Much Needed Languages Debate in the House of Lords
House of Lords debate: Modern Languages
On the 3rd December 2010 a motion was brought forward by Baroness Cousins to call attention to the contribution of modern language skills to the UK economy: and to move for papers. Baroness Cousins herself is a language graduate and is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages, a group which is supported by CILT (the National Centre for Languages).
The Baroness calls on Michael Worton’s recently published review of modern language provision in English universities which came to the conclusion that unless the decline in language learning is reversed, Britons will become one of the most monolingual peoples in the world which will result in serious consequences for our economy and the country as a whole.
This has already begun to happen. Research from the Association of British Chambers of Commerce showed that 77% of exporting companies that were unable to do business in a foreign language thought that they had lost business because of it, and exporters who used language skills achieved on average 45% more sales. According to Cardiff University’s Business School, the UK economy could potentially be missing out on up to £21 billion a year because of the lack of language skills in the workforce.
So why is this happening?
Much evidence exists that the language needs of employers are not being met. CBI surveys have indicated that 60% of employers are unhappy with the foreign language skills of school leavers and that over 1/3 of UK businesses are resorting to recruiting from overseas rather than from the British pool of prospective employees.
Our European counterparts are reaping the rewards of having a bilingual or multi-lingual population while the UK festers in the doldrums of monolingualism. This all stems from the education system and the language culture of each individual country, an aspect in which the UK and its government have failed to provide enough of to its people. Many European education systems teach children languages from a young age at Primary school and install a language learning culture into their youth. This continues up to University, three times more French, German and Spanish students go on Erasmus-funded placements abroad as part of their degree than British students, giving them a competitive advantage in the worldwide labour market. While these students are taking full advantage of the international opportunities available to them, our own students are finding it increasingly difficult to take advantage if schemes such as Erasmus. Lord Dykes calls for action “Multilingual children in other European countries can speak one, two, three, four foreign languages because they start early. Why do we not do that here?” We need a change of culture.
One major barrier is that our particular culture installs in the majority of us that English is the predominant language across the globe. This train of thought encourages us not to bother with other languages, while in reality, only 6% of the world’s population are native English speakers and 75% speak no English at all, leaving a very large market which is somewhat impenetrable by our UK monolingual businesses. The ideal strategy should be to recognise the fact that English is indeed one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, but also take advantage of the other languages which would enable us as a country to become more competitive in the global marketplace.
There has been a varied response from the educational and professional sectors and government ministers to this predicament which we face. Many view the education system to be the real source of the problem. Some harrowing figures have been released that show just how dramatic the downturn in language learning in schools has been. Only 44 % of pupils took a language GCSE in 2009, compared with 76% in 2000. The number studying French in state schools has fallen by over 30% since 2004 and only 1 in 11 children are now learning German and only 1 in 9 French. These alarming statistics have no doubt been somewhat partly caused by the Government’s ludicrous decision to abolish the compulsory language GCSE in state schools in 2004. Languages have so often been forgotten in favour of other subjects such as Maths, Science, Engineering and Technology which have been part of the STEM initiative. At present French and German are top of the list of languages that employer’s want but as new markets are opening up other languages are coming into the picture such as Mandarin Chinese or Arabic. The lack of enthusiasm for languages in schools is carrying through to Universities and higher education. A third of modern language departments have closed in the past seven years. An example comes from the University of the West of England (UWE), where student demand is so small that the vice-chancellor is stopping courses in French, Spanish and Chinese studies. The MA in translation remains popular enough to stay running. To soften the blow, a language centre is being created to allow students to take a module in a language with their degree. Despite the importance of emerging economies such as China, the number of students graduating in Chinese remains small. Between 125 – 130 people graduate in single honours Chinese courses, which is an embarrassingly small figure compared to the size of China. Professor Tim Wright of Sheffield University states that Slovenia, with its population of 2 million, has as many students studying Chinese as the UK with its population of between 60 – 70 million. If we are to trade sufficiently with the ‘fastest growing economy in the World’, we must train our young people to speak Chinese.
It is not just the education system which is causing problems. According to the national languages strategy, published by the Government, few employers provide help for their employees to learn languages (1 in 4). When 1 in 5 firms surveyed said they had lost business because of poor language skills, it may be likely that employers may ‘take the bull by the horns’ and show initiative themselves. However, firms may argue, and rightly so, that funds may not be available to train their employees to speak languages, if the UK marketplace they trade in is so competitive and restrictive.
There are also a number of positive initiatives which are currently in operation or are planned to be in operation in the near future. These have been on varying scales, from institution level to nationwide. University College London is one such institution that is trying to buck the trend. It has introduced a language requirement, irrespective of degree subject. Students must agree to undertake a language course during their first year at University. This could then encourage them to continue the study of the particular language up to fluency. Another innovative scheme comes from the Cambridge University Engineering Department, which has introduced a language unit into its school. The unit currently offers French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese. It is also developing self-taught courses in other languages such as Italian, Arabic and Swedish. A record 775 students registered this year, and over 600 students took language courses or participated in language projects in their 3rd and/or 4th years. The programme thrives but it is ‘not thanks to national education policies but through independent initiative’.
In terms of Government initiatives, the major hopes have been pinned on introducing a compulsory language in primary school from age 7 by 2011. 92 % now offer some form of language teaching, but is this really being effective? We cannot simply twiddle our thumbs until these primary schools pupils graduate to address the concerns of the nation. Criticism has already come aimed at the initiative as being a “patchwork of variable provision – sometimes enthusiasm on the part of amateurs, sometimes genuine teaching and progression”. The government have obviously thought up this scheme to try and satisfy the cynics, but they have not provided enough support to training enough teachers or advising on curriculum issues. Another thing that remains unresolved is the issue of transition from primary to secondary, and the obvious decline at secondary level and beyond. The diploma courses have also been touted as a possible redemption route by the government. Existing courses have been complimented by the Diploma in Language and Communication. Issues have also been raised about these. The diplomas are threatened with a lack of funding and there is no clear indication that the new diploma will recruit sufficiently to make any ground on the lost years of language learning since 2004. The general consensus is one of frustration. There are so many ways which the situation could be improved but the government is not doing enough to make them a reality, or at least it does not seem to be. The UK has so many ethnic communities and a rich resource of languages. In London alone, there are 300 different languages spoken approximately, and we could make much better use of them. The way they are delivered and marketed needs to be tailored more towards learners. Lord Watson of Richmond suggested that an informal acquisition of language is much easier through television, such as German TV programmes. It is difficult for young people to acquire the skills as Pop music is in English, and films and TV programmes are in English. One film that has stood out in recent times is Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious, which was delivered in 3 different languages. Mostly in French, with some German and some English. This has not seemed to put many people off the fact the film was very entertaining and so it must be seen as a step in the right direction.
The debate was closed by the response from the Government Minister for Trade and Investment (Lord Davies of Abersoch). He states that the UK attracts 340,000 international students from more than 200 countries, and that the World Bank actually rates the UK first in Europe and in the top 5 globally for ease of doing business. These figures may sound surprisingly positive; however, it does nothing to mask the fact that we are taking students and investment in, but doing little by way of return.
The fateful decision made in 2004 was done so in order to increase flexibility in the curriculum for vocational opportunities, but the Minister provides no evidence of whether this has worked. Instead he explains that the number of Primary schools teaching languages has risen nearly 50% since 2003 and that the Government are giving £32.5 million in funding to local authorities to support this delivery. The issue of transition is also glanced over; however, the Minister does say how the Key stage 3 curriculum has been revitalised to include a more flexible range of languages. 1 in 7 secondary schools in the UK currently teaches Mandarin which would not be possible without this curriculum overhaul. Figures quoted also put a positive spin on the situation of language learning at University level. The numbers enrolled on joint language degrees increased by 5% from 2007 to 2008 and the numbers for world languages increased (Japanese increased by 43%). The Minister again states that the government does not believe that ‘compulsion is the right approach’.
An £8 million ‘Routes into Languages’ programme has created a consortium of schools, colleges and universities to combine efforts to stimulate demand for language learning in secondary education and above. Some 27,000 pupils are involved in activities which has stemmed from the scheme. Another possible initiative was discussed which will help to stimulate language learning opportunities offered to employees but their employers and trade associations. The CBI and the Chamber of Commerce will be involved with major corporations to put into place a significant drive on the subject.
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Teaching Challenge - Vanessa Feltz
