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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>The
Independent<BR>Bilingual pupils do better in exams, report finds <BR>By Richard
Garner, Education Editor <BR>31 October 2006 <BR></FONT><A
href="http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article1943292.ece"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article1943292.ece</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> <BR>Bilingual children are far more likely
to get top-grade passes in<BR>exams in all subjects, a report has found.
<BR> <BR>A study of Portuguese children at secondary schools in London
showed<BR>that those who were encouraged to continue studying their
native<BR>language were five times as likely to achieve five top grade A* to
C<BR>grade passes at GCSE.<BR> <BR>The study also found that 11-year-olds
in Hackney who speak more than<BR>one language at home were outperforming pupils
who only speak English,<BR>even in reading, in their national curriculum
tests.<BR> <BR>The report, Positively Plurilingual, is published today by
Cilt, the<BR>national centre for languages, to coincide with a drive to
encourage<BR>the take-up of community languages.<BR> <BR>In an introduction
to the report, Sir Trevor McDonald - who led a<BR>major inquiry into the
teaching of languages in schools and is now<BR>Cilt's patron - says too many
schools miss out on the opportunity to<BR>ensure bilingual pupils develop their
skills in languages other than<BR>English. "Rather than thinking in terms of an
'English-only' culture,<BR>we should be promoting 'English-plus'," he says. "We
know that<BR>children are capable of acquiring more than one language and
that<BR>doing so brings a range of educational benefits, including
cognitive<BR>advantages, enhanced communication skills and an openness to
different<BR>cultural perspectives."<BR> <BR>The report also cites research
by Ellen Bailystock of York University<BR>in Canada, which showed that bilingual
people were better at<BR>multi-tasking than those who only speak one language.
This is because<BR>they regularly exercise the part of the brain known as the
pre-frontal<BR>cortex which reinforces attention span.<BR> <BR>The report
says that more than one in eight primary school pupils in<BR>the UK - about
850,000 children - speak a language other than English<BR>at
home.<BR> <BR>"People who already speak more than one language find it
easier to<BR>learn new languages than monolinguals," it adds.<BR> <BR>It
gives several examples of schools that take advantage of the ethnic<BR>diversity
of their children - including Newbury Park primary school in<BR>Redbridge, east
London, which adopts a different "language of the<BR>month" so its pupils get a
grounding in all of the 44 languages spoken<BR>at the
school.<BR> <BR>Peterborough now offers classes in Italian, Urdu and
Punjabi in its<BR>primary schools. "The linguistic map of the UK is changing,"
concludes<BR>the report. "The number of languages in use is growing and
diversity<BR>is spreading to parts of the country where previously few
languages<BR>other than English were spoken."<BR> <BR>Dorset County
Council, for instance, has teamed up with Tower Hamlets<BR>in east London -
where 60 per cent of pupils are of Bangladeshi origin<BR>- to provide distance
learning for Bengali speakers. Cumbria offers<BR>Saturday classes in Chinese and
Bengali.<BR> <BR>More than 200 representatives of schools and local
education<BR>authorities will gather at the Polish embassy this morning to
promote<BR>the teaching of Polish, in a meeting timed to coincide with the
launch<BR>of the report. Children of Polish origin are one of the
fastest<BR>growing ethnic minority groups in UK state
schools.<BR> <BR>Today's drive comes in the wake of the decision by Alan
Johnson, the<BR>Education Secretary, to set up an inquiry into the teaching
of<BR>languages in schools - following the disastrous slump in take-up of<BR>the
subject at GCSE and A-level when compulsory language lessons after<BR>the age of
14 were scrapped. It is to be headed by Lord Dearing, the<BR>former chairman of
the Post Office, and is expected to make its<BR>interim report in December.
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