Languages and the “lightbulb moment”
The British Council teaches English to people all around the world, and is an advocate for the value of language learning in the UK. We spoke to Vicky Gough, the British Council’s Schools Adviser, about the current state of languages in the UK.
The benefits of languages
Brexit and Covid-19 have made language learning more important than ever. This is the message from Vicky Gough, Schools Adviser at the British Council.
“As Britain is changing its place in the world and within Europe, languages become more rather than less important,” says Vicky Gough. “We need to make new connections for business, diplomacy, security — being able to talk to people in their language and understand other cultures is important for all of those things.”
Overseas exchanges for schools are currently impossible because of the pandemic, which makes it harder to encourage young people to continue studying languages. “It is important that schools in the UK are able to partner with schools in Europe so that pupils can get the experience of using languages for a real purpose,” says Ms Gough.
Ms Gough remembers her own foreign exchange trips at school fondly, particularly her first trip when she stayed with a family in Germany. “When you go on an exchange and can actually communicate with someone, it can be a lightbulb moment,” she says. “You realise you can stay in another country and see the world from another point of view.”
Ms Gough says that speaking another language is not simply about exchanging one word for another, but about intercultural communication. “Learning a language is important for individuals’ life chances, employment possibilities, their ability to travel, learn new things and see the world from a different perspective,” she says.
Language trends
The British Council’s annual Language Trends Survey has monitored language teaching in primary and secondary schools since 2002. It shows a decline in young people taking languages in UK secondary schools in recent years.
British Council research has also shed light on other trends. For example, there is a gender disparity in languages — not enough boys are studying them at school. “Being male is a bigger indicator for whether or not a young person studies languages than being poor,” says Ms Gough.
The decline in language uptake in schools also has a worrying impact on equality, Ms Gough warns. “If you’re a working class boy, for example, the likelihood of you studying a language is really low,” she says. “Young people that learn languages often go to university and get the benefits of living and working abroad, so this is an equality issue. It’s a perpetuating cycle.”
A call to action
How can universities like Oxford help to make the case for languages? Along with outreach to schools, Ms Gough suggests student mentoring for school pupils.
“One programme in Wales has been a particular success,” she says. “University students talk to school pupils before they make their choices about whether to continue studying languages. They discuss what it is like being a student and about the opportunities to travel overseas. It can be really motivating and change pupils’ direction.”
You can read more about the British Council’s work with languages here: https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/schools/support-for-languages
