Languages in our schools today
Thursday, 22nd January 2009
When I was at school in the 1970s and 80s foreign languages were compulsory during the first three years of secondary school and optional after that. I don’t think foreign language instruction was offered at primary level - if it was, it was only available in a small minority of schools.
In 1988 the UK government introduced the National Curriculum, part of which was the requirement for pupils to study a modern foreign language between the ages of 11 and 16 (key stages 3 & 4). This requirement was amended in 2004 to make foreign languages optional and since then the number of pupils taking languages in state schools has plummeted, although languages are still compulsory in independent schools. In 2006 the government started to re-think the decision to scrap the language requirement.
In 2002 the government introduced a plan that would make foreign language study available in all primary schools. The idea is to make language study compulsory from the age of 7 to 14 by 2010. There have been problems with the lack of specialist language teachers at primary level, and with fitting languages into the curriculum, but increasing numbers of primary schools are managing to offer language lessons.
Today pupils are required to study languages in only 20% of state schools (and in over 80% of independent schools), and less than 50% of pupils take GCSEs in languages. In some schools no GCSE language classes at all are available. One problem is that it’s hard to fit languages into the already crowded curriculum.
The most popular language is French, followed by Spanish, which has increased significantly in popularity to beat German to the number two spot. Other languages that have become more popular include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Urdu, Arabic and Russian, although they are taught only in a small minority of schools.
The drop in pupils taking GSCEs in languages since they were made optional does not bode well for the future. Fewer people will take ‘A’ levels and degrees in languages, which could lead to fewer people training as language teachers. If schools have difficulty recruiting language teachers, it is inevitable that fewer pupils will have a chance to study languages.
It is, of course, possible to learn languages later in life though, and some people doing so still attain a level proficient enough to allow them to teach. So there is some hope.
Tags: curriculum, academic, juniors, children, languages, school, german, french, spanish
Posted by Simon Ager under Attitudes to Language Learning, Academic,
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