Language crisis facing UK schools
Ahead of a major report on how government policy wrecked foreign language teaching, academics demand new start for millions of children
Grace Hallows and her friend Sam Mottershed were among the handful who carried on. 'My Dad said he really regretted not listening in French lessons when he was at school,' said Grace, 14. 'He said it would look good on my CV and be useful for skiing.'
Many of their classmates were put off foreign languages because they were 'less fun' than other lessons like PE or art, added Sam, 15: 'Languages are hard. If we were given a choice as to whether or not we took maths I am sure a lot of people would drop that too.'
Language teaching in England and Wales is in crisis. Fifty leading academics have written to The Observer this weekend to express alarm about the slump in the number of teenagers taking GCSEs in foreign languages. A letter signed by professors and heads of language departments from dozens of top universities, including Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics (LSE), calls for the government to reverse its controversial policy allowing pupils to drop languages at 14. The move, that came into force two years ago, embedded the notion that 'languages do not matter, that English is enough', the letter says.
University College London is so concerned by the lack of language ability among pupils that it is considering making a language qualification at 16 compulsory for all applicants.
The government 'decision was absolutely crazy', said Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, professor of German literature at the University of Oxford and one of the signatories. 'At the time that other European countries are introducing two languages in schools we are told our children don't need them.' It also bred elitism, she added, because state schools cut back on languages while independent schools added new options, such as Japanese and Chinese.
Clarissa Farr, head of St Paul's Girls' school, a leading private school, said the decision was 'benighted'. Along with academics, teachers and campaigners, Farr is hoping that Lord Dearing, who will publish the interim findings of his inquiry into languages in schools next week, may signal a government U-turn.
Nick Byrne, director of the LSE Language Centre and lead signatory of today's letter, said reversing the decision would show that learning a language was a core skill like English and maths: 'Compulsion may not generate hundreds of linguists but it is symbolic. It is about what we want a rounded person to be.'
One thing is clear: the UK has a shameful record on foreign languages and there has been a dramatic fall in the numbers studying them. This month, a report concluded that the subjects were fast becoming the preserve of the middle classes. Nearly a third of schools had less than 25 per cent of pupils studying a foreign language after 14, the study by the National Centre for Languages (CiLT) found. The poorest teenagers were least likely to be learning a language, it added. The figures raised fears that a generation of monolingual youngsters would struggle to compete in a global job market. Out of the 25 European Union countries the UK only beats Hungary in the proportion of its citizens able to have a conversation in a second language. A study by the European Commission showed that 30 per cent of people in the UK were able to do this, compared to 91 per cent in the Netherlands, 88 per cent in Denmark, 62 per cent in Germany and 45 per cent in France.
The architect of the government reforms said it was the poor record in languages that led to the decision to let 14-year-olds to drop the subject, leaving money to spend on far younger children. Baroness Estelle Morris, former education secretary, said it would be a 'tragedy if the government was frightened' into reversing a decision that handed power from Whitehall to headteachers.
'We are lousy at foreign languages and shouldn't be,' said Morris. 'So you have to do something different. You need to decide where you invest the effort, energy and enthusiasm. Not on 15-year-olds who do not want to do it but five to 11-year-olds.' There was not the money to cover both, so primary school children should face compulsion, she said.
'Foreign languages give economic and cultural value,' said Mike Harris, head of education and skills at the Institute of Directors. 'But from our members perspective the argument relating to economic value is overblown. They do not see languages as the main skills gap.'
However, the most powerful academic board at University College London will next week vote on proposals that would require every applicant to have a qualification in a foreign language at 16. Michael Worton, chair of the board and professor of French language and literature, said he hoped to 'aspire' rather than force pupils to keep up languages.
Worton, an advisor to Dearing, said he had once been convinced by forcing pupils to do a GCSE but now thought other methods could remedy the problem. Schools wanting to place children in top universities would have to offer languages, he added.
When Dearing sets out his early conclusions late next week he is likely to call for new ways to enthuse young people. Experts claim that GCSEs and A-levels are boring, requiring teenagers to talk about their day at school or directions to the train station. Dearing said he will aim to 'identify the fundamental reasons why languages dropped so sharply in Key Stage 4' and find ways to ensure that courses are 'engaging for teenagers and recognises their different aspirations and interests'. He is also likely to look at provision in primary school where Morris's plans are starting to take effect.
Hilary Beynon, a language teacher from Newport, South Wales, usually has A-level students but now runs an after-school class four days a week where children sing and do role plays in Spanish. 'The way in which they absorb language is amazing,' she said.
While most people welcome efforts with younger children they say there is a 'lost generation' who did not learn languages early on and will drop them at 14. 'You did not need to be able to predict the future to know this would happen,' said Linda Parker, director of the Association of Language Learning.
How others do it
Germany English has been compulsory for all secondary pupils since the end of the Sixties. Most federal states offer a foreign language at primary level, usually at the age of eight, although some schools offer it earlier. Chinese, Japanese and Czech is also taught in some schools.
Sweden English is the first foreign language and is compulsory for all children. In the late Sixties, English was introduced at the age of nine or 10. A new national curriculum in 1995 resulted in many learning it from seven or eight. A second compulsory language is introduced at the age of 11 or 12, from a choice of German, French Spanish. A third language is optional two years later.
USA The United States has no official policy. Responsibility for schooling rests with states and not the national government. The majority of states have secondary school foreign language programmes. Spanish instruction has increased, as well as Japanese and Russian.
Isabelle Chevallot
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