24 The Linguist Vol/56 No/2 2017
FEATURES
John Morley on a new certification scheme
recognising optional university language courses
O
ver the past 15 years, the higher education
(HE) sector in the UK has seen the growth of
what has become known as 'Languages for All'
or Institution-wide Language Provision (IWLP). These
courses typically comprise optional language courses
taken for academic credit as minor components of a
degree, and language courses studied in addition to
and alongside a student's degree programme.
Students taking such courses have been referred to as
'non-specialist language learners', since they often have
little background in foreign language learning and the
courses they study are not a compulsory component of
their degree programme.
It is notable that the growth of IWLP contrasts with
the relative decline in language degree programmes
taught in the UK. The number of universities offering
degrees in languages has fallen significantly since 2001.
1
In the forthcoming survey of UK HE institutions by the
University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) and
Association of Language Centres in the UK and Ireland
(AULC), the growth in the number of IWLP students does not
seem to have slowed, as can be seen in the box (opposite).
2
Unlike more traditional ways of studying languages, IWLP
tends to place strong emphasis on developing students'
communicative competence. This means that more
importance is placed on helping students to acquire the
ability to apply linguistic knowledge in speaking and writing
to achieve particular functional goals, rather than on simply
teaching the correct forms of the language. Providers are
also committed to providing a coherent progression path
for learners, and to mark these stages of progression with
reference to a recognised competence framework, typically,
though in varying degrees, the CEFR (Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages).
Qualifying
languages for all
