News
Language policy & practice in the UK
Language policy & practice in the UK
The Languages Company is no longer listing current news items.
For up-to-date news on language policy & practice in the UK, go to:
• Association for Language Learning http://www.all-languages.org.uk/
• Speak to the Future, the Campaign for Languages: www.speaktothefuture.org
• All Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages – Twitter account @APPGFML
For a record of recent news please see the Language Company News archive:
News archive from The Languages Company:
The population of England and Wales has undergone its biggest surge since records began after a decade of immigration and a baby boom, according to the 2011 census. Official figures now release by the Office of National Statistics also show that all regions in England and Wales showed an increase in usual residents born outside the UK between 2001 and 2011 with the largest numerical increases in London and the South East. Interestingly, England and Wales has become more ethnically diverse with rising numbers of people identifying with minority ethnic groups in 2011. However, despite the White ethnic group decreasing in size, it is still the majority ethnic group that people identify with.
For detailed figures, key points and interactive maps on ethnicity and religion, visit:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html
Funded by the EU Commission, Media4Us and the Migrants Resource Centre are delivering a new European-wide media initiative with the overall aims of:
Metro London as well as various other Metro titles across Europe carried a four page pull out on 20 November giving a platform to migrants with articles and picturs about the lives of migrants in London. Please read the article here (pages 33 – 36)
The LUCIDE network is developing ideas about how to manage multilingual citizen communities and building up a picture of how communication occurs in multilingual settings across the EU and beyond. Please take part in the research survey to help us understand better how our cultural richness can strengthen the “diverse unity” of the 21st century.
To find out more about the project and our partners please see the LUCIDE website
The provisional GCSE results for 2012 were published today. After the decline in languages entries over recent years (and a very sharp fall in entries last year) they show a small increase in take up for languages in the UK. Overall numbers have increased from 309397 to 315444, up by 1.95%. This compares with a total entry for all GCSEs which has increased by 1.42%.
Behind the overall figure there is a continuing change in emphasis in relation to individual language choices. Last year French remained fairly steady (down by 785 entries, or 0.5%) but German fell by a further 5.5% (3340 fewer entries). Both Spanish and “other” languages increased their numbers quite significantly. Spanish was up by nearly 10% to 72606 and “other” increased by over 13% to 29843.
In the last three years German entries have fallen by over 21%, from 73469 in 2009 to 57547 in 2012, while French has fallen from over 188000 to 153436 (down 18.7%). Over the same period Spanish has increased by 8.25% to 72606. Despite the increase this year “other” languages have declined in numbers since 2009, mainly because of a significant drop in Chinese entries in 2011.
The slightly more hopeful, if mixed, picture for languages compares with a steady increase in entries for English (3%) and History (2%) and significant expansion of science entries (Physics has increased by over 12% and for the first time has more entries than French). Design Technology and Art, on the other hand have seen a decline in numbers
Much of the initial press reporting on GCSE has concentrated on the fall in A*s and As which it is believed is a response to Government concerns about grade inflation. This does not seem to be a major issue for languages. French and German A* and As are more or less the same percentages as last year, Spanish is slightly down while Other Languages have increased the numbers of high grades.
The provisional results for 2012 were published today. They show a further decline in take up of French and German throughout the UK. In England, French entries have fallen to 11298 (down 5.68% on last year) and the figure for the UK is very similar (12511 – a fall of 5.19%). German is down nearly 8% to 4478. Even Spanish which has increased take-up in recent years is down this year (by 3.5%) . This continues the downward trend begun two years ago following a period of relative stability at A level . Since 2010 French entries have fallen by over 9% and German by nearly 14%. This is over a period when overall entries have hardly changed (a small fall of less than 1% this year) and when subjects such as Art, English and History have had increased entries, while the uptake of science has improved dramatically. Physics (5% up this year) now has more candidates than all languages combined.
Also of concern is the decline in AS entries – where only Spanish has shown a small increase. French is down by 9% and German by 11%
The overall figure for languages appears more positive (a small increase since 2010) because of the dramatic increase in entries for “other ” languages. These now total over 9000 for the UK (8786 in England), which is nearly twice as many entries as German and significantly more than Spanish. As well as seeking to understand the factors that have led to such a rapid fall in the traditional languages, it will be important to look further at the growth in “new” languages.
In common with all other subjects and in response to Government policy there has been a small fall in the number of A* and A awards (around 40% for French and German, rather fewer for Spanish and over 50% for “other” languages.
Following the launch of the Language Rich Europe Report at the LSE on 28th June2012, Speak to the Future together with the Association for Language Learning, The Languages Company and other partners is organising a symposium for stakeholders from education and employment to take forward the debate about the future of languages in England. The symposium will address the principle objectives of Language Rich Europe and put forward recommendations for future action with regard to:
– How to promote intercultural dialogue and social inclusion through language teaching and learning
– How to promote European cooperation in developing language policies and practices across education sectors and broader society
– How to inform and increase the nature and extend of employer engagement with languages education
– How to raise awareness of the European Union and Council of Europe recommendations for promoting language learning and linguistic diversity across Europe
Support for language learning, language teaching & information on languages policy.
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After 14 years we have regretfully decided to cut back our activities.
The website will remain live, but untended, until the end of 2022 should you wish to download some of the historic and we think useful documents it contains.
As well as the outcomes of projects such as LUCIDE and Positive Messengers there may be some interest in the reviews of the past, and our thinking on Pedagogy, in particular in the light of current developments.
We would have wished to withdraw on a high note, with many of the challenges of the last decades resolved. Sadly this is not the case.
It will, however, be for a new generation to take up the struggle for greater language capability and the dream of languages for all in a world of mutual respect.