The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1296004
@Linguist_CIOL 'When Will a Covid-19 Vaccine be Ready in the UK?', 8/9/20 Drugmakers are asking the European Union to loosen rules that require medicines sold in the bloc to include full documentation in 24 separate languages, worried that this could slow down the rapid deployment of hundreds of millions of doses. The EU's executive Commission promised in June it would temporarily soften language requirements for Covid-19 vaccines, but has not yet put forward a proposal… Brussels was considering having printed information in a limited set of languages. Other versions would be available online. What the papers say… 'India Moves to End Primary Teaching in English as Modi Unveils Major Education Reforms', 30/7/20 Mr Modi said the new policy would "promote Indian languages", a move which is likely to be welcomed by the prime minister's nationalist base. Indian media reported that the RSS, the far-right youth wing of the ruling BJP party, was heavily involved in drafting the policy… But the plan stops short of naming Hindi as a recommended language for schools to teach in, something that had featured in a draft version. 'Inner Mongolia Protests at China's Plans to Bring in Mandarin-only Lessons', 1/9/20 The changes mirror those already made in Xinjiang in 2017 and Tibet in 2018. The Tibetan and Uighur languages in education have been under growing restrictions since the start of the century, and efforts to assimilate the ethnic minority groups – including some which have amounted to cultural genocide and drawn international condemnation – have stepped up under the leadership of Xi. The latest from the languages world Loss of A levels NEWS & EDITORIAL OCTOBER/NOVEMBER The Linguist 5 A-level entries in 'other languages' (i.e. those that are not usually taught in UK schools) have fallen by more than 40% this year, with most dropping by more than 50%. The worst hit languages were Gujarati – down by 96% from 2019 – Modern Greek (-69%), Portuguese (-63%) and Bengali (-57%). Last year, 30% of A-level languages were in this category. Lockdown conditions were identified as a major factor, as exams were replaced by teacher assessments. Most 'other language' students study outside mainstream schools, entering as 'private' candidates, which can make them ineligible for this type of assessment. "These pupils have effectively been excluded from the examination system this year," said Teresa Tinsley, author of the annual Languages Trends survey. Writing on the Alcantara Communications blog, she added that the new A-level specifications introduced in 2018 have made these languages less accessible for pupils who study them outside of a mainstream school. "Nearly 5,000 pupils have been denied the opportunity to obtain a qualification that could have been critical to their future careers." Strategic response to MFL decline A new report has called for an immediate adjustment to the grade boundaries for language A levels and GCSEs to ensure a level playing field for students. 'Towards a National Languages Strategy: Education and skills' offers both short- and medium-term solutions to the continuing decline in language qualifications among school leavers. Acknowledging that additional funding is required urgently, the report recommends the introduction of an Advanced Languages Premium for the study of A-level languages "as an incentive to schools that have low levels of provision and take-up". It also urges that undergraduate language degrees should be fully funded. Among the longer term goals is "a joined- up strategy for retention and recruitment of language teachers", and improvements to the primary curriculum, including a statutory amount of time devoted to languages and better transition to secondary education. The report was published by the British Academy, Association of School and College Leaders, British Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council and Universities UK. See ahrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/towards -a-national-languages-strategy © SHUTTERSTOCK