IV. 1. Cultural and political limitations

“David Beckham’s decision to learn Spanish now he has signed to play for Real Madrid next season should help fire children’s interest in learning the language at school, a minister said today. The schools minister Stephen Twigg said Spain was England’s number one tourist destination and Spanish the second most important European language for business (…) He will be a very useful representative to young people about how it can be cool to learn Spanish.”
Even though the Government fails to promote languages using traditional political strategies, they certainly do think of alternative techniques, such as using one of their most eminent role models as a representative abroad, namely David Beckham, a professional football player. Pupils, and mostly boys, who are one of the target groups as far as raising achievement is concerned, are interested in football for the vast majority. Using a famous sport’s figure to give a positive idea of language is indeed a clever turn!

As the minister says, Spanish has recently gained an increased interest, as it is a very common holiday destination for many British people. However, France is still a traditional place to spend holidays, and the impact of this on linguistic skills is yet to be found.

The language that suffers the most from student disaffection is German, which many comprehensive schools do not offer any longer. School Z, for instance is phasing out the tuition of German, and only Years 9, 10 and 11 are still learning this language. Business companies have expressed their concern about German, as it is still placed in priority for business use. According to the Report of the Centre for Information on Language Teaching, published in November 2004, 46% of Britain’s non English speaking markets are in Germany, 45% are in France, 31% in Netherlands and 27% are in Spain. According to the same source, the top three languages causing barriers in efficient business trade are French, German and Spanish, which are the three main languages offered within British schools. Unfortunately, businesses then hire natives of the foreign language needed who are also fluent in English, to help them work with prospective European partners. The lack of proficiency shown by British people in Modern Foreign Languages is a hindrance to business, which to some extent is detrimental to the United Kingdom’s economy. There also seems to be some kind of stigma linked to languages.

“Learning other languages gives us insight into the people, cultures and traditions of other countries, and helps us to understand our own language and culture. Drawing on 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” (Dfes: 2002: 12)

Although the United Kingdom has had a tradition of promoting their own culture around the world and has been involved in a huge number of other national communities, transmitting their ethos to the countries of the Empire and then the Commonwealth, the reciprocity of this cultural enrichment has appeared to be a complex process. Today, the United Kingdom is part of the European Union, but the number of Eurosceptics in the country is not decreasing. British newspapers, mainly the tabloids, participate in displaying a negative perception of the European Union. Many British people are unaware of the implications, the organisation, the institutions and the policies of the European Union. Ignorance leads to lack of interest, for the vast majority of the population. It is often claimed that Britons have few cultural links with Europe, and that they feel closer to the group of countries sometimes referred to as the ‘Anglosphere’. This community consists of English speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Canada and the United States. They share a common language and similar values, due to common historical links, that is to say most of these countries were once part of the British Empire. Moreover, although the British do not want to leave the European Union, recent polls have shown that the British population was against the introduction of the Euro and the European Constitution. As long as the United Kingdom does not feel that they genuinely belong to continental Europe, the poor attitude toward language learning is unlikely to change.

Mixed messages exist amongst the population in the United Kingdom concerning the perception of languages. Pupils in secondary schools do not show great enthusiasm for this school subject, as recent figures published in the Times Educational Supplement show: “in some cases dropout rates from GCSE language courses are extremely high – from 50% to 90%”(tes.co.uk). Pupils often do not see the point in learning a foreign language. English is spoken all around the world as a first, second or third language. Many countries use one language in their everyday life, but English is their official language. In holiday resorts, everything is made to accommodate tourists. Tour operators employ English speaking staff to avoid any difficulties for their customers.

However, a recent survey published by the Centre for Information on Language Teaching suggested that “over 75% of the general population think that a foreign language is important; and this figure increases to 90% amongst the 15 to 34 year olds”. If this figure is accurate, this means that pupils in Year 10 should, in their vast majority, choose a Modern Foreign Language as an option for their GCSE, which is not the case. At the beginning of Year 10, pupils are 15 years old. The Centre for Information on Language Teaching wants to promote languages in the United Kingdom, and the interpretation of these statistical figures appears to be very optimistic.

Modern Foreign Languages are not the easiest subject in the curriculum for pupils. When it is time for them to decide which option to select for their exams, they have the choice between art, drama, physical education, double manufacturing, cookery and textiles. In larger schools they might also have media, business studies, and as it is a requirement, Modern Foreign Languages are offered. Pupils cannot help but wonder in which subjects they will gain an A* to C, which is the pass rate. It is a very difficult choice to make for a 14 year old teenager.

Often, the attitude about languages that surrounds them is not very encouraging. It is a challenging and very academic subject. Pupils also do not get language support from families. For generations, their families did not have to learn a language. Or, they were not very good at it because of the failure in the educational system in teaching Modern Foreign Languages adequately when schools turned into comprehensive schools.

The way English has been taught for decades has not made it easy for pupils to access a foreign language. Before the Literacy Hour was introduced at Key Stage 2, pupils were no longer taught grammar. Therefore, their Literacy Level was often quite low. Although languages can help tremendously to improve Literacy skills, pupils often feel overwhelmed by the vast amount of new grammatical knowledge they have to acquire. In School X, pupils in Year 10 and 11 left primary school before the English Key Stage 2 Strategy and the Literacy hour were introduced, or they had only been taught under the newly enforced system for a year. When I started teaching them, they did not know what a verb or a subject was, whether in English or in a Foreign Language. They were unable to identify nouns in a sentence. I taught German to some classes and French to other groups, and producing accurate sentences was completely impossible for the pupils. They could not identify any of their errors.

The difference with the pupils who started secondary school in the past three years is very impressive and significant. The knowledge acquired in primary school facilitates their understanding in languages, and Modern Foreign Languages lessons consolidate the learning previously acquired. This is a very good example of the cross-curricular benefits that pupils can obtain from learning a language. This also shows that the initiative made by the Government to amend the way English was taught has had a beneficial impact in several ways, as it has improved pupils’ skills in English grammar and this proficiency has facilitated the learning of Modern Foreign Languages.

Lower achievers cannot always overcome these difficulties in Modern Foreign Languages. During the first few weeks I taught at school X, pupils had to be sent to detention systematically for not producing homework. The Head of Foreign Languages, who had about twenty years of experience in teaching, explained that generally pupils in the United Kingdom have a very negative attitude towards homework, and that if it was not clearly specified that there would be appropriate sanctions if a piece of homework was not produced, pupils would not complete the activity set. To try to counteract these difficulties, various techniques are used by schools. Most schools require that parents sign a home-school agreement which states the responsibility of parents and pupils for their learning. It is not only a teacher’s responsibility to make sure pupils produce the work expected, as parents are required to be as supportive as possible. This agreement also stresses parents’ responsibility for their child’s behaviour in lessons. The home-school agreement is designed to involve parents in their child’s education as much as possible. However, this agreement endorses the lack of motivation on the part of the pupils, and so homework is perceived as a sanction rather than a requisite for steady progress.