< Previous | Contents | Next >

Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues

2. Gathering Information and Views

Rather than work all the time behind closed doors, we attached high importance to listening to and interacting with interested groups and individuals. There was a substantial review of evidence from research, inspection and policy development, complemented by a sustained process of face-to-face consultations, scrutiny of written submissions and further interaction and debate through the Action Group's website.

Over its lifetime, the Action Group has devoted considerable time to:

• reviewing the available research, inspection and policy evidence relating to languages in Scottish schools, and commissioning additional research where evidence was lacking;

• consulting with stakeholders over the future of languages education.

Reviewing research, inspection and policy evidence

Several research, inspection and policy reports on the state of modern languages provision in primary and secondary schools were consulted in the course of the Action Group's work. These included :

• HMI report on Standards and Quality in Modern Languages, published in Autumn 1998;

• The report of research on the causes of decline in uptake at Higher of Foreign Languages in the Upper Secondary School (FLUSS);

• the Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) pilot study of the attainment of P7 and S2 students in French and German;

• the report of research into the attainment of primary school pupils in Gaelic-medium education;

• the report of research into provision for modern languages in primary schools;

• a review of research on immersion models of languages education around the world;

• a presentation on SCOTLANG, based at Scottish CILT and funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to set up a national infrastructure for research on the teaching, learning and use of modern languages;

• a review of research on the language needs of business;

• a survey of parents' views on modern languages provision in primary and secondary schools in Scotland.

The evidence on which the Action Group based its recommendations is given in the above reports and is not reproduced in our present text, though summaries of the key issues identified in each report are included in Appendix B.

Consulting stakeholders over the future of languages education

Consultative meetings

The Action Group held 18 meetings at monthly intervals, from December 1998 to May 2000. The group met at various venues across Scotland. Representatives from the local community (students, teachers, parents, higher and further education, local authorities and business) were invited to meet formally with the group and to present their views.

Separate meetings were arranged with Deans of Faculty and senior representatives of Teacher Education Institutions, cultural institutes and organisations in Scotland representing other languages, the Association of Directors of Education and other staff from local authorities, the Headteachers' Association of Scotland, staff from Further Education and Higher Education institutions, the Educational Institute of Scotland, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the Central Bureau for International Education and Training and the Centre for Education on Racial Equality in Scotland. A presentation to the Action Group was made on students with special educational needs. Evidence was taken from bodies charged with implementing the National Grid for Learning, from the Scottish Qualifications Authority, researchers at Scottish CILT and at the Scottish Council for Research in Education, and from national development officers. In a number of cases written submissions were received from individuals and bodies, including the Scottish Association for Language Teaching.

The then Scottish Executive Minister for Children and Education, Sam Galbraith, opened a one-day seminar on 'Languages and the World of Work' at Lauder College, Dunfermline, in September 1999. The seminar was organised by the Action Group and attended by representatives from all sectors of education and industry. Presentations and workshops were offered by representatives from the media, multinational companies, education research and young people using languages in their study placements and early careers.

The Action Group website

The Action Group's website was launched in March 1999, to encourage debate on the future of modern languages and to disseminate information about the work of the Action Group as widely as possible. Practitioners and others had the opportunity to contribute to discussions on a range of matters, some initiated by the Action Group and others by contributors. Those attracting the largest number of contributions were grouped around pragmatic issues such as resources and local support. 'Threads' linked to examination arrangements have also been regularly visited by contributors.

In around 13 months of operation contributions to the site have been recorded on just over 100 issues. Comments have been received from head teachers, secondary and primary teachers, local authority personnel, MLPS tutors, student teachers, among others. Traffic reports on the site indicate interest from other parts of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, United States and Australia.

Key issues emerging from reviews and consultations

The Action Group identified the following key issues to be addressed in developing its recommendations These were the need:

• to develop a rationale for learning and promoting languages in which the central aims of languages education at school would be clarified;

• to consider the basis for a languages entitlement for all students;

• to address the 'climate of negativity' surrounding languages that despite many examples of enthusiasm, commitment and good practice also included negative attitudes, low motivation, and high 'language anxiety';

• to encourage and support innovation and ownership by local authorities and schools, since it had become clear to the Action Group that local authorities and schools would have to be the main driving force for change, with national bodies supporting them in this;

• to consider how languages might be more effectively promoted, even 'marketed', both at school and in the wider society;

• to consider which modern languages should be taught and their relationship to heritage (Scots, Scottish Gaelic) or community languages (e.g. Urdu, Cantonese) spoken in Scotland;

• to review provision for modern languages at primary school, in terms of who should teach them, starting age, time allocation and support for learning;

• to secure through improved arrangements for Initial Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development a more coherent and effective provision of appropriate teachers for languages in primary and secondary schools;

• to ensure that language learning at school was effectively linked to language learning in formal and informal education post-school and in employment and leisure;

• to promote lifelong language learning.

In considering the challenges set out above, we were aware that in many other countries, especially on the continent of Europe, the learning of one or more modern languages is compulsory for a longer period of time than it is in Scotland. We took the view however that comparisons with such countries can be misleading since often the foreign language is English and many people are strongly motivated to learn English because of its global status. We came to the view that motivation for learning and using other languages in addition to English was central to our concerns in Scotland, and that in our context it made sense to promote motivation by means of information, argument and persuasion. This sets the tone for the remainder of our text and influences the nature of the recommendations that we make.

< Previous | Contents | Next >