The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 required the creation of a National Plan for Gaelic and the Scottish Government is committed to enhancing the status of the language, its acquisition and use. It has recently published a draft National Gaelic Language Plan for 2012-2017¹ which has included the development of a curriculum in Gaelic. The relatively favourable standing given to Gaelic has raised questions about the position of the Scots language, which is also recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, along with Ulster Scots. The Report of the Ministerial Working Group on the Scots Language (November 2010)² called for the Scottish Government to develop a Scots Language Policy and for Scotland to be presented internationally as a trilingual country. 

Policy and practice surrounding English as an Additional Language (EAL) and support for newcomers was reviewed in 2009³ The subsequent report recommends best practice found in local authorities and to be shared more widely, including: welcoming new arrivals and approaches to initial and ongoing assessments; enabling newly-arrived children and young people to use their first language as a tool for learning; and providing well-targeted staff training to enable staff to meet the needs of newly-arrived children and young people more effectively.

Official UK-wide data collection mechanisms on language diversity exist in terms of periodically updated municipal register data, census data and survey data.

¹ www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/45383.aspx
² Report of the Ministerial Working Group on the Scots Language, November 2010
³ Count Us In report, 2009 www.ltscotland.org.uk/Images/cuimnnus_tcm4-618947.pdf

Languages offered in pre-primary education

A small but growing number of pre-school establishments offer foreign language support, mainly in the private sector but some Local Authorities provide foreign languages from age three. All children with limited ability in English receive extra support if they need it from a combination of EAL trained and non-EAL trained staff.

Gaelic is offered in a small number of pre-school institutions (approximately 2000 children enrolled). Immigrant languages are rarely offered.

Languages offered in primary education

Scotland was an early adopter of primary foreign languages (1992), and by 2005 practically all Scottish primary schools taught a foreign language. French was and remains dominant (compared to Spanish, German, Italian and Gaelic). All young people have an entitlement to learn at least one foreign language from the later stage of primary school, but it is not compulsory. The Curriculum for Excellence gives clear guidelines for Foreign Language (FL) teaching and the target level to be achieved by the end of primary is A1 on the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). In most cases, FL teaching is limited to the final two years of primary school – 10 to 12 year olds - and has a small time allocation. Recent concerns relate to teacher training and local authority support (due to funding reductions)¹. 

The learning of Gaelic has been treated fundamentally differently, with the setting up, from 1986 onwards, of Gaelic medium units in primary schools throughout Scotland, complemented by Gaelic-medium pre-school provision in many areas. The most recent HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) report² found 2,312 children being educated in Gaelic medium primary provision, most of whom do not have Gaelic as first language. Gaelic is also offered as second language in a number of primary schools.

All newcomers in mainstream schools receive support in English before and during mainstream classes, and their skills are assessed and monitored regularly by an EAL specialist. Immigrant languages are rarely offered.

¹ ‘Pupils risk being lost in translation’, Edinburgh Evening News 16/4/2010
² HMIE, Gaelic Education: Building on the successes, addressing the barriers, 21 June 2011

Languages offered in secondary education

Modern languages are an integral part of the Curriculum for Excellence and all children are entitled to a modern language as part of their broad general education (S1-S3). The entitlement is to have the opportunity to reach at least level A2 on the CEFR and for most learners this will happen within the broad, general education (S1-S3), rather than the senior phase (S4- S6). The Scottish Government aims to implement policies to ensure that every child learns two languages in addition to their mother tongue.

However, the present situation of foreign languages in secondary schools is a matter of concern. Whereas in 2001 practically all pupils studied a language up to the 4th year of secondary education, by 2010 this had dropped to 67%¹. French accounts for around 70% of exam entries, followed by German (c.16%) and Spanish (c.10%). Spanish has been increasing despite the overall decline². At more advanced levels, the situation is more stable³. 

In 2011 more than half of Scottish Local Authorities reported having at least one secondary school where languages were not compulsory with schools interpreting the ‘entitlement’ to language learning as having been met in primary school⁴. Pressures on public spending have impacted on the employment of Foreign Language Assistants in schools (from 285 in 2005 to 59 in 2011), prompting a public outcry from foreign Consuls General and concerns over the future competitiveness of Scottish businesses⁵.

There is a serious challenge in providing continuity for children to learn through the medium of Gaelic in secondary school, with only 36 schools providing it and mainly confining it to the first two years of secondary education.

Scots is not taught as a specific subject but is part of the language that many children bring to school. Schools are encouraged, therefore, to make use of this and to offer learners the chance to experience aspects of Scots language across curricular subjects.

There is a clear curriculum for the teaching of English as a first and second language. Newcomers receive extra support; however provision varies widely across Scotland. Immigrant languages are occasionally offered to children in areas with high immigrant populations, however the emphasis is on English to encourage integration.

¹ Modern Languages Excellence Report, Scottish CILT, 2011
² Modern Languages Excellence Report, Scottish CILT, 2011
³ Modern Languages Excellence Report, Scottish CILT, 2011
⁴ The survey was carried out by TESS and reported as: ‘Poor language skills put Scots at disadvantage’, TESS 25/3/2011
⁵ ‘Backlash from diplomats over language cuts’, Scotland on Sunday, 4/12/11

Languages offered across 3 VET institutions in Scotland

Languages offered across 3 higher education institutions in Scotland

Scottish universities are suffering from severe financial pressures and this has led to fears for the future of language departments at some universities and the viability of lesser taught languages in particular. The Scottish Parliament has been petitioned to ensure targeted support for ‘strategically important and vulnerable’ languages in the same way that this exists in England. 

The most recently available data from the Scottish Qualifications Authority showed that modern language provision in the Scottish further education sector was on the verge of total collapse¹. The analysis showed that a self-perpetuating belief among employers and skills forecasters that ‘English is enough’ had had a negative effect on language provision in both Further and Higher Education.

¹ La Grande Illusion: Why Scottish further education has failed to grasp the potential of modern languages, Scottish Languages Review, Issue 23, Spring 2011, Hannah Doughty, University of Strathclyde

Languages offered in audiovisual media and press across 3 cities in Scotland

Radio programmes are offered mainly in English, but there is also daily Gaelic content available on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. Television programmes are mainly in English and Gaelic but there are also broadcasts in Senegalese, Hindi, Danish and British Sign Language. Since 2008 a Scottish Gaelic BBC channel, BBC Alba, has been available on digital TV, satellite and online, with a weekly viewership of over 500,000 people. Foreign language films in Scotland are invariably shown in the original language with subtitles in both cinema and on television. However, foreign and R/M language radio and television are available via Freeview, online, satellite, for example. Sign language is regularly offered in important media events in all cities. Newspapers are available in a large repertoire of other languages in larger cities.

Languages offered in public services and public spaces across 3 cities in Scotland (N ≥ 2)

In the cities surveyed, police, courts, health services and local government all make extensive use of translation and interpreting services and there are efforts to provide written and online information in a variety of languages. Written communication is usually available in English and Gaelic and is available in a wide variety of other languages. The languages supported are defined by the languages of the communities being served. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow have plans to increase the skills of their staff in Gaelic in accordance with the National Plan for Gaelic and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.

Scottish surveys of skills needs tend not to identify lack of language skills as a problem¹. However, further investigation of such research has found that Scottish employers tend to circumvent rather than address language skill needs by exporting only to Anglophone countries or those where they can easily find English speakers². There is clearly a linguistic dimension to the most commonly reported barriers to exporting – difficulties in finding trustworthy partners abroad.

¹ Leitch Review of Skills, ‘Prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills’ (2006), and Futureskills Scotland (2007), Skills in Scotland (2006), Glasgow, Scottish Enterprise
² Modern Languages Excellence Report, Scottish CILT, 2011

As the Language Rich Europe research confirms, Gaelic enjoys a high level of political support and with the Gaelic Language Plan, as well as continuing demand for Gaelic medium education from parents. Its status is very different from that enjoyed by other languages spoken and used in Scotland. A study on community languages (the UK term for what LRE refers to as immigrant languages) published in 2006¹ found provision for children of school age to study 21 such languages in complementary classes, but nothing available for the remaining languages spoken, including Scots. The most significant provision was for Urdu, for which 42 complementary classes were identified, as well as some mainstream provision in primary and secondary schools, including opportunities to study the subject as a modern language. Although the issue of foreign language learning appears now to be creeping up the political agenda, there is clearly a need to continue to make a strong case for the social, cultural, intellectual and economic benefits to Scotland, as well as to invest in high quality training for teachers.

¹ Provision for community language learning in Scotland, Scottish CILT/University of Stirling, 2006

The Scottish Government has recently set a target to work towards every child in Scotland learning two languages in addition to their mother tongue (as per the Barcelona European Council agreement). It intends to implement this over the course of two parliaments and has set up a working group which will report to Ministers with recommendations in 2012¹. 

The Modern Languages Excellence Group, chaired by SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages, has published a report which sets out clearly how the study of modern foreign languages fits within Curriculum for Excellence, and what needs to happen in order to secure, promote and enhance the provision of modern languages in Scotland². It is very positive that standards have now been set, in accordance with the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference, for all children to reach by the end of primary school (A1) and after the first three years of secondary (A2). 

The Scottish Baccalaureate in Languages is another interesting and promising initiative, aimed at bridging the gap between school and university and providing skills for learning, life and work. 

¹ Record of debate in Scottish Parliament 8/12/11, Scottish Parliament website
² Modern Languages Excellence Report, SCILT, March 2011