The Linguist

In November, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages held an important meeting gathering evidence on the increasing decline in international school visits and exchanges. Contributions came from stakeholders including the Association for Language Learning (ALL), the School Travel Forum, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and local authorities. Visits and exchanges were interrupted by travel restrictions during the peak of the Covid pandemic, but the expected rebound has not materialised. Last year, 50% of schools reported they were cutting trips and exchanges, and since 2018, there has been a tripling of the number of schools reporting no international engagement at all. Evidence suggests a perfect storm has led to this, including post-Brexit paperwork and travel restrictions, increased costs and administration for schools and parents, conflicting official guidance, and disruption to funding since the UK left the EU's Erasmus+ programme and replaced it with the UK-only Turing scheme. The APPG has undertaken to raise concerns with the government. Going forward, it will SPRING 2024 The Linguist 7 @CIOL_Linguists NEWS & EDITORIAL In the media PHILIP HARDING-ESCH The November reshuffle saw Damian Hinds appointed as the new UK Schools Minister, replacing long-standing Minister Nick Gibb. This may be of significance for languages, as Mr Gibb pursued generally pro-languages policies. Several studies looking at languages in schools made the news this winter. The British Council's Language Trends survey found that 90% of primary schools across England have pupils who speak a language in addition to English. It was good to see Schoolsweek giving space to a longitudinal study in UK schools showing that teaching through languages can improve overall outcomes. Judith Woodfield, the author, says the approach "effectively eliminated the disadvantage gap". Plans to close Aberdeen University's languages provision were met with furore in the press. Interested parties, including the Scottish Government and several EU consulates, highlighted the problems with applying strict economic criteria to the provision of languages in an ancient university with strategic regional and legal responsibilities, especially with regard to Gaelic and initial teacher training. In a response that was seen as a win for such protests, the university agreed to continue its joint honours language programme, saying it had listened to "staff and students", according to the BBC. The Times Education Commission ran a week-long series advocating for language study. In an interview, the former Education Secretary Charles Clarke argued that his proposals to "teach languages with grades like music" should be revisited. The National marked a significant legal milestone for Scotland, as Scots gained legal recognition as an official language and recognition for Gaelic was strengthened. CIOL CEO John Worne co-wrote an article in The Law Society Gazette on PI4J (Professional Interpreters 4 Justice) in association with the ATC (Association of Translation Companies). It unveiled the 'Working Together' white paper, a key development in tackling procurement of language services in the public sector. Philip Harding-Esch is a freelance languages project manager and consultant. The cross-party group considers the decline in foreign exchanges in the UK and a nationwide portal for languages. Philip Harding-Esch reports be looking at related issues facing the higher education sector. At its January meeting, the group marked the recent launch of the UK-wide portal for languages, The Languages Gateway. 1 The British Academy gave a presentation on behalf of the other lead partners ASCL, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the British Council and Universities UK. The Languages Gateway is just one part of the 'Towards a National Languages Strategy' initiative, 2 which contains a series of short-, medium- and longer-term goals designed to revive languages education, and raise the profile and status of languages in society. It is encouraging existing stakeholders to collaborate and act more strategically, which is welcomed by the APPG. Notes 1 www.thelanguagesgateway.uk 2 https://cutt.ly/NatLangStrat Inside parliament Philip Harding-Esch works on behalf of CIOL to provide the secretariat to the APPG on Modern Languages. TL

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