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 From the Guardian: Why the drop in university applications for languages
is worrying

Harold Schiffman thought you might be interested in this link from the
Guardian: Why the drop in university applications for languages is worrying
Ucas figures showing falling applications for modern language degrees pose
a real problem for Britain, says Nigel Vincent Nigel Vincent

Friday 31 January 2014

theguardian.com

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/31/drop-in-university-language-applications

----

Michael Booth took a few well-aimed shots at the myth of the Nordic Utopia
this week<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/27/scandinavian-miracle-brutal-truth-denmark-norway-sweden>.
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.

One foreign language, English, is obligatory for all pupils. We used to
have a similar principle here until the last government abandoned it
in 2004<http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/11/uk-languages-teaching-crisis>.
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.

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?

It is for this reason that we should be very concerned at the news that yet
again the Ucas figures show that applications for modern languages are
down<http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/31/university-applications-record-high-ucas>.
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.

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 State
of the Nation report<http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/State_of_the_Nation_2013.cfm>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.

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.

*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.*

If you have any questions about this email, please contact the
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theguardian.com Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2014
Registered in England and Wales No. 908396 Registered office: PO Box 68164,
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1P 2AP

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