By Gavin Mackintosh-
State schools are discouraging pupils from studying a language in year 9, a new report has revealed.
Instead of encouraging British pupils to broaden their language skills by learning other languages like French and Spanish, a majority of state schools are allowing students to skip languages, in the process devaluing the importance of challenging the mind positively, and showing a willingness to learn other cultures.
According to the British Council’s 2018 language trends survey, 34.5 per cent of state schools are not teaching modern foreign languages (MFL) to entire groups of students at that level.
The survey shows that the percentage of schools abandoning languages is up from 29 per cent in 2017, and 26 per cent in 2016. It reveals the growing disinterest by students in learning other languages, and may be associated with a growing perception that English is the world’s leading language, which it is.
The big problem with this is that foreign pupils from other countries who learn English are developing their minds better than those British pupils who avoid learning other languages. This assumes equal or higher developments in other academic areas of learning.
Researcher Ellen Bialystock, a prize winning cognitive neuroscientist, says being bilingual increases the cognitive abilities of children. She insists bilingual children are better equipped when it comes to separating a word from its meaning, and more likely to have friends from different cultures. Bilingual adults are often four to five years later than others in developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
In June 2017, Ofqual’s figures showed summer entries for German G.C.S.Es and A-levels had dropped by 12 per cent, with French falling by 10 per cent, and Spanish by three per cent.
The British Council’s new report concluded that the overall proportion of pupils taking a G.C.S.E in a modern language fell by two percentage points to 47 per cent in 2017. It also concluded that just over 30% of all students obtained a grade C or above. Languages were also less likely to be pushed in schools with pupils from the most disadvantaged background.
At key stage 3, only 22 per cent of schools with the highest free school meal eligibility claimed to teach languages for 2.5 hours or more, in marked contrast with 55 per cent of schools with the lowest free school meal eligibility.
38 per cent of pupils in sponsored academies took a modern language, falling to 27 per cent at university technical colleges and 15 per cent in studio schools.
LOWER ABILITY
The survey also revealed that pupils of lower ability in both state schools and independent schools were less likely to take a language at G.C.S.E’s, especially with the higher standards of G.C.S.Es introduced by Theresa May’s government to shake up the overall education standard in the UK.
Vicky Gough, a schools adviser at the British Council, said the opportunity to learn a language “should be open to everyone, regardless of what kind of school they attend”.
“Learning a foreign language can open doors, not only by helping us understand other cultures but also providing vital skills much sought after by employers,”she said.
The report predicts that based on current trends, Spanish will overtake French as England’s most widely taught modern language at A-level by 2020 and at G.C.S.E by 2025.