The Multi-lingual Mirage - reality or reality check?

Nick Byrne, Director LSE Language CentreLondon School of Economics and Political Science

LETPP

• Multilingualism has been described as an "asset for Europe and a shared commitment". This may, however, be more a vision of what might be than a description of reality. Reality is mediated not only by the vision (what people think), but by policy decisions (laws and regulations) and by performance (what we actually do).

• Survey www.letpp.eu

• Manifesto http://www.letpp.eu/images/stories/docs/argument/letpp_manifesto.pdf

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kysPj10RQbY

Bad news just got worse?

• The UK is the paradigm of the monolingual euro-state, its reluctance to embrace foreign languages sits at heart of its cultural detachment from the ‘babelian’ mainland.

• http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/35174/english-baccalaureate-languages-drop-schools-gove.html

“That” letter of 2006

• Language crisis facing UK schools

• Nick Byrne, director of the LSE Language Centre and lead signatory of today's letter, said reversing the decision would show that learning a language was a core skill like English and maths:

• 'Compulsion may not generate hundreds of linguists but it is symbolic. It is about what we want a rounded person to be.'

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/dec/03/schools.education?INTCMP=SRCH

• http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-the-insularity-of-our-national-curriculum-2061013.html

Why a language policy now?

• British Academy: • Language Matters• http://www.britac.ac.uk/

reports/language-matters/index.cfm

• Language matters more• http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/

Language-matters-more-and-more.cfm

• Feeling that we should have a policy is shared by senior management and language centre

The quote of the year (2009)

• David Lammy MP, Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property:

• “A university without languages is a university without universality.” Taken from David Lammy’s introductory speech at British Academy, 3rd. June 2009

• http://www.davidlammy.co.uk/da/101469

Why a Language Policy at HE level?

• To create a policy you have to engage with a variety of stakeholders

• Senior Management• Middle Management• Academics• Academic-related• Administrative• Students• Business• The local community• Schools

Why a Language Policy at HE level?

• The importance of the process

• By creating a policy you have to get it approved• To get it approved you have to go through official

channels• To get it approved the visibility and status of language

centres are enhanced• Once approved it has to be formally embedded or listed• Once listed it can only be removed by formal procedures

thereby (hopefully) stopping or delaying changes to provision brought about by changes of senior management

Why a Language Policy at HE level?

• It is a tool which can both protect and promote

• To protect…• Language provision• Languages• Jobs• People

• To promote…• Mobility• Employability• Intellectual growth• Intercultural communication

The Wulkow Memorandum

• Memorandum 1:• http://www.aulc.org/documents

/Wulkow_Memorandum1.pdf• Memorandum 2:• http://www.aulc.org/

documents/Wulkow_Quality_memorandum_2010.pdf

• Memorandum 3:• http://www.sz.europa-uni.de/

de/startsite_news/linke_spalte/news1/Newsdoc/Wulkow_Memorandum_III.pdf

What is the UK picture? (1)AULC www.aulc.org survey on students taking language courses

• 2007/08: 49% take a language as an extra-curricular activity

• 2007/08: 51% take a language as an assessed module

• 2007/08 (56 institutions)• Degree module: 33257 • Extra-Cur: 31965• Total: 65222

• 07/08: Female 66% Male 34%• 07/08: PG 25% UG 75%

• EU-UK: 75% EU-other: 14%• Non-EU: 11%

• 07/08: 49% • take a language as an extra-curricular activity

What is the UK picture? (2)

Most popular languages taken as an extra-curricular activity in across UG & PG in English HEI’s in 2007/08

• French 23%• Spanish 24%• German 13%• Chinese 11%• Italian 7%• Japanese 7%• Russian 6%• Arabic 5%• Others 4%

What is the UK picture? (3)

Usefulness of a knowledge of languages in career goals (2007/08)

• A great deal

• 28%

• Quite a lot

• 21%

• Some help

• 39%

• No difference

• 12%

What is the UK picture? (4)

Planning to work abroad?(2007/08)

• UK-EU students• Don’t know: 31%• No: 8%• Yes: 61%

• Other-EU students• Don’t know: 14%• No: 0%• Yes: 86%

• Non-EU students• Don’t know: 20%• No: 0%• Yes: 80%

What is the UK picture? (5)

EU goal of mother-tongue + 2(2007/08)

• Necessary • UK-EU: 30%• Other-EU: 49%• Non-EU: 43%• Achievable• UK-EU: 44%• Other-EU: 63%• Non-EU: 83%

• Desirable: 96%

UCL and Worton report

• UCL has grave concerns about the situation in modern language learning in the UK, but it is taking a somewhat different position from simply calling for the government to reverse its policy. On 12 December 2006, UCL’s Academic Committee voted on a proposal that will ultimately require all applicants to have a qualification in a foreign language at GCSE or equivalent. This requirement will be phased in gradually over the various disciplines, thereby allowing schools time to make appropriate changes to their teaching provision.

• http://www.ucl.ac.uk/vice-provost/worton/myimages1/worton_report.pdf

Language policy at SOAS

• Language Entitlement Programme

• The Language Entitlement programme offers all current SOAS undergraduate students the chance to take one term of a non-accredited SOAS Language Centre course free of charge.

• http://www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/file54075.pdf

Language Policy at LSE

• ‘The new Language Policy is a good example of the way you can tailor a policy to fit not just an institution but also a company, a town or even a country. The main thing is to make sure that the ideas fit the target group and not simply force things through'.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jiTa4qhLaU

• http://www2.lse.ac.uk/language/LSELanguagePolicy.aspx

LSE – the international dimension

• 9000 students• 30% UG• 70% PG• 50/50 UK and non-UK• International• Multinational• Students• Workforce• Multi-lingual• London

The present situation for languages at LSE

• 300 students study a language as part of their degree: French, German, Mandarin (from 2010/11), Russian, Spanish

• 1700 learn a language as a certificate course (as above + Arabic, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Turkish)

• www.lse.ac.uk/languages

£££ measures…

• Language awards• Study trip bursaries• Language Week• Free language

courses for any UK student who doesn’t have a GCSE…highly recommended but not compulsory

Zero-cost measures…

• Endorsement from the top• Buy-in from academic departments• Buy-in from employers• Greater profile in all publicity• Advantages more clearly shown• Multi-national branding extended to multi-lingual• LSE language champions

Towards national policies?

• Yes and No…• Universities are

developing policies which fit their own profile

• Momentum to get this done now

• Competitive edge• Positive picture could

emerge• AULC will place all

policies on their website

Language Policy at UCLAN

• Languages 2017• http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools

/languages_and_international/languages_2017.php

• School of Languages and International Studies

• http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools/languages_and_international/index.php

Grand Vision

• The European Indicator of Language Competence

• http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0356:FIN:EN:PDF

• Languages 2010 and beyond• http://ec.europa.eu/education/l

anguages/languages-of-europe/doc4021_en.htm

Grand Policy

• EU Languages and Language policy

• http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/index_en.htm

• The European Commission outlined a detailed strategic approach for the creation of a European Survey on Language Competences in 2005.

• http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/doc4003_en.htm

UK…is the mother of invention 1

• HE• http://www.speaktothe

future.org/• http://www.ucml.ac.uk

/shapingthefuture• http://www.llas.ac.uk/• http://www.llas.ac.uk/

700Reasons• http://pledge.languag

eswork.org.uk/

UK…is the mother of invention 2

• Schools• http://www.routesintol

anguages.ac.uk/

• http://www.whystudylanguages.ac.uk/ks4/video

• Teachers• http://www.linksintola

nguages.ac.uk/

Videos – policy made pictorial!

• Videos

• http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/library/doc4296_en.htm

• http://www.languageswork.org.uk/learner_zone/the_laftas/2010_winners.aspx

• http://www.thinkgerman.org.uk/lafta_film_hairdresser

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzALn6OCwYU&feature=related

contact

• Nick Byrne• LSE Language

Centre• Houghton Street• London WC2A 2AE• +44 20 7955 6899• n.byrne@lse.ac.uk• www.lse.ac.uk/languages