Curriculum research review series: languages

Summary

This section highlights the pressured position that languages are in. It discusses the main challenges that we face, including the decrease in uptake of languages over the years. This includes at A level as well as GCSE. It notes that, although languages as a subject is pressured, it is also pivotal to the success of the national English Baccalaureate (EBacc) ambition. The proportion of boys, disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) engaging in languages after key stage 3 is low. Staff expertise, curriculum planning, time allocation and transition are cited as barriers at key stage 2. Pupils’ motivation is discussed as a focus to help languages to flourish. This includes the need for pupils to feel successful in their learning and that they are clear about their next steps.

The overall picture

The requirement for maintained schools and academies to offer a broad and balanced curriculum is set out in the Education Act 2002 (for maintained schools) and the Academies Act 2010. This expectation is reflected in the national curriculum and is at the heart of the education inspection framework (EIF).

It is clear that pupils in England often perceive languages to be difficult. The number of pupils choosing to study languages at GCSE, for example, declined significantly from 2004, when studying a language after the age of 14 was made non-statutory.

However, there is an expectation that a broad range of subjects (such as in the national curriculum) is taught in key stage 2 throughout Years 3 to 6. In relation to languages, teaching at key stage 2 may be of any modern or ancient foreign language and should focus on enabling pupils to make substantial progress in one language. At key stage 3, a language is required.

What is more, at the heart of an effective key stage 4 curriculum is a strong academic core: the EBacc. The EBacc is a set of subjects at GCSE that is designed to keep pupils’ options open for further study and future careers. It is a suite of qualifications made up from English language and literature, mathematics, the sciences, geography or history, and a language (modern or ancient).

The government’s response to its EBacc consultation, published in July 2017, confirmed that it expects the large majority of pupils to study the EBacc. It is therefore the government’s ambition that 75% of Year 10 pupils in state-funded mainstream schools should be studying EBacc GCSE courses nationally by September 2022 (taking their examinations in 2024), rising to 90% by September 2025 (taking their examinations in 2027).

Many schools have obstacles to overcome before the government’s EBacc ambition for languages becomes a reality.

Some of the main challenges are often cited in research and include:

• ensuring that more pupils continue to study languages after they become optional

• implementing languages in primary schools

• ensuring that pupils of all abilities can develop their language knowledge

• encouraging the study of other languages in the face of the dominance of English as a second language

Secondary years

From 2004 until quite recently, the number of pupils studying a language to age 16 decreased steadily. For a while, after the national curriculum was introduced in 1988, the vast majority of pupils learned a language. This hit a high point in 1997, when 82% of girls and 73% of boys were entered for a modern language at GCSE. However, in September 2004, studying a modern language at GCSE stopped being compulsory, and the proportion of pupils taking a GCSE in a modern language fell rapidly to 47% by 2007.

The introduction of the EBacc re-emphasised the importance of languages in the curriculum. In 2019, 40% of pupils were entered for the EBacc. A failure to secure a good GCSE grade in a language is by far the most significant obstacle to achieving the EBacc. In 2019, of those pupils who had entered subjects in 4 of the 5 required components, 80% were missing the language element.

Despite the introduction of the EBacc, entries for GCSE languages reduced by 19% between 2014 and 2018. Entries in French and German declined by 30% over this period. Spanish was more stable, with only a 2% decline in entries., In 2019, the number of entries in French and Spanish increased by almost 4% and 8%, respectively. This is potentially due to the national focus on the EBacc, although the size of the cohort increased this year also.

Entries in other languages, which account for around 10% of total language entries, have grown by 6%. This is led by Arabic, Chinese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese, Italian and Polish. Many entries in these subjects are from pupils who speak these languages at home. Against this, languages that have declined at GCSE include Bengali, Gujarati, Japanese and Russian.

Ancient languages are included within the EBacc. Entries for Latin have steadily increased, now being the equivalent of 3.5% of entries for all languages. Entries in Classical Greek have remained static at around 0.4% of entries for all languages since 2010.

‘Language trends’, the annual survey report by the British Council, highlights some more issues within secondary schools. In 2019, the survey noted that the trend to bring forward GCSE choices to Year 8 in some state schools has meant that ‘large numbers of pupils are receiving only 2 years of language teaching in key stage 3 in secondary school’. It also notes that ‘33% of state secondary schools have groups of Year 9 pupils whose language education has already effectively been terminated’.

There has also been a long decline in languages at key stage 5. Between 1992 and 2004, the numbers of entries for A-level French dropped by nearly 50% (31,261 to 15,173). This was at a time when studying a language at key stage 4 was compulsory. The decline has continued. By 2019, it had halved again. Numbers for German continue to fall, although in Spanish they have picked up slightly since 2018.

Primary years

The statutory requirement to teach a modern or ancient language in primary schools from the age of 7 took effect from September 2014. In September 2018, the first cohort of children who had to study a language throughout key stage 2 made the transition from primary to secondary school.

Although this has had a positive impact on languages being part of the curriculum, the quality of provision is variable. Following a policy summit, the Research in Primary Languages Network published a paper outlining some of the challenges for languages. It referenced wide variation in the amount of time spent learning languages in primary schools. It found that:

• in some schools, the amount of time spent learning languages in Year 6 was reduced due to a focus on preparation for national curriculum tests

• some schools did not plan a curriculum around making substantial progress in one language

• there are deficits in developing subject knowledge in initial teacher training and in professional development programmes; it pinpointed teachers’ subject knowledge as an area needing greater focus

It also found that issues around transition between primary and secondary school have not yet been overcome. These include:

• weak communication between primary and secondary schools

• a lack of consistency between primary schools

• limited cross-phase planning between primary and secondary schools

The latter includes some basic discussions simply not happening, such as about what language is being taught. Much of this is echoed in other publications and in many other European countries.