Latest News
All the latest news from the world of languages and language teaching.Alan Moys Tribute from Harmer Parr
Alan Moys and Nala Harmer Parr adds his tribute to one of NALA’s founder members Alan is best known for his role as Director of CILT, but it would be wrong not to consider his considerable contribution to Nala, the National Association of Language Advisers. I...
The Independent: GCSE languages overhauled to drill common words – but heads say it could make subjects narrow and ‘grinding’
The Government believes that focusing on key ‘building blocks’ will build students’ confidence and motivation, but some teachers fear that cultural topics and themes could be squeezed from the curriculum. The school curriculum for French, German and Spanish is to be...
The Guardian: Plan for pupils to learn 1,700 words for language GCSEs gets go-ahead
Teachers criticise DfE decision, saying narrow focus on grammar and vocabulary will put students off. The government is to push ahead with controversial changes to languages teaching in schools, which would see pupils in England memorising lists of 1,700 words...
Press Release: Association for Language Learning – Response to DfE MFL Subject Content Review announcement on 14th January 2022
The Association for Language Learning released a statement in response to the DfE GCSE MFL Subject Content Review. You can read the full statement here: Response to DfE GCSE MFL Subject Content Review announcement.
The Guardian: People flocked to language apps during the pandemic – but how much can they actually teach you?
In March 2020, as the Covid pandemic took hold, the language learning app Duolingo reported double its usual number of sign-ups. Stuck inside under lockdown orders, people had time on their hands and were looking for ways to occupy it. It wasn’t long before I joined...
The relationship between music processing and language skills in the brain
Researchers in Japan used magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of secondary school students during a task focused on musical observation. They found that students trained to play music from a young age exhibited certain kinds of brain activity more strongly...
The Guardian: Interest in anime and K-pop drive boom in Korean and Japanese degrees
Interest in anime, gaming and K-pop is fuelling a boom in Korean and Japanese university degrees that is helping to revive modern languages departments struggling with falling enrolments. Acceptances to study Korean more than trebled from 50 to 175 between 2012 and...
The Guardian: Loss of school trips to the UK has been a Brexit tragedy
New visa requirements mean that EU students will go elsewhere, writes Karen Brandes, while Brigid Hoffmann worries about the consequences for language learning. The slump in school trips to the UK described in your article does not surprise me at all (‘Almost...
The Guardian: ‘Almost unsaleable’: slump in school trips to UK blamed on Brexit
Groups from the continent are going elsewhere, tour operators say, deterred more by passport and visa rules than the pandemic. Post-Brexit changes to Britain’s immigration rules have triggered an unprecedented collapse in bookings for school trips from the...
How Brains Seamlessly Switch between Languages
Bilingual people engage the same brain region that monolingual individuals use to put together words—even when combining different languages. Billions of people worldwide speak two or more languages. (Though the estimates vary, many sources assert that more...
BBC News: Language GCSEs: Under 100 ‘to take French, German in Wales by 2030’
Schools in Wales could have fewer than 100 French and German GCSE entries by 2030, a report has found. The Language Trends Wales report, which reviews foreign language teaching, called for a national strategy on languages amid a drop in GCSE entries. The...
BBC News: Language GCSE decline ‘closes doors’ for young people
Children who do not learn other languages risk missing out on career opportunities and life experiences, according to linguists in Wales. The Language Trends Wales report, which reviews foreign language teaching, called for a national strategy on languages amid...
Talking Humanities: We have to deploy modern languages in confronting our challenges
Modern languages in the UK is at a crucial stage in its development, write Institute of Modern Languages Research director Professor Charles Burdett and Professor Claire Gorrara, dean of research and innovation at Cardiff University. If the discipline is to ‘thrive...
Government response to the initial teacher training (ITT) market review report
"While many factors contribute to making a school great, it can ultimately only ever be as good as the people that work there. It is therefore vital that teachers and school leaders get the support they need to change the lives of the children they teach. With the...
Language associations, unions and exam boards unite in call for rethink of reform of GCSE Modern Foreign Languages
JOINT STATEMENT, 25TH NOVEMBER 2021 GCSE Modern Foreign Languages Please read the joint statement from the Association for Language learning alongside other language associations, unions and exam boards united in the call for a rethink of reform of GCSE Modern Foreign...
It’s a Myth That Adults Can’t Learn Languages as Easily as Kids – Benefits Multiply if Families Learn Together
Adults can learn a second language as fast as children, reports a new study—and it’s only the conditions in which a child learns a second language that’s given kids a reputation as such fast learners. This means that adults can develop the increased neural connections...
There are no passengers on planet earth, we are all crew.
‘There are no passengers on planet earth, we are all crew.’ The British Council International School Award and wider schools offer. Did you know that as the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, the British...
Policy Mechanisms of the Standard Language Ideology in England’s Education System
The Journal of Language, Identity & Education has published a thought-provoking article entitled ' Policy Mechanisms of the Standard Language Ideology in England’s Education System' by Ian Cushing, a Lecturer in Education at Brunel University London....
Teacher Briefing 30: Language Trends 2021
Theme: Language Trends 2021 (impact of the pandemic) Background: The annual Language Trends survey carried out now by the British Council tracks what’s happening with regards to language teaching and learning in the UK Some messages: “It is clear from our survey that teachers are working incredibly […]
COE Newsroom: European Day of Languages 2021: “All voices matter” says Secretary General
26 September 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the European Day of Languages. Since 2001, the Day has been celebrating the rich tapestry of languages coexisting in Europe and beyond. According to Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić “The...
New York Times: Lesson of the Day: ‘How Language Classes Are Moving Past the Gender Binary’
In this lesson, students will learn about how teachers are making gendered languages more inclusive — then research a language to make their own suggestions. Lesson Overview Featured Article: “How Language Classes Are Moving Past the Gender Binary” by Molly...
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