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Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/135206
FEATURES while the number offering languages such as Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Latin was in single figures. Of those offering Latin, none did so throughout the four years of KS2 (ages 7-11). No schools offered Ancient Greek. A wide variety of other languages was being introduced to children within class time, including Portuguese, Hebrew, Welsh, Turkish, Danish, Swahili, Afrikaans, Nepalese, Dutch, Polish and Cornish, as well as British Sign Language and the communication support system Makaton. Typically, these languages are introduced to tie in with festivals and celebrations, such as the European Day of Languages, or incidentally as greetings, songs etc. Some schools mentioned more formal 'investigating languages' programmes, which encouraged children to identify patterns and develop inference and dictionary skills. Need for training and support There is a strongly expressed need – as well as an all too evident implicit need – for further training, support and guidance: 33 percent of schools have no arrangements to assess pupil progress, while nearly 50 percent regard assessment as a key priority for improvement. Schools have least confidence in their ability to deliver the more technical and rigorous aspects of language teaching, including reading, grammatical understanding and writing. These elements are emphasised in the new National Curriculum, which requires pupils to reach 'high standards of practical communication using both the written and the spoken language' by the end of KS2. Primary schools see improving staff expertise and self confidence in languages as major priorities. As many as 23 percent may have no member of staff with language competence higher than GCSE and 8.5 percent may have no language expertise at all among their staff. A minority of primary schools – around 15 percent – are not confident in the sustainability of the provision they offer, and nearly 10 percent were not confident they would be able to teach a language to all primary-age children from 2014. The concerns of those who believe that 'they may do more harm than good' in trying to teach a language urgently need to be addressed. The survey provides a strong message about the need for further staff development, particularly for those primary schools without expertise or commitment to the notion of teaching a foreign language. While teachers need opportunities to improve their own linguistic skills, those coordinating and managing primary languages need a better understanding of what makes quality provision. There is an urgent need to maintain and develop confidence and enthusiasm to teach languages in primary schools, while addressing discrepancies in provision and raising standards across the board. Transition to secondary Transition is a major problem. Despite some examples of successful practice, there is generally a low level of formal collaboration between primary and secondary schools. A disconnect between school systems means that the vast majority of pupils do not experience continuity and progression in their language learning when they move from primary to secondary school. In the survey of secondary schools, only 11 percent had arrangements allowing all pupils to continue with the languages learnt at primary school. Secondary schools are unable to cope with the diversity of pupils' language learning experiences at primary level and it is not on their agendas to do so. A perception of excessive disparity and diversity in language provision in primary schools – which is, indeed, the reality in many cases – leads secondary schools to dismiss the value of what has been learnt and to 'start at the beginning again'. In a number of cases teachers even mention 'unteaching' or 'unpicking' what children have learnt. This is a waste of public resources, teachers' efforts and children's time, and suggests the need for a much greater push on quality and consistency in primary schools, as well as an obligation on secondary schools to do more to take children's prior learning into account. There is a challenging agenda for schools and policymakers, but the goal of providing high-quality language teaching to every primary-age child deserves our wholehearted support. The survey shows how much previous policies have achieved and the consolidation that is now needed in order to ensure our young people enjoy the same opportunities as those in other advanced nations. This is the first article in a series looking at developments in primary and secondary education. In the following issues, Dr Neomy Storch will look at collaborative writing activities and new teacher Dominic Luddy will report on his experience of the PGCE. Notes 1 Department for Education, 2013, 'The National Curriculum in England. Framework Document for Consultation', www.education.gov.uk/ a00221262/reform-national-curriculum 2 CfBT, 2012, 'Language Learning in Primary and Secondary Schools in England. Findings from the 2012 Language Trends Survey', www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/ our_research.aspx 3 Wade, P, Marshall, H and O'Donnell, S, 2009, 'Primary Modern Foreign Languages. Longitudinal survey of implementation of national entitlement to language learning at Key Stage 2', National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) 4 Department for Education and Skills, 2002, 'Languages for All, Languages for Life. A strategy for England' 5 CILT, 2011 'CILT Primary Languages Head Teacher Survey'