British Council: Foreign languages ‘essential for our children’s future’
14 November 2011
As International Education Week 2011 gets underway, the British Council is highlighting the vital role of foreign languages in preparing children in the UK for life in a global society and work in a global economy.
The UK’s cultural relations body – which builds relationships for the UK through education, English and the arts – is underlining the important role played by languages in improving understanding of other cultures, which is essential if our children are to be able to compete in an increasingly internationalised world of work. Foreign languages also make a valuable contribution to children’s intellectual development.
The British Council supports language-learning in UK schools through programmes including Foreign Language Assistants - native speakers of French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Japanese or Arabic who support language teachers in schools. However, since 2005, there has been a marked decline in the number of schools employing these Assistants. Nationwide, there has been a 30% drop in numbers – from 2716 to 1888.
Scotland has seen the most severe drop of 80%. This year, just 59 Foreign Language Assistants will work in Scotland’s schools – down from nearly 300 in 2005-6. In England numbers have dropped by 21% over the same period, Wales has seen a 38% drop and, in Northern Ireland, numbers are down by 35%.
An extra cause for concern is the fact that the number of Foreign Language Assistants spending at least part of their working week in Primary Schools has dropped to just 113 this year – less than 6% of Assistants in the UK.
Not only does this decline mean that fewer children have access to a valuable way of learning about a foreign language and culture, but it risks damaging the UK’s reputation abroad – as the supply of placements in the UK is failing to meet demand from overseas governments with a surplus of potential Assistants.
Vicky Gough, Schools Adviser at the British Council, said: “Foreign languages are essential for our children’s future. If they are going to grow up able to compete in an increasingly globalised world, they need to have a good knowledge and understanding of other cultures – and languages are an integral part of this. Trust ultimately underpins trade, so the ability to build that trust with other cultures through communication is vital if the UK is to take advantage of international business opportunities.
“It’s worrying to see a decline in the numbers of Foreign Language Assistants in UK schools. These Assistants support language teachers by bringing a cultural dimension to language teaching that really inspires young people. They help pupils to become much more fluent in a foreign language – and therefore more likely to go on to study a foreign language to a high level. Of course we understand the financial pressures that schools and local authorities are under, but we’d urge them to view Foreign Language Assistants as essential rather than a luxury.”
Paul Keogh, Advanced Skills Teacher at King James Secondary School in North Yorkshire, said: “Having a Foreign Language Assistant is beyond negotiation in our school; they are giving our students life skills to work around the world, to communicate confidently as global citizens and increase their cultural awareness and employment opportunities in the UK. We couldn’t teach languages without them.”
Linda Parker, Director of the Association for Language Learning, said: “The world we live in now is changing rapidly and shrinking fast. For me, speaking another language has been a huge asset. But, for young people today, a knowledge of other languages and other cultures is vital.
“These are skills and attitudes that will help them to be adaptable, outward-looking and to compete on an even playing field with their peers from other countries. In fact, as native speakers of a world language (English), speaking other languages will give them an even greater advantage.“
Foreign Languages are the focus for this year’s British Council International Education Week, which takes place from 14th–18th November and celebrates the work by schools to prepare children for living in a global society and working in a global economy. This work takes many forms, including developing partnerships and projects with schools in other countries, hosting Foreign Language Assistants, carrying out international study visits and exchanges, and online collaboration. International Education Week provides a chance to reflect on the achievements of the last year.
Schools can find out more about Foreign Language Assistants at: http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/funding/language-assistants
For more information, contact Mark Moulding in the British Council Press Office on 0207 389 4889 or mark.moulding@britishcouncil.org
Notes to Editors
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide. We work in over 100 countries in the arts, education and English and in 2010/11 we engaged face to face with 30 million people and reached 578 million. We have 6,800 staff worldwide. Our total turnover in 2010/11 was £693 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was £190 million. The remainder was generated through trading activities such as English language teaching. For every £1 of taxpayer money invested we earn £2.65 in additional income. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org
