The recent announcement that the University of Aberdeen has lifted the threat of compulsory redundancy from its languages staff and will continue to deliver joint degrees in languages was a rare moment of good news for the languages sector.
But the focus on universities hides a much greater opportunity to secure a sustainable future for languages. The curriculum review taking place following the publication of Professor Louise Hayward’s report, It’s Our Future, is a chance to reflect on what languages should look like going forward.
This is a critical moment. Global citizenship is intrinsic to the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), and since 2011 the Scottish government has signalled the strategic importance of languages by investing over £36 million in languages provision in the “broad general education (BGE)”. The introduction of languages from the age of 5 established language-learning as the norm, and many schools embraced it as an opportunity to revise their BGE provision.
Languages ‘at risk of collapse’
But with the implementation and funding of the 1+2 languages policy now complete, there is a real danger that this progress will be squandered. The reality is that languages examination entries are in sustained decline: the number of students taking a Higher in either French or German has fallen 50 per cent since 2016, while Spanish has risen 7 per cent since 2017. In 2023 only 520 learners sat Higher German, and 2,280 took Higher French, compared with 35,520 entries in Higher English.
More concerning still, last year’s recruitment of languages teachers was only 30 per cent of target. The progression pipeline of languages learners is fractured and the ecosystem of languages, moving from young learners through to national exams, university and teacher training, is at risk of collapse.
There are many factors underpinning these figures. English is an international language, creating the assumption that “English is enough”. But Ireland, with a similar population and no compulsory subjects other than Irish, has 76 per cent of learners taking an additional language in their final examinations.
Languages bring personal and social benefits but they are also crucial to our future economic success: research shows that the linguistic and cultural skills developed through language study bring significant economic benefits. A 2021 Aston University report found that small and medium enterprises making use of linguistic and cultural capabilities were 30 per cent more successful in exporting than those that did not.
Economic as well as cultural benefits
Meanwhile, a 2022 University of Cambridge report found that raising take-up of French and Spanish at GCSE and A level by just 10 per cent would increase UK GDP by 0.4 per cent; for Arabic and Mandarin, a 10 per cent rise in take-up would increase GDP by 0.5 per cent. Overall, every pound invested in languages could return around £2.
The curriculum review in Scotland represents an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss. But what should the future look like?
Artificial intelligence is not a new development for linguists, who for years have worked with Google Translate, DeepL and other translation software. Current advances highlight the value of the wider skills that technology does not replace: the communication, literacy, global outlook and intercultural competence that bolster aspiration, social mobility, anti-racism and global citizenship. These will be crucial to the development of a globally focused, interculturally skilled and confident population, able to succeed in the hyper-connected 21st century.
Language learning is about much more than linguistic ability. It is crucial that this is more widely understood by learners, parents, school leaders and employers, and supported by the curriculum.
Chance for ‘radical change’ in language learning
The curriculum review being led by Education Scotland is an opportunity for radical change, to move away from a dependence on the memorisation and “teaching to the test” identified in It’s Our Future. Tweaking or refining current classroom approaches will not be enough.
The review must engage with urgent questions if we are to secure a sustainable future for languages. How can the curriculum communicate the value of languages so that learners are motivated to continue studying them? Research by the British Council in 2023 demonstrated that most learners enjoy learning about other cultures but do not see the usefulness of it for employment or university study.
How do we respond to the frustration of learners who, after more than 10 years of study, struggle to speak in their target language? We need a curriculum that foregrounds the spontaneous production of written and spoken language and integrates intercultural understanding.
Universities have a big role to play: they are dynamic centres of expertise in AI and interdisciplinary learning, teaching learners at all stages from beginners to postgraduates. Moreover, the UK government’s Research Excellence Framework encourages them to communicate the benefits of research findings to new audiences, including school learners.
Change is essential beyond the current curriculum review. It must be embedded in the wider review of qualifications and of the post-Scottish Qualifications Authority national assessment framework, and encompass content, pedagogy and assessment methods.
Of major concern are the timetabling constraints that restrict exposure to a language in schools to as little as 50 minutes a week in the BGE phase, and that impose subject choices for 30 per cent of learners as early as S2.
A recent Erasmus+ study that fed into SCILT’s Generation Global project found learners and parents were being prevented from continuing with languages by the number and availability of subject choices. This results in a narrowing of the curriculum in the senior phase of school, identified by Dr Marina Shapira’s 2023 Nuffield study, which should cause widespread concern.
Languages remain a fragile but valuable and necessary component of the curriculum. The present moment offers a vital opportunity to reposition languages within the curriculum and beyond. We must seize it.
Dr Fiona Barclay is a senior lecturer at the University of Stirling and Fhiona Mackay is director of SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages
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