UK: Government pledges extra £5m for language study

[Harold Schiffman]

Government pledges extra £5m for language study

Anthea Lipsett
Wednesday December 19, 2007

EducationGuardian.co.uk

An extra £5m will be pumped into language study in schools next year
in a bid to reverse the drop in take-up, the government announced
today.
Over the next year, £53m will boost language study in schools by, for
example, encouraging schools to work more closely together to help
pupils carry on learning languages when they move from primary to
secondary school.

Today's funding comes on the back of a review of languages by Lord
Dearing in March this year.

Some £35m of it will go to help primary schools make languages a
compulsory part of the curriculum for seven to 11-year-olds by 2010,
and pay for more training and support for secondary teachers. This
represents an increase of £5m on funding levels for this year.

Schools minister Jim Knight said: "We know 'one size fits all'
compulsory French or German GCSE study simply does not motivate
pupils.

"By continuing to invest in more long term solutions, such as better
trained teachers and more innovative resources, we will generate
enthusiasm and confidence for studying languages in secondary school
and beyond - far more effective than simple compulsion.

"Languages have many practical applications, and we know from
employers that our young people must be equipped in language skills to
compete in the global economy. Developing a love for languages is a
lifetime asset that broadens your horizons - benefits I want all
primary school children to have," he said.

The remaining funding will be used to support ongoing work to
revitalise the secondary curriculum so it is more engaging and
relevant for today's pupils, including:

· More than £3m over three years will support partnerships between
universities and schools for intensive languages tuition for teenagers
and using university level languages students as "ambassadors" to
inspire pupils to take languages at key stage 4.

· A further £3m will pay for the first year of a three year
development programme to create an innovative online language resource
for secondary pupils: the Open School for Languages.

· More than £1m for networks of secondary schools to share best
teaching and learning practices at key stage 3 and £2m for a
communications campaign to promote the benefits of learning languages
to pupils, teachers and parents. The remaining cash will be used to
implement other recommendations from Lord Dearing's review, including
a new scheme to allow good teachers to share their skills with others
and support for international experiences for pupils.

Dearing invited all headteachers to see the announcement as an
opportunity: in primary schools to press ahead with languages with the
confidence that increased funding is secure for a further three years;
and in secondary schools to make a policy of 'languages for all' a
reality, backed by new curriculum options and a more lively GCSE
curriculum.

"I am delighted the Open Schools for Languages is going ahead: we
proposed this as a support for teaching and one that plays to the
interests of today's pupils," he said.

The British Academy (BA), which is reviewing how to boost language
take-up, welcomed the move. But it said "further investment and
initiatives were necessary to reverse the serious decline in language
numbers at every stage of study from GCSE to PhD, which in turn has
had a disastrous impact on the supply not only of school teachers, HE
researchers and lecturers, but also risks damaging the UK's ability to
compete effectively in the global market".

BA president Onora O'Neill said: "Restoring and improving our language
teaching is urgent. We need better curricula and exams, teachers to
replace those lost, and a return to a reasonable period of mandatory
study for all children and young people."

Isabella Moore, chief executive of the National Centre for Languages,
Cilt, said: "Continued funding of primary languages will support the
fantastic progress being made in primary schools across the country,
and we are hugely pleased that the issue of transition, a concern for
so many teachers, is being addressed.

"The targeted funding for the secondary sector, and links with higher
education, will help ensure future sustainability and underlines the
need to send strong messages about the benefits of language skills to
young people and their parents."

EducationGuardian.co.uk

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2229748,00.html
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