Languages is in the news again. With an exciting plethora of projects and proposals that could take us forward. Here's one that has just quietly been getting on with it. Have you heard of the Languages for All initiative in Hounslow with Royal Holloway University? It has doubled the number of students taking A Level languages in local schools.
It's a project that is deeply rooted in seeking to understand what the issues are and what can be done about them.
Firstly, it has used the oomph that a University can have, to send a strong marketing message to pupils about languages. In Year 11 it has personally invited pupils into the University to see an international environment, meet language students, try language lessons, and attend talks about employment, ambition and aspiration. This is maintained throughout the students' experience, with a high standard of communication and material, further visits to the University, and further contact with older students.
Secondly, it has looked to solve the problems caused by fragmentation of the Further Education sector, where it has become unviable to run A Level for small groups. The University has become involved in delivering teaching, including online, and supplying student mentors. And it has coordinated provision by schools, with lead schools providing the teaching, again with an online option where timetables or geography are an obstacle. There has been a real effort to make the project feel like a community, where students are studying together even when they are apart.
Thirdly, the project continues to focus on the relevance and usefulness of languages, with visits to the University, to employers, and a residential trip abroad.
It has been a huge success, but with a strong element of self-evaluation and reflection. It aims to continue to learn and grow. One thing that stands out is that it is value-led. This is a collaborative project from a University determined to be rooted in the community but with a global outlook. I hope it goes from strength to strength.
It's interesting that it's had this success with A Level. It gives me hope that we might achieve something similar for mainstream language learning post-16. A Level is lovely for the minority who want to do specialist academic study of a language, with literature and essays and linguistics and politics and grammar. For those who want that, it can be an amazing experience.
But it's not a mainstream language learning offer. At the moment, the options for language learning post 16 are A Level or nothing. And "nothing" is more popular than A Level. This project gives me hope that Universities might support us in establishing language learning for the mainstream, not just the specialists. This article quotes a British Academy report calling for much wider language learning, not just in specialist philology degrees. Neil Kenny has called for what he calls "alternatives to A Level" (and I would call "mainstream language learning pathways") in this opinion piece. I don't think it would have to be a Level 3 qualification as I explain here. Especially if a language to 18 could become an entitlement for all.
The Languages for All initiative gives me hope that we could find Universities ready to collaborate with schools to:
Strongly market the value of languages for University life and study. Telling pupils that going to university means joining an international organisation, including the possibility of studying abroad, using languages for research, engaging with other students from across the globe, taking a language course while at University, and that a language is a key aspect that will be looked at for applications and admissions. Universities could send a strong message to sixth form and college students that evidence of studying a language post 16 is something they value and look for.
Co-ordinate collaboration between colleges. Students will come into a college or sixth form with different levels of experience in different languages, and with interests in a wider choice of languages. A high quality provision that meets all needs will exceed the capabilities of any one centre. This will need very skillful handling in a landscape of fragmentation and competition. In fact, we would have to beware that actual collaboration between centres could lead to falling standards due to a weakening of competition. (Yes, I'm joking. But actually that ridiculous idea is the basis of our entire system.)
Create resources and deliver input. If Universities have open access online material for their own Institution Wide Language Centres, they could open these resources to sixth form students. Or if Universities were to commission or create language learning materials for sixth form students, they could also make these available to their own students. These could be developed in co-operation with commercial companies. Live online sessions or face to face sessions or visits to the University would help with outreach and with attracting potential applicants to the University. There could also be scope for the University to accredit and celebrate the learning.
It sounds like a lot to ask. But wouldn't it be magical if learning a language was something normal that students continued to do post-16? And look at the success of the Languages for All project. Isn't this exactly the role a University could and should set out to play?
