Popularity of the English language “threatens the UK”

Citation

(2006), "Popularity of the English language “threatens the UK”", Education + Training, Vol. 48 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2006.00448dab.006

Popularity of the English language “threatens the UK”

Monolingual English graduates face a bleak economic future, as qualified multilingual young people from other countries are proving to have a competitive advantage over their British counterparts in global companies and organisations, according to a report on the position of the English language in the world, commissioned by the British Council. English Next, by language researcher David Graddol, demonstrates that the global spread of English, which has brought tangible benefits to the UK and other native-speaking countries, will lead to serious economic and political disadvantages in the UK unless plans are put in place immediately to remedy the situation.

David Graddol concludes that once everyone speaks English, companies will naturally look for employees who speak other major languages, such as Mandarin or Spanish, as well. “There is a need to take radical action and plan for the future. Otherwise we in the UK will find ourselves at a permanent disadvantage”, said British Council director, English, John Whitehead. Within a decade, 2 billion people will be speaking or learning English. The language is rapidly becoming a near universal basic skill. Almost 60 per cent of primary-school children now learn English in China. There are 500 million English speakers in India and China, and they now exceed the number of English speakers elsewhere in the world. “The UK’s best defence against the threat of the spread of English is, in fact, to learn other languages”, says David Graddol, “and we have to think carefully about which languages those are. French, for example, is declining as an international language, but Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic are all languages of the future. Ethnic-minority groups in the UK may well prove to be a major asset in this effort”.

Meanwhile, Schools Minister Jacqui Smith has encouraged all secondary schools to ensure that as many of their pupils as possible are taking up their statutory entitlement to study a foreign language leading to a recognised qualification at Key Stage 4. Announcing a series of measures to underpin language study in secondary schools, she said that schools should embrace the opportunities offered by the National Languages Strategy and 14-19 reforms to help to make a reality of their pupils’ entitlement to study languages both at GCSE and through alternative qualification routes. She has written to every secondary school in England, setting out that from September 2006 they will be required to:

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  set a benchmark for the number of their pupils studying languages leading to a GCSE or other recognised qualification, with a minimum expectation of at least 50 per cent of pupils, ranging up to 90 per cent;

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  demonstrate to Ofsted that they are delivering the statutory entitlement to learn languages through their self-evaluation forms; and

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  advise parents about the school’s work in teaching languages through their school profile.

Compulsion to study languages was replaced by a pupil’s statutory entitlement to study a foreign language in 2004, to give more flexibility to pupils when choosing what to study at Key Stage 4. The entitlement means that secondary schools must still offer languages to all pupils.

The Government is investing an additional £115 million through the National Languages Strategy over the next three years to encourage more young people to study languages, including at Key Stage 4, through:

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  expanding the number of secondary schools with a specialism in foreign languages to 400 by 2010, enabling them to promote language learning across the system, in particular at GCSE;

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  introducing new GCSE courses, such as applied French, which combines French with business, leisure and tourism or media and communications;

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  testing new, vocational ways to teach languages, which will be incorporated in the specialised diplomas to be introduced under the 14-19 reforms, bringing together employers, local authorities, universities and schools to tailor courses that teach foreign languages with a focus on their application in the workplace, for example in tourism, health and social care;

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  building on a range of pilot projects and initiatives to help schools to develop a more diversified post-14 languages offer;

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  introducing additional training for language teachers working in Key Stage 3, to help them to enthuse and engage learners in foreign languages;

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  launching “Languages Work” promotional materials in schools, to inspire and encourage pupils to take up languages, when determining their GCSE options;

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  bringing in the Languages Ladder, which enables all learners to have their achievements in a wide range of languages, from Arabic to Chinese, recognised and counted towards schools’ performance in achievement and attainment tables; and

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  expanding Comenius Centres, which are regional “hubs” of language expertise based in universities, specialist language schools and colleges, to enhance the study of languages across the local school system.