The Linguist

FEATURES @CIOL_Linguists AUTUMN 2023 The Linguist 21 The languages landscape in Wales That the reality for international languages since the creation of Global Futures has been one of accelerated decline in our secondary schools is irrefutable. Data from StatsWales paints a picture of decline for all international languages over the past seven years in Wales. French GCSE entries have fallen from 4,793 in 2015 to 2,611 in 2021, a decrease of almost 50%, while the numbers for German are equally alarming, dropping from 1,024 to 480. Less commonly taught languages (known as 'other languages') have not fared well either, with a drop in GCSE entries from 443 to just 74. This decline from 2015 to 2021 – the fastest and most significant on record – has severely impacted entry levels for A level too, where German and French have dropped by roughly half and Spanish by a third. In 2021, Wales had only 206 A-level candidates for French and 48 for German. Of course, there have been – and remain – significant external challenges to language uptake, but among the most significant barriers to language learning in Wales is the reduction of meaningful opportunities for our young people to study foreign languages in our secondary schools. This is a consequence of the closure of language departments and/or drastic reductions in timetable hours. Data from the WJEC, the only exam board that Welsh secondary schools are permitted to use, indicates that the number of centres in Wales offering GCSE German fell from 52 in 2015 to 40 in 2021. The centres offering A-level German decreased markedly from 36 to a mere 19. The situation is similar for Spanish, with centres offering Spanish GCSE down from 114 to 96, and those offering the A level falling from 53 to 40. In essence, there are now fewer language departments in Welsh secondary schools and, as a consequence of this reduction in provision and opportunity, there are fewer exam entries. This is a vicious cycle that is worsening with every passing year. Global Futures and its impact So what of Global Futures and the Consortia? Global Futures came into being with the vision statement "that Wales becomes a truly multilingual nation". 4 A key strategic aim of the five-year plan was "to increase the number of young people choosing to study modern foreign language subjects at Level 2 (GCSE level or equivalent), at Level 3 (A level or equivalent) and at higher education level". In 2020, the initiative was awarded a further two years. One of the new strategic aims was a promise to work with secondary schools and school leaders in the creation of a curriculum for languages. According to Gerard Pitt, lead government advisor, "if international languages are to thrive, they must be part of a school's holistic planning and not marginalised". 5 However, the minutes of Global Futures meetings and the data acquired from the Consortia do not reveal how this strategic aim has been actioned. They do point to Global Futures focusing a significant amount of attention on the introduction of international languages in primary schools, and on finding resources and training for primary teachers who are inexperienced in delivering languages. So, what for secondary schools? It is impossible not to feel that we have been overlooked as Wales is, according to all evidence, looking to rebuild languages from the bottom up. Primary schools must now introduce languages to their pupils and meet some form of progression. Secondary school leaders, on the other hand, have merely been given guidance for developing their curriculum. DISILLUSIONED Teachers were enthusiastic about Wales's investment in languages, but are concerned that the decline has continued in its new Curriculum for Languages, so why is it on catastrophe? A group of language teachers speak out ut not a way? IMAGES © PEXELS

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