Citation
(2002), "Speaking up for languages", Education + Training, Vol. 44 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2002.00444gab.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
Speaking up for languages
Concrete measures at all levels are needed to transform language capability in the UK, according to a report on last year's European Year of Languages.
Speaking Up for Languages claims that languages have moved up the political agenda, not only for education but also for trade, industry and social affairs. The report draws attention to the success of the campaign, which involved more than 1,000 voluntary partner institutions.
The formation of the languages national steering group, chaired by Department for Education and Skills minister, Cathy Ashton, is one of a number of initiatives started during the campaign which are expected to bear fruit in future. The group is currently developing a national languages strategy, which is expected to boost languages at all levels of education and training.
Other initiatives include the establishment of a national languages forum, the setting up of a European Day of Languages as an annual event, on 26 September, and the introduction of junior and adult European languages portfolios. These record progress in language learning, and aim to make it easier for language training undertaken in one country to be verified in another.
Dr Lid King, director of the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, which co-ordinated the European year in Britain, said: "The experience of the year confirms the great enthusiasm for languages which exists in this country. We need to find better ways to respond to that enthusiasm and translate it into national capability in languages."
Sir Trevor McDonald, president of the UK co-ordinating committee for the year, said: "English alone is not enough for the UK to flourish in the twenty-first century. We survive by international partnerships and alliances. We need to be able to understand where others are coming from and what makes them tick – first hand, in their own words, not translated by them into English for our benefit."
Speaking Up for Languages is available on the Internet, at http://www.cilt.org.uk. More information on European language portfolios is available from Linda Cadier, Languages National Training Organisation, 20 Bedfordbury, London WC2N 4LB. Tel: +44 20 8579 4567; Fax: +44 20 7379 5082.