Community Languages - Policy and Developments
National Curriculum 1999
National Languages Strategy 2002
KS2 Languages entitlement
Languages Ladder
Expansion of Languages Colleges & second specialism
Language Networks across England
SSAT Resource Sharing Project
14-19
ICT and Languages
Curriculum Guides
Positively Plurilingual
European Award for Languages community language Prize Winners European Language Portfolio
European Policy
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
National Curriculum 1999
- The 1995 document Modern Foreign Languages in the National Curriculum was replaced in 1999 by Modern Foreign Languages - the National Curriculum for England
- Schools are required to offer at least one official working language of the European Union and all learners in Key Stage 3 (KS3) are required to study 'at least one MFL' .However, there is no attempt to guide the choice made by learners where a range of languages is offered e.g. A learner can choose to study Arabic instead of French where a choice is offered as long as the school has offered an EU language
- The attainment for the majority of pupils should be level 5/6 at the end of Key Stage 3
- Typically, Languages has about 10% of curriculum time for the first foreign language in most schools. However, there is great variation and the picture becomes very complicated where a second language is also taught
For further information please link here to an article by Bryden Keenan published in the Community Languages Bulletin, Issue 6, Spring 2000 (rtf 21KB).
To download a copy, go to the National Curriculum website.
To obtain a hard copy: Modern foreign languages: the National Curriculum
for England Key Stages 3-4. London: DfEE and QCA, 1999. Available from
TSO. ISBN: 011 370075X. QCA document reference: QCA/99/466. Supersedes
1995 edition.
Note: This document includes the non-statutory guidelines for modern languages
at Key Stage 2. CILT library classification: OJM.
For more information visit the FAQ section of the CILT
website.
National Languages Strategy (NLS)
The Languages Strategy document for England 'Languages for All: Languages
for Life.' sets out the Government's plans to transform the country's
capability in languages. It outlines the initiatives that will achieve
a step change in foreign language competence for this country and how
to create an appetite for learning. It also outlines plans to broaden
and enrich the opportunities for language learning at school and beyond.
The National Languages Strategy was published on 18 December 2002.
For more details and an update on progress, go to the DfES
website.
For more information and for details of how to obtain a hard copy visit the CILT website.
Page 12
In the knowledge society of the 21st Century, language competence and
intercultural understanding are not optional extras, they are an essential
part of being a citizen. Language skills are also vital in improving understanding
between people here and in the wider world, and in supporting global citizenship
by breaking down barriers of ignorance and suspicion between nations.
Learning other languages gives us insight into the people, culture
and traditions of other countries, and helps us to understand our own
language and culture. Drawing on the skills and expertise of those who
speak community languages will promote citizenship and complement the
government's broader work on the promotion of
social cohesion.
Key elements of the NLS include:
KS2 Languages entitlement
The Languages Ladder
The expansion of Languages Colleges
Language Networks across England
KS2 Languages entitlement
Page 7
We envisage a wide range of individuals contributing to the delivery of
the primary entitlement. Native speakers and those with strong language
skills within our community… have a wide range of expertise that
can contribute to a diverse and engaging learning experience …
- The National Advisory Centre for Early Language Learning (NACELL) is managed by CILT, the National Centre for Languages. Everything you need to know about early language learning can be found on the NACELL website
- The Resources section of the NACELL website will support you in finding KS2 resources in a range of languages
- The Best Practice section of the NACELL website has an example of a community languages staff training scheme in the LB Tower Hamlets
- 19 Primary Pathfinders: As a step towards the primary language learning entitlement, a number of Key Stage 2 Language Pathfinders were established to see how best primary language learning could be delivered, they ran from autumn 2003 until summer 2005. This meant 19 Local Authorities and one 'associate' Pathfinder around the country worked with almost 1400 schools across their areas to address key issues. Bury, Enfield, Coventry, Hammersmith and Fulham and Oldham introduced Community Languages at KS2: visit the DfES website for further information
- Ofsted’s report, :‘Implementing languages entitlement in primary schools: An evaluation of progress in ten Pathfinder LEAs’, can be downloaded via the NACELL website or read the accompanying press release which is available to view on the Ofsted website
The Languages Ladder
A key objective of the National Languages Strategy is to introduce a
voluntary recognition scheme “to complement existing national qualification
frameworks and the Common European Framework.” This is known as
the Languages Ladder, which offers 17 grade steps across 6 stages: Breakthrough,
Preliminary, Intermediate, Advanced, Proficiency and Mastery. The grades
are noted next to the 6 stages in the chart below.
National Qualifications Framework |
National Curriculum Levels |
Equivalence with existing qualifications |
Languages Ladder Stages |
Common European Framework (approx) |
Entry Level |
Level 1-3 |
Entry 1-3 |
Breakthrough: 1-3 |
A1 |
Level 1 |
Level 4-6 |
Foundation GCSE* |
Preliminary: 4-6 |
A2 |
Level 2 |
Level 7+ |
Higher GCSE* |
Intermediate: 7-9 |
B1 |
Level 3 |
|
AS Level/A Level |
Advanced: 10-12 |
B2 |
Level 4-6 |
|
|
Proficiency:13-15 |
C1 |
| Level 7-8 |
|
|
Mastery: 16-17 |
C2 |
*NQF Level 1 is equivalent to GCSE grades D-G and Level 2 grades A*-C.
Some languages only have a standard GCSE (which covers grades A*-G) rather
than tiered Foundation and Higher papers.
The Languages Ladder scheme covers the four skill areas of speaking, listening,
reading and writing. For each grade and skill there is a corresponding
‘can do’ statement, which describes what learners can do in
the language they are learning. For example, Writing Grade 4: I can write
a short text on a familiar topic, adapting language which I have already
learned. This individual recognition of achievement in each skill is particularly
useful for community languages where, for example, a pupil may be much
more competent in speaking than writing, and also where a pupil wants
to record progress in just one or two skills.
In the primary phase, for example, the Languages Ladder can be used in-school
for rewarding achievement, tracking progress and informing transition
to secondary school. Schools are welcome to develop their own internal
rewards system based on the Ladder ‘can do’ statements, which
you can view and print free-of-charge from the Teachernet
website. Click on each skill to access the ‘can do’ statements.
Schools also have the option of investing in the external awards scheme
called Asset Languages, based on the Languages Ladder and recognised within
the National Qualifications Framework. Asset Languages offers both end
of stage External Assessment and a formally recognised Teacher Assessment
scheme for interim grades. Qualifications are now available nationally
in Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Panjabi, Spanish
and Urdu. From September 2006, another 18 languages will be added to the
list.
Visit the Asset Languages website
for information on costings and how a school can become an accredited
centre, or go directly to the FAQs
section of the Asset Languages website.
Expansion of Languages Colleges & second specialism
There are now over 220 Language Colleges across the country teaching
a wide selection of languages and the plan is to extend these to at least
400, including second specialism. For details of the menu of languages
offered in these schools, see the Language
College section of the CILT website.
For more general information about Language Colleges, go to the
CILT website, the SSAT
website, the DFES
website or the DfES
Standards site.
Language Networks across England
Comenius Network, an education facing network with at least one co-ordinator
in every one of the nine government regions. Visit their web
pages for further information.
Comenius London works closely with the National Centre in the field of
Community Languages and has dedicated
web pages.
Regional Language Network, an employer/business facing network. View their
website for more details.
Please also see the CILT community languages networks
page for further information.
SSAT Resource Sharing Project
The resource sharing pages are a new initiative to share teaching materials
and resources among teachers of community languages. For ideas specific
to the teaching of Urdu, Panjabi, Turkish and for generic ideas, visit
the community
languages network pages.
For resource ideas for Chinese visit the Chinese
network pages.
For resource ideas for Russian visit the Russian
network pages.
For resource ideas for Arabic visit the Arabic
Network pages
14-19
Learners are no longer required by law to study a language after KS3, although schools are required to provide a statutory entitlement to learn foreign languages in Key Stage 4. In December 2005, Schools Minister, Jacqui Smith, clarified that from September 2006, schools will be required to:
- set a benchmark for the number of their pupils studying languages leading to a GCSE or other recognised qualification, with a minimum expectation of at least 50% of pupils, ranging up to 90%;
- demonstrate to Ofsted that they are delivering the statutory entitlement to learn languages through their self-evaluation forms;
- advise parents about the school’s work in teaching languages through their School Profile
For further details visit the
DfES website.
To read the letter sent to all schools in January 2006 visit the Teachernet
site.
Many professionals are working together to look at ways to encourage learners
to continue their languages studies and are looking at more flexible teaching
and testing models. To view case studies visit the CILT
website.
For examples of what people are doing in Community Languages visit the
CILT community language web pages.
For details of alternatives to GCSE look at the exams
section of CILT’s community languages pages.
For information on promoting languages visit the CILT
website.
Languages Work: A new range of resources to engage language
learners and highlight the benefits of language skills at work and beyond.
These resources show how colleagues across the school can work together
to promote languages. There is a Languages
Work website containing full information.
ICT and Languages
Languages ICT website
The Languages ICT website, developed by CILT and ALL, provides a gateway
to information and guidance for teachers of languages on using Information
and Communications Technology in the classroom. Each of the three pathways
has a section
for teachers of languages in other scripts.
In the Managing ICT section, there are downloadable pdf documents with
details about setting up PCs for the use of word-processing in language
teaching. Arabic, Panjabi, Russian, Turkish and Urdu are already available,
more are planned for the coming months. Visit the managing
scripts pages for further details.
Curriculum Guides
This series of Curriculum guides for community languages provides a flexible
framework to support the design and delivery of courses in both mainstream
and complementary sectors. It also recognises and values children's achievement.
The guides draw on recent policy developments in language teaching, including
the Key Stage 2 Framework and the Key Stage 3 Strategy, and are linked
to the new Languages Ladder.
Available from September 2006.
For more information view the CILT
publications pages.
There are also Curriculum framework
for mother tongue teaching in Bengali publications available via CILT.
This publication was produced in association with the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets.
Positively Plurilingual
A report published by CILT, the National Centre for Languages highlighting the contribution of community languages to UK education and society. The UK has a major linguistic asset in its multicultural population which, if developed wisely and inclusively alongside English and other languages, has the potential to benefit society as a whole as well as improving the life chances of individual children.
The report is available to download (pdf
2 MB) or you can order copies for free via the CILT online shop. Please note that the CILT offices address has changed from that given in the publication.
EAL Community Language Prize Winners
The European Award for Languages recognises creative ways to improve
the quality of language teaching, motivate students and make the best
of available resources. If you are involved in an innovative language-learning
project, which could benefit others, you may eligible for an award, please
see the EAL pages for further information.
Special awards are also made for the best projects involving community
languages, and all winners receive a certificate and prizes of books,
vouchers or teaching materials from a range of sponsors. To see details
of prizes please click here.
European Language Portfolio
The European Language Portfolio is a record of a learner’s achievements
and progress in languages is designed to complement exisitng courses and
qualifications by enhancing the learning process and providing a single
collection point for evidence of all an individual’s language and
intercultural skills. It can also be used for benchmarking skills levels,
setting objectives and charting progress.
For further information about the Junior version of the European Language
Portfolio click here.
For information about the European Language Portfolio for Adult and Vocational
Language Learners click here.
European Policy
The European Commission now has a Commissioner for Multilingualism and in November 2005 published a new Framework Strategy for Multilingualism.
This new strategy document restates the Commission’s commitment to linguistic diversity and takes a more inclusive stance than hitherto on languages spoken within the Union which are not official languages of member states. The European Union, it says ‘is not a melting pot, in which differences are rendered down, but a common home in which diversity is celebrated and where our many mother tongues are a source of wealth and a bridge to greater solidarity and mutual understanding.’ Those working in the field of community languages will especially welcome this statement.
EU policy on multilingualism has three aims:
- To encourage language learning and promoting linguistic diversity in society (sic)
- To promote a healthy multilingual economy
- To give citizens access to EU legislation, procedures and information in their own languages.
The strategy document is structured accordingly, with sections dealing with Languages in Society, in the Economy and on the EU’s interface with its citizens.
It states firmly that the ability to understand and communicate in more than one language ‘is a desirable life skill for all European citizens’ and quotes the benefits as:
- Being more open to other people’s cultures and outlooks
- Improving cognitive skills and strengthening learners’ mother tongue skills
- Enabling people to take advantage of the freedom to work or study in another member state.
It restates the Commission’s objective of ‘increasing individual multilingualism until every citizen has practical skills in at least two languages in addition to his or her mother tongue’, though it sees this as a long-term objective.
It also reminds member states of their commitment, made in Lisbon in 2000, to improve language skills, and the restatement of this commitment in the document ‘Working together for Growth and Jobs: a new start for the Lisbon Strategy’, published last year. It calls for ‘national plans to give coherence and direction to actions to promote multilingualism’. These plans, it says, ‘should establish clear objectives for language teaching at the various stages of education and be accompanied by a sustained effort to raise awareness of the importance of linguistic diversity’.
It identifies the following key areas for action within each education system:
- Better teacher training
- Early language learning
- Content and language integrated learning
- Languages in higher education
It also seeks to develop the study of multilingualism as an academic field, and to push forward its work in developing a European Indicator of Language Competence.
In the section on the Multilingual Economy, the communication refers to CILT’s recently-published ‘Talking Word Class’ document as evidence of the contribution of language skills to the competitiveness of the EU economy. Again for the first time, it goes beyond the need for European citizens to learn each others’ languages, highlighting also the need to speak the languages of other trading partners around the globe. It identifies ‘medium-sized, high growth, job-creating companies’ as the ones most in need of language skills to help them drive innovation, employment and social integration.
The document also deals with other issues relating to the multilingual economy: consumers’ interests (eg. packaging, labelling and after-sales service), languages in the media and IT industries, language-related industries (which are reckoned to be worth a quarter of a billion euros) and interpretation and translation services in the public sector.
The section on the EU’s relationship with its citizens restates the right for everyone to communicate with the EU and read its laws in their own national language.
The document concludes that multilingualism is essential for the proper
functioning of the European Union, and for achieving its policy goals.
It provides a strong message for national governments that they are expected
to take further action in order to achieve the objectives that they have
set themselves.
Northern Ireland
To see CILT Northern Ireland's website click
here
For an update on community language policy in Northern Ireland click
here (rtf 11KB).
Scotland
To see the Scottish CILT website click
here.
Download a policy document relating to Scotland
(rtf 34KB)
Wales
To see the CILT Cymru website click
here.
Download a policy update relating to Wales
(rtf 8KB).
