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If We Want More Pupils Studying MFL, We Should Probably Ask Them Why They Aren’t Doing So Already

Getting over the language barrier in our schools

Gordon Knowles
by Gordon Knowles
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For far too long it seems that media columns have been filled with reports of declining interest amongst British teenagers in modern foreign languages. These are not made up stories, of course; they are the facts of the matter.

Take the figures published last summer. The number of young people studying French to A-level has fallen by around 50 per cent in eight years, to fewer than 10,000. Only around 3,800 youngsters took German. There was also a fall in those studying Spanish, which had previously bucked the anti-languages drift.

The government replied that it has been encouraging students to take languages, mainly through pushing the EBacc. However, more university language departments are facing closure if student recruitment continues to decline, and a key problem is the drop in the number of candidates sitting the relevant A-levels that are required for entry. And to complicate matters further, there is a shortage of MFL teachers in schools.

£50 billion a year lost

This ought to worry us – even more so as we head towards Brexit. It has been estimated by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages that our failure to communicate in anything other than our mother tongue costs Britain up to £50 billion a year in lost trade. Declining numbers of MFL students have led to calls for a joined up strategy where the full contribution of languages to the economy and society is realised, with the NAHT particularly vocal.

New research published by Mary Glasgow Magazines supports this move. Our survey of 101 secondary schools asked language teachers to rate how important they thought the DfE sees MFL in schools to be, on a scale of 0-10 – with the average response being just 5/10. When asked about how important it should be seen to be, the assessment rose to to 9/10. The research also found that the status of the subject in schools was lower than teachers would like it to be; rated at 7/10 rather than the 9/10 they would prefer to see.

Respondents said the main reasons to learn a language in school are to develop pupils’ understanding of cultural practices (77%), build their interpersonal skills (74%) and to establish a path for lifelong learning (61%).

Yet 55% of teachers said they were concerned about the take up of MFL courses at Key Stage 4, despite 83% of schools surveyed offering these options at GCSE. And 86.5% reported that less than 25% of their students take language courses at A-level. Overall, 98% of schools offered French, 81% Spanish and 47.5% German.

What do the teens want?

Language learning, as well as being hugely rewarding in itself, is hugely valued by employers as global communication becomes the norm; learning just one opens your mind to new ways of dealing with clients and colleagues from different cultures.

It’s critical to be in touch with young people on languages. We need to spell out the advantages of MFL learning to them, and change parental perceptions, too. Even if it isn’t a core curriculum subject, everyone needs to understand that learning a language can have a big influence on life and career choices.

So, who is really asking teenagers what interests them about languages? My own view is that the question is not being explored right now at a policy level, and we can’t rely on time-pressed teachers to do it, either.

We can provide organisations interested in championing languages with easy access to the thousands of students we work with to capture their views, test ideas, and ensure they are part of the discussion going forward. We are committed to language learning; it’s time for others to step up and prove they share that commitment.

Gordon Knowles is managing director of Mary Glasgow Magazines, part of Scholastic’s Education group.

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