<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">Forwarded From: o: <a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list-owner@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list-owner@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br><br><br> <br><br> From the Guardian: Why the drop in university applications for languages is worrying<br>
<p>Harold Schiffman thought you might be interested in this link from the Guardian: Why the drop in university applications for languages is worrying</p>
<h4>Ucas figures showing falling applications for modern language degrees pose a real problem for Britain, says Nigel Vincent</h4>
Nigel Vincent
<p>Friday 31 January 2014</p>
<p><a href="http://theguardian.com" target="_blank">theguardian.com</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/31/drop-in-university-language-applications" target="_blank">http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/31/drop-in-university-language-applications</a></p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Michael Booth took a few well-aimed shots at <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/27/scandinavian-miracle-brutal-truth-denmark-norway-sweden" title="" target="_blank">the myth of the Nordic Utopia this week</a>. Like him, I too am married to a Dane and regularly spend time there, and I can testify to one thing that they definitely get right: their school language policy.</p>
<p></p><p>One foreign language, English, is obligatory for all pupils. We used to have a similar principle here until the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/11/uk-languages-teaching-crisis" title="" target="_blank">last government abandoned it in 2004</a>. The difference is that even then pupils started a foreign language at 11 and were only required to continue it until age 14. In Denmark, English is an obligatory part of the curriculum from 10 to 16. And recent changes have meant that many schools now teach English along with maths and Danish as part of the core curriculum from age 7 upwards. Add in their further requirement to take a second language from 14 to 16, and you have a nation where many of those who finish secondary school, let alone those who go on to university, are close to functionally bilingual in English and know other languages as well. Moreover, those who already have a couple of languages under their belt are less likely to be put off at the thought of learning others as their career develops, and new opportunities present themselves.</p>
<p></p><p>Sceptics will say that Denmark is only a small country where people have to learn languages because others won't learn Danish. True, but where countries like Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands are leading others are showing signs of following. It is not difficult to foresee that in a decade or so the global job market will be awash with polyglots from a variety of countries. Why, in such a situation, would an employer prefer to take on a monolingual, and all too often monocultural, Brit?</p>
<p></p><p>It is for this reason that we should be very concerned at the news that yet again <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/31/university-applications-record-high-ucas" title="" target="_blank">the Ucas figures show that applications for modern languages are down</a>. This year the drop is 5% compared to last year's applications for languages and in contrast to the 4% rise of overall applications to university.</p>
<p></p><p>David Willetts is fond of saying that in higher education the market should decide. The problem is that, when it comes to languages, the market is deciding against the interests of the UK and in favour of Denmark and other countries that introduce similar policies into their education system. The <a href="http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/State_of_the_Nation_2013.cfm" title="" target="_blank">State of the Nation report</a> published by the British Academy in February 2013 showed how, even as languages are declining in British schools and universities, our businesses are crying out for employees at all levels who have language skills.</p>
<p></p><p>In the report we talk about "the vicious circle of monolingualism" trapping the UK. This is directly opposed to the virtuous multilingual spiral countries like Denmark are managing to construct. If other nations can find ways to privilege English it behoves us to find ways to privilege other languages.</p>
<p></p><p><i>Nigel Vincent is the professor emeritus of general and romance linguistics at the University of Manchester and vice president for research and higher education policy at the British Academy.</i></p>
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