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
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thelinguist.uberflip.com FEBRUARY/MARCH The Linguist 23 FEATURES opportunity to try new languages, such as Mandarin, Japanese or Spanish, and to get a taste of life abroad. Students look to their mentors as figures to aspire to, not only in terms of language learning but also in terms of outlook. For many, meeting their mentor is their first exposure to higher education. The Award and Recognition event, held at the end of the mentoring cycle at the hub university, is often their first contact with university life. It shows them the opportunities that are out there. This is about raising pupil aspirations both around language and global mobility, and around further study. Teachers commented that one of the great successes of the project was in building ambition and broadening horizons, and that the link with higher education was key to this. External evaluation of the first two years highlighted the following achievements: • In phase 1, 57% of mentored pupils chose to take MFL in KS4; in Phase 2, 50% did so. This compares to 20% take up nationally. • At the start of phase 2, 29% of mentees said they would take an MFL. An additional 187 pupils decided to do so after the intervention, representing an added value of 75%. • In three consortia, the number of pupils choosing MFL more than doubled, and in one case nearly tripled. • Four schools had had no GCSE group for several years, but were able to run one after taking part in the project. The mentors also benefit, gaining professional training and developing skills that are required in the working world, such as resilience, time-management, organisational skills and professionalism. One mentor commented that the project had helped her to learn how to communicate positively, and that she now had an increased awareness of the impact of "how you say things" and how they Awards winners 2017 Middleton Cup Best candidate, Certificate in Languages for Business (CLB) Eleanor King-Turner Pilley Cup Best group entry, CLB King's High Warwick Susan Tolman CPD Prize Best candidate, Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI) Eleanor Crossley Susan Tolman Award Best law candidate, DPSI Lukasz Ciolek Corsellis Cup Best health candidate, DPSI Eleanor Crossley Nuffield Trophy Best group entry, DPSI Bridge Interpreting Translating and Training Services CIC NRPSI Award Best candidate, Diploma in Police Interpreting Patricia Cassares Schlapps Oliver Shield Best Group Entry, Diploma in Translation (DipTrans) Glossologia Professional Linguistic Studies Fred Brandeis Trophy Best English to German candidate, DipTrans Ute Boronowsky Peter Newmark Award Best candidate literature, DipTrans Ceyda Aldemir-Down Richard Lewis Trophy Best Overall Candidate, DipTrans Vjosa Kalaveshi Shala Language Achievement Award MoD examinations WO1 David Bagnall RN Language Achievement Award MoD examinations Sapper Alexander Bosco RE David Crystal Trophy Outstanding contribution to the field of languages Susie Dent Threlford Memorial Cup Significant contribution to fostering the study of languages MFL Student Mentoring Project Special commendation Significant contribution to fostering the study of languages Multilingual Debate might be misconstrued. All these skills were felt to be extremely useful for future employability. For many, working with pupils has bolstered their confidence and helped them to develop a deeper connection with their own language experience. A recent focus has been extending our geographical reach so that we can work with schools that are distant from their hub university. To do this, the project team is developing an online platform, Digi-Languages, with specialists at Cardiff University. This e-mentoring route will be evaluated with the support of a small Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Open World Research Initiative grant. 3 In a recent Radio Wales interview, I was asked, "Isn't it all too little – learning languages has gone out of fashion?". As far as I am concerned, the MFL Student Mentoring Project has an ethical mission to challenge such assumptions. Languages are alive, and are our key tool for communicating with one another. In a post-Brexit society, where language deficits may become more apparent, the need to spread an understanding of other languages is more important than ever. I, for one, support a multicultural, multilingual Wales and Britain as our future. Notes 1 British Academy (2017) 'The Right Skills: Celebrating skills in the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS)', London: The British Academy; bit.ly/2AdIPlD 2 Tinsley, T & Board, K (2017) 'Language Trends Wales 2016/17: The state of language learning in secondary schools in Wales', Cardiff: British Council Wales 3 Arts and Humanities Research Council (2017) 'New Research Projects will Demonstrate the Value of Language Led Research', London: AHRC; bit.ly/2jBWi3A [websites accessed 17/1/18] The MFL Student Mentoring Project was awarded the Threlford Memorial Cup 2017 at the awards event on 7 November at the Law Society, London WINE RECEPTION Guests network