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/322362
Vol/53 No/3 2014 JUNE/JULY The Linguist 7 transparent criteria, it enables the discussion to be informed by more than individual opinion. Are the criteria selected the right ones? Should more weight be given to the languages spoken in countries where we already have cultural connections, or to those where there is a need to build trust in the future? Alongside the main investigation, the British Council commissioned research from YouGov into the linguistic capacity of UK citizens in the ten languages identified. It found that 75% of the 4,000 adults surveyed were unable to speak any of these languages well enough to hold a conversation. Just 15% said they were able to hold a conversation in the most commonly-spoken language: French. This was followed by 6% who had some competence in German and 4% in Spanish. This picture clearly reflects past language education policy, as French, German and Spanish have been most widely taught in schools and universities. Italian, Russian and Japanese have a smaller presence in our education systems. But the Top 10 list also includes Turkish, Portuguese and, perhaps the languages which present the biggest challenges: Arabic and Mandarin. The overall conclusion is not that people in the UK are learning the wrong languages, but that the country needs to build on its existing language-learning profile to include a wider range of languages and to enable far greater numbers of people to gain competence in a language other than English. What language skills do we really need? Kathryn Board and Teresa Tinsley defend a controversial new report UK's Top 10 languages Readers of The Linguist are all too aware of the UK's deficit of language skills, but in making the case for a greater investment of resources, the question inevitably arises as to which languages the UK needs most and why. This question has been hard to answer, and the debate has tended to reflect vested interests and prejudices rather than a solid and balanced evidence base. Research for the British Council's Languages for the Future report set out to explore the question further, and to consider which languages are likely to become increasingly important to the UK in the next 20 years. The aim was not to pit one language against another, but to use a balanced range of NEWS & EDITORIAL criteria to identify the ten languages likely to be most important – taking into account both economic and non-economic factors, and reflecting the motivations and practices of government, businesses and the public. Although the research was not intended to provide a definitive answer, it was designed to be systematic in identifying which languages might bring most benefits, whether to individuals, society at large or to the economy. A ranking system was devised based on ten factors, including both market and non-market criteria, future requirements and current practice. The evidence underlying these factors came from a range of secondary sources, including UK government and independent research, and was selected to capture both 'bottom up' indications from business organisations and the general public, and 'top down' government policy. The economic factors included the representation of each language in the UK's current export trade; the languages needed by business, as identified by CBI surveys; the Government's future trade priorities; and emerging high-growth markets. The non- market factors included diplomatic and security priorities; the public's language interests; outward and inward tourism; and the Government's international education strategy priorities. These two sets of criteria were weighted equally and were qualified by two additional contextual factors: the extent to which people in the countries concerned are proficient in English and the representation of each language on the internet. Not everyone will agree with the list that emerged, but the report was designed to stimulate this sort of debate. By setting out 1 Spanish 2 Arabic 3 French 4 Mandarin 5 German 6 Portuguese 7 Italian 8= Russian 8= Turkish 10 Japanese 76 54 47 45.5 43.5 41 22.5 19 19 1 LANGUAGE SCORE 1 Current UK export trade 2 The language needs of UK business 3 Government's future trade priorities 4 Emerging high-growth markets 5 Diplomatic and security priorities 6 The public's language interests 7 Outward and inward tourism 8 Government's international exclusion strategy priorities 9 Levels of English proficiency in other countries 10 The prevalence of different languages on the internet The 10 factors considered Balancing factors Cultural, educational and diplomatic factors Economic factors