Latest News

All the latest news from the world of languages and language teaching.

Education White Paper released

Plans to overhaul teacher training and school funding will be set out later today as part of the government's education White Paper. Schools will get tough new targets for achievement in the White Paper, which is expected to lay out sweeping proposals...

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Your Europe, Your Say

After the success of the first edition of “Your Europe, Your Say”, the youth plenary session which took place in April 2010, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is repeating this event aimed at young people aged 16-17. This new edition will take place in Brussels from 5-7 May 2011. We are inviting pupils from the penultimate […]

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Youth on the Move

Five million young Europeans are currently looking for work; and many of them will miss opportunities because they lack the right qualifications or experience. A recent public consultation, “Youth on the Move”, was run by the European Commission to investigate the barriers to the learning mobility of young people. The vast majority of responses to […]

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Student mobility boosts students’ success

  A review of international student mobility says that study abroad can significantly boost the chances of a student's success in later life, and bring benefits to the UK's knowledge economy. However, the UK is primarily a host country for foreign students....

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Eric Hawkins

"It is with great sadness that we report the death of Eric Hawkins, one of the most important figures in languages teaching that this country has known. From his first experience of the “strange alluring song” of another language in 1924 when he was 9...

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Fifth UK Russian Essay Competition 2011

The Russian Committee of the Association for Language Learning is pleased to announce the Fifth UK Russian Essay Competition 2011. Students learning Russian at schools, colleges and universities in the UK, including heritage and adult learners, are invited to...

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Youth on the Move – strengthening support to Europe’s young people

Five million young Europeans are currently looking for work; and many of them will miss opportunities because they lack the right qualifications or experience. A recent public consultation, “Youth on the Move”, was run by the European Commission to investigate the barriers to the learning mobility of young people. The vast majority of responses to […]

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What will the Spending Review mean for education?

Schools in England are to get a real-terms increase in classroom funding, while universities and colleges face heavy cuts after the spending review. For more information, see: DfE: http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/pressnotices/a0065470/dfe-spending-review...

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End of school Self Evaluation Form (SEF) process

Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced another step in the lifting of the bureaucratic burden on heads and teachers. The school Self Evaluation Form (SEF) process takes days out of heads’ time and can cost schools tens of thousands of pounds; and the...

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Revised remit for QCDA

The QCDA have received a revised remit letter from the Department for Education, outlining their role for the rest of this financial year. It follows the Government's announcement in May of its intention to close QCDA as part of its wider reform of...

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English baccalaureate?

Schools are to be encouraged to adopt a new broad-based 'English baccalaureate' system in order to drive up standards while combating the negative perceptions of GCSE qualifications, under new plans announced by Michael Gove:...

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Government statement on primary languages

Following from its statement on the primary curriculum and Key Stage 3 level descriptions, the Department for Education has issued the following official statement regarding the status of primary languages and future planning, up to March 2011 in particular: 'The...

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BBC Word of Mouth: Olympics & language skills

With just two years remaining until London's Olympic & Paralympic Games start, the search for volunteers with language skills has begun. Presenter Chris Ledgard meets Seb Coe, Boris Johnson and LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton to hear about the two schemes -...

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2010 GCSE results released

This year's GCSE-level results were released today and show improved performance for Maths and English, as well as a general increase in achievement overall. Achievement for language GCSEs has noticeably increased according to the Joint Council for Qualifications...

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Language skills are the future of research

A major new report by Universities UK, 'The Future of Research', has found that the world of research is changing, and that UK researchers need to change with it. The report, published on 5th August 2010, states that "The UK no longer sits at a unique hub between...

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Think German Campaign

Throughout 2010 Germany, Austria and Switzerland are running a major campaign to encourage young Britons to learn German. The Think German campaign aims to underline the value of German language skills through a number of high-profile events in 2010; and promises that...

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New Editors for Tuttitalia

ALL is excited to announce the appointment of two new co-editors and a reviews editor to our Italian language specific journal, Tuttitalia. Anna Costantino and Dr Robin Price have been appointed as co-editors and our new reviews editor is Monica Boria.

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