Languages for
all: languages for life. A strategy for England (Department for
Education and Skills (DfES), now Department for Children Schools
and Families (DCSF), December 2002)
The National Languages Strategy for England was informed by and
built upon the report of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry (2000), the DfES
document Language learning, produced as a download
supplement to its 14-19 Green Paper (February 2002) and the
work of the Languages National Steering Group, established in July
2001.
It sought to foster a public acceptance of language competence
and intercultural understanding as essential components in the make
up of an informed international citizen.
Three overarching objectives were identified:
- To improve teaching and learning of
languages (centred on an entitlement to a language
learning experience for all pupils in Key Stage 2, with
coherent transition to an enhanced and flexible secondary
curriculum).
- To introduce a recognition system
(a ‘Languages Ladder’ that would potentially credit a
learner’s progression through a scenario of lifelong learning and
complement existing qualifications frameworks).
- To increase the number of people studying
languages (moving beyond schools to further and higher
education, and to work-based training, maximizing the
contribution of a suitably skilled workforce within a global (and
multilingual) economy).
For further information and updates on the National Languages
Strategy, visit the
Teachernet website.
You can also read a summary of progress in implementing the
Strategy, reported by Lord Dearing in March 2007, at our
Languages review policy article.