of other languages through listening and
identifying words. The idea is to move away from the tradition
of "My name is…" and "I live in…"
introduction to language learning.
The scheme, which won the European Union's European Award
for languages, is being used by Helen Kent, a German teacher
at Trinity Specialist Language College, in Carlisle. Mrs Kent
co-ordinates a team of teachers who visit nine feeder primaries
several times a week to instil an interest in languages among
young children.
This approach works particularly well in German, she says,
because syntax is so different. "Once children become
familiar with the natural flow of a language, it is not so
daunting to them when they move on to aspects such as sentence
structure," Mrs Kent said. "We do this by introducing
characters from stories and the settings they are based in,
such as castles or forests. Many of these themes recur, so
through repetition children learn words and we also introduce
actions."
(TES, 29 July 2005)
A project to boost primary foreign language learning has
succeeded, despite the need for extra staff training and uncertainty
over funding, inspectors have said. Ofsted's evaluation of
schools in 10 pathfinder local authorities found that only
43% of primaries were able to offer a foreign language to
seven to 11-year-olds. Of that 43%, half taught languages
very well, said inspectors. Most pupils were confident speakers
and their listening skills were very good but reading and
writing skills were underdeveloped, the report said.
The quality of teaching was at least satisfactory in almost
all schools, but many staff needed further training to challenge
older pupils. "Teachers' linguistic competence was at
least adequate, although many needed further training to teach
at a higher level. Individual lessons were planned well, but
few teachers had a clear sense of longer-term learning outcomes,"
said the report.
Implementing Language Entitlement at primary school: an Evaluation
of Progress in 10 Pathfinder LEAs; and Could They Do Even
Better? The Writing of Advanced Bilingual Learners of English
at Key Stage 2 are available from www.ofsted.gov.uk
(TES, 15 July 2005)
Adults find it harder to learn new languages than children
but age is not to blame, says a study. Instead of language
skills deteriorating with age, as was once thought, the brain
becomes better at filtering out sounds which are not needed
in the native tongue. As a result, adults do not recognise
sounds which are vital to other languages because they have
lost their childhood ability to hear small sound differences.
Paul Iverson, who wrote the report presented at a London conference,
believes that adult brains can be retrained to pick up foreign
sounds more easily, helping to find new ways to speak other
languages.
(Telegraph, 15 June 2005)
Schools are to receive financial rewards for encouraging
pupils to study modern languages at GCSE and A level. The
extra investment was announced as Ofsted, the schools inspectorate,
disclosed that England's specialist schools continue to outperform
from the non-specialists, with language colleges achieving
the highest grades. However, while 65.1% of students at specialist
language schools achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE in 2003,
compared with 50.2% of those at the 700 non-specialists, the
pass rate in foreign languages is dropping. Of the 2,188 specialist
schools in England, only 200 concentrate on foreign languages.
Only a dozen non-specialist schools are interested in becoming
language colleges. A deterrent is the belief that achieving
high academic standards is made more difficult.
(The Times, 16 February 2005)
Boring GCSE courses are to blame for putting pupils off languages,
according to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.
As anxiety grows about the future of modern languages when
they become optional for 14-year-olds in September 2004, the
report urges exam boards to replace "uninteresting and
irrelevant syllabuses". Teachers complain that they have
to sell dreary French, German and Spanish courses about buying
bus tickets and ice creams.
The report found that a third of schools had made languages
optional, and in some schools fewer than a half of key stage
4 pupils were learning a language. The QCA blamed the exam
boards for the dull courses. It said it had tried to persuade
awarding bodies to include topics that are relevant to candidates
and reflect their maturity.
(TES, 11 June 2004)
Primary heads will no longer be restricted to Europe when
choosing languages to offer pupils. Pupils aged seven and
older will still have the right, from 2010, to lessons in
any language. The change will give a greater role to community
languages like Bengali, and will help schools struggling to
find teachers fluent in French, Spanish or German.
Ministers hope the move will give schools the freedom to
and flexibility to make the best use of the expertise in their
local community. In London, the most commonly spoken languages
by school pupils after English are Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati.
(TES, 26 March, 2004)
Primary teachers are to be asked about their hidden talents
in foreign languages in the first step towards a huge teacher-training
programme.
The Government wants all primary schools to offer children
the opportunity to study a foreign language by 2010. But it
has stopped short of making foreign languages compulsory in
primary schools because of a lack of suitable teachers.
Ministers have now commissioned an 18-month, £120,000
study from Canterbury Christ Church University College, Manchester
Metropolitan University and King's College London, to gauge
the level of language skills and teaching in primary schools.
Secondary schools will also be contacted to find out what
support they could give to local primaries.
The Government expects headteachers to give existing primary
teachers who want to train in languages the support and opportunity
to do so. It has promised funds to develop teachers' skills.
It is also inviting local authorities to bid for funding
to try out different ways of managing and extending language
teaching. Between three and six authorities are expected to
be chosen as pathfinders.
(TES, 21 March 2003)
Primary pupils are to have their modern language skills assessed
before they start secondary school under Government plans
to be published in December 2002. Education junior minister
Baroness Catherine Ashton told MPs that the national languages
strategy document would propose that pupils in their final
primary year could have the option of being graded in a modern
foreign language, and that this information should be passed
to their secondary school.
The strategy aims to offer the option of languages from the
age of seven upwards. The report is also expected to propose
that hundreds of language assistants from France, Spain and
Germany be hired to give language lessons to primary pupils,
using cash earmarked for the 50,000 extra classroom assistants.
However, the question of how much language teaching should
be available for older teenagers - who will soon be able to
drop languages at the age of 14 - is expected to be sidestepped.
(TES, 6 December 2002)
A TES survey covering nearly 67,000 pupils, released in November
2002, suggests that more than half of England's secondary
schools are poised to end compulsory languages from the age
of 14. 29% of schools will make languages optional for 14-year-olds
and a further 25% are considering doing so.
The survey also reveals a split by social class, fuelling
fears that languages could soon become a middle class option
as schools serving the poorest communities become less likely
to make children study French, German or Spanish.
Extrapolating the findings of the 393 schools in the survey
across the country would suggest that 1,866 of England's 3,457
state secondaries will make languages optional.
(TES, 22 November 2002)
A daily partial immersion in French from the start of primary
schooling has produced pupils with excellent accents and intonation
at Walker Road primary school in Aberdeen - a far cry from
the norm even at secondary level.
An analysis of the partial immersion project (now in its
third year) by Professor Dick Johnstone of Stirling University,
the country's leading foreign language researcher, shows strong
support among pupils, parents and teachers for a unique experiment.
Some 80 pupils between P1 and P3 (aged 4 to 7) are learning
part of the curriculum - often the expressive arts to begin
with - through French with lessons delivered by two native
speakers. 15% of time in P1 is in French, rising to 25% by
P3.
Professor Johnstone's verdict, so far, is that pupils are
quick to model their language on the two immersion teachers
(ITs). "Their comprehension is usually quick and accurate
and they do not seem phased by the speed at which the ITs
talk. They generally seem relaxed yet concentrated and are
happy to volunteer their own words and phrases in French."
(TESS, 15 November 2002)
The introduction of compulsory foreign language lessons in
primary schools would be unworkable despite widespread support
from pupils, parents and teachers. Forcing all eight to 11-year-olds
to learn a language would be impossible because of teacher
shortages, a packed primary curriculum and opposition from
primary heads according to report concluding the Qualifications
and Curriculum Authority's two-year investigation.
Language teaching in primary schools has declined over the
past five years. Britain is the only European country not
making foreign language lessons at primary age compulsory.
(Independent, 1 August 2001)
The TES reported that the introduction of compulsory foreign
languages at primary school is at least five years away because
of the shortage of linguists and lack of space in the timetable.
The QCA is arguing that more resources must be made available
before languages can become part of the statutory curriculum.
(TES, 3 August 2001)
Britains' command of languages other than their own is the
worst in Europe by a considerable margin. In contrast more
than half of continental Europeans can speak at least one
foreign language and some two.
The report Europeans and Languages reveals that 66% of the
British population have absolutely no knowledge of any other
language other than English. This was despite the fact that
some 74% of Britons polled said that they thought learning
a foreign language was useful. Some 41% of continental Europeans
claim to be able to speak English.
More than 16,000 people were polled in December 2000 of whom
at least 1,300 were based in the UK.
Only slightly better informed than the British were the Portuguese,
where 56% of those polled said they only knew their native
language. In Spain the figure was 53% and in France 51%. Almost
80% of Swedish, Danish, and Dutch people could speak English.
(The Guardian, 20 February 2001)
A national strategy is needed to tackle British complacency
about learning foreign languages, according to NIACE, the
National Institute of Continuing Adult Education. Its report,
Divided by Language, shows the problem is particularly
acute among white adults, only 11% of whom speak two other
languages, compared with 45% of ethnic minorities.
The report was carried out to contribute to the now-published
Nuffield Language Inquiry, which concluded that UK business
is increasingly dependent on the "linguistic competence and
goodwill" of people abroad.
The report coincides with the European Year of Languages,
which runs throughout 2001. It notes wide variations between
socio-economic groups. Among the ABs (professional groups),
65% of people speak more than one language, compared with
just 28% of DEs (manual workers).
The research also found that 42% of people in England speak
more than one language, compared with 53% in Wales and 31%
in Scotland. The high Welsh figure is attributed to the priority
given to the Welsh language in schools.
(TES, 12 January 2001)
The Nuffield Inquiry, a two-year study into Britain's language
skills by a team of 12 educationists and industrialists is
urging ministers to introduce modern language teaching in
all primary schools. The report criticises Britain's "deplorable
monolingualism". The following key proposals were made in
its May 2000 report:
- All pupils to learn a new language from age seven by
2010
- Add language modules to the national literacy strategy
- Set up international primary schools - specialist schools
to teach the majority of the curriculum in a foreign language
- Secondary schools to provide more than just French
- Make a foreign language a requirement for university
entry and for vocational courses and compulsory for all
16 - 19-year-olds.
- Attract more languages teachers. Teacher training should
include the opportunity for trainees to develop linguistic
and professional skills.
- Produce national strategy to develop language capability
- Appoint languages supremo to work with government departments,
national agencies, employers and the public
- Launch advertising campaign to raise the profile of languages
Alan Moys, secretary of the inquiry, quoted PG Wodehouse's The
Luck of the Bodkins: "Into the face of the young man who sat
on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at Cannes there had crept
a look of furtive shame, the shifty hangdog look which announces
that an Englishman is about to speak French."
When do pupils in other countries start learning a foreign
language?
| Age 6 |
Austria, Norway, Luxembourg |
| Age 7 |
Italy |
| Age 8 |
Spain, Liechtenstein |
| Age 9 |
Greece, France |
| Age 10 |
Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal |
| Age 11 |
Iceland |
(TES, 12 May 2000)
Modern languages in primary schools are being hampered by
teachers' lack of time, training and subject knowledge, according
to the interim evaluation of a Government project looking
at 18 schemes.
The Good Practice Project was set up last September by the
Department for Education and Employment to examine a variety
of primary language projects reflecting the diversity of current
provision and teaching models in England and Wales.
A number of obstacles were identified including a shortage
of time for languages and a lack of continuity and progression
when children move from primary to secondary.
The project will run until March 2001 and is part of a DfEE
initiative to develop and encourage early language learning
being run by the Centre for Information on Language Teaching
and Research. The interim findings will be reported in September
2000.
One of the schemes being looked at is the Sheffield multilingual
city project which encourages primaries and early years centres
to teach additional languages. Sheffield is planning Britain's
first city language policy which will unite schools, universities,
businesses and the community. Many three-year-olds in the
city learn French, German and Spanish at nursery. Sheffield
Age Concern runs a basic Spanish course.
(TES, 7 July 2000)
Only one in 10 pupils is studying for a modern foreign language
in some Welsh schools. Statistics from Estyn, the Welsh inspection
body, show that the overall number of GCSE foreign language
candidates is continuing to plummet.
Five years ago, 55% of Welsh 16-year-olds sat a language
GCSE. In 2000 it dropped to 44% and in 2001 it will be 42%.
Officials are preparing a national strategy to encourage
the study of languages beyond 14, through improved teaching,
making it more fun and stressing its relevance and benefits.
The introduction of compulsory Welsh at key stage 4 is partly
responsible for the fall in languages' candidates.
(TES, 7 July 2000)
Click here for more
information on literacy issues in Wales
The claim of classicists that Latin is good training for
the mind is being challenged by a German study. Berlin psychologists
have carried out a study by following German school children
in Bavaria before the children made a modern language choice,
two years into learning Latin and four years into learning
Latin. (Latin is compulsory in Bavaria.)
The results of the pupils learning Latin in intelligence
tests and, more specifically, in verbal activities showed
not the slightest difference when compared to those who had
not done Latin but had learned a modern foreign language.
Other tests looking at the effects of learning Latin on mathematical,
logical and deductive thinking, grammar, spelling, idiomatic
usage, comprehension, and students' ability to articulate
ideas also showed little difference.
A follow-up study tested the thesis that Latin can help with
learning other foreign languages. Psychologist Elsbeth Stern
of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Ludwig
Haag, a psychologist at the University of Erlangen in Nuremberg
and former Latin teacher, looked at German university students
studying Spanish from scratch.
Students with four or more years of French at school made
fewer grammatical errors and fewer efforts with Spanish vocabulary
than those with four or more years of Latin.
(TES, 29 June 2001)
Pupils could receive grades for languages, similar to those
given for music, whether they have learned them in or out
of school under proposals being considered by the Government.
Children who learn an instrument in school or privately progress
from grades 1 to 8 getting a pass, merit or distinction at
each level.
Under the plan, announced in the Lords by education minister
Baroness Ashton, pupils would gain credit for speaking languages
such as Hindi, Urdu or Greek which are not always available
as exam subjects.
(TES, 25 January 2002)
Foreign languages will be introduced in primary schools by
2012 but they will not be compulsory, unlike everywhere else
in the European Union. Moreover, the Green Paper 14-19: extending
opportunities, raising standards means that from 2004 they
will cease to be compulsory at secondary school from 14. Ministers
admitted that plans depend on recruiting more language teachers.
In February 2002 the ambassadors of Germany, Spain, Italy
and France called for action to improve language teaching
in Britain.
(TES, 15 February 2002)
Primary teachers in Germany have been told they must attend
courses in English lasting up to 18 months, in their spare
time and often at their own expense, as part of a drive to
teach all eight-year-olds a foreign language from next year.
(TES, 1 March 2002)
- In state schools children start learning a modern foreign
language at the age of 11-12. (The languages chosen may
be English, German or Spanish).
- Studying English is obligatory at the baccalaureate level
between 17 and 18.
- For entry into the prestigious technical schools, the
grandes ecoles, English counts for 25% of the marks in the
exams.
(Guardian, 30 April 2002)
Children as young as six cope well when learning to read
and write in two languages, new research has shown.
London University researcher Charmian Kenner found that bilingual
children learning different scripts became skilled at spotting
the differences between letters.
Six Year 1 children who were learning Arabic, Chinese or
Spanish took part in the project.
Dr Kenner said: "Teachers could introduce a bit of Japanese
and French, to help children realise that there are different
kinds of system. Six-year-olds are highly capable of learning
about many different facets of writing."
(TES, 28 June 2002)
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