There is little language legislation as such in England or the UK generally, beyond that relating to R/M languages. English, foreign languages, R/M languages and sign language have been dealt with in a range of language policy and guidance documents. In England, following the 2010 election many of these have been reviewed.

England has recognised its only R/M language – Cornish – under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) leading to the publication of the Cornish Language Strategy in 2004 to support the teaching and learning of Cornish in the region.

All children from age four with limited attainment in English receive extra support from appropriately trained teachers. Foreign languages are occasionally taught at pre-primary level but teachers receive no special training. Cornish is taught informally in a small but increasing number of pre-primary schools.

In 2000, following widespread public consultation, the Nuffield Languages Inquiry¹ recommended a series of measures including an early start to learning another language. This became one of the main planks of the National Languages Strategy for England launched by the Labour Government in 2002. By 2010, following a far-reaching programme of curriculum development, support for schools and teacher training, 92% of primary schools offered a foreign language. Although this was most commonly French, guidance strongly encouraged a holistic approach to developing language competence, making explicit links to literacy in English and other languages known by children. Foreign languages are usually taught by generalist teachers who have received pre-service and in-service training in language teaching; they are often supported by secondary school colleagues. Language learning in the majority of schools starts in the first year of primary school, at age seven, typically for 30-40 minutes per week².

Although the National Languages Strategy was abandoned when the current government came to power, non-statutory guidelines remain available – the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages - and most schools base their practice on this document. A consultation process on the national curriculum is currently under way and the advisory committee has recommended that from 2014 language learning should start at least by age nine. In June 2012 the Government announced its intention to legislate for compulsory foreign language learning from the age of seven.

A flourishing voluntary ‘complementary’ sector provides opportunities for children to learn languages spoken in their communities. This serves both primary and secondary school children (and earlier). A 2005 survey³ found provision in after school and Saturday classes for at least 61 languages. An innovative national programme, Our Languages, ran from 2008-2010 to promote and strengthen this provision and to draw it into contact with mainstream schools. Under this scheme any language may be offered in primary schools, and some languages of the wider world are taught, usually in areas with large minority populations and/or as part of ‘language taster’ and intercultural awareness programmes.

There has been funding through an Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) for language support for newcomers and bilingual pupils. Such support is offered outside and during mainstream classes and skills are monitored regularly. Since 2011 the EMAG has been ‘mainstreamed’ within general funding and there is some doubt as to how it will be used in future.

In Cornwall, approximately 30% of primary schools in the county offer Cornish, usually as an extra-curricular subject at KS2. Limited funding is available to support teachers and a coherent curriculum for Cornish is available with assessment linked to the CEFR.

¹ Languages The next generation; The final report and recommendations of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry, London 2000
² Language learning at key stage 2, a longitudinal study, DCSF Research report RR198, Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2010
³ Community Language Learning in England, Wales and Scotland, CILT, 2005

The situation of foreign languages in secondary schools in England has been a matter of concern for many years. Languages were compulsory until age 16 until 2004 when this was reduced to age 14. Numbers sitting a public examination have since fallen dramatically: in 2001, 78% of the cohort sat a GCSE exam in languages; this was just 43% in 2011. French and German have seen the biggest falls in numbers; however, Spanish and many of the lesser taught languages have become more popular. At ages 16-18, the numbers studying languages have remained steadier. This relative success is mainly due to the maintenance of language learning in independent schools, which educate around seven per cent of the school population in England, but account for over 40% of Advanced level entries in languages. This reveals a key concern for the future of language teaching in England – that of social inequality.

The current Government is encouraging schools to prioritise languages by introducing the ‘English Baccalaureate’ – an overarching form of certification for students who obtain good passes in five key subjects including a language. The government’s advisory panel on the national curriculum has recommended that language learning should again be made compulsory for all students up to the age of 16. 

Languages are taught as subjects. There are also pilot and individual CLIL schemes which involve the use of another language as a medium of instruction¹. There has been a clear curriculum, and skills are monitored using national instruments. These National Curriculum ‘attainment target’ descriptors are based on the Languages Ladder (DCSF 2007) which is aligned with the CEFR. 

National examinations exist for 28 languages and many secondary schools facilitate access to these for pupils who have developed competence in them – usually outside mainstream school. An initiative developed as part of the National Languages Strategy – Asset Languages – successfully developed examinations in new languages such as Cornish, Tamil and Yoruba for which previously no examination existed. 

In Cornwall, a small but increasing number of secondary schools offer Cornish usually as an extra-curricular subject. There is no curriculum on offer to schools. There is some teaching of Welsh and Irish in urban centres such as London.

The standard English curriculum is usually used for English as a second language (EAL)². There is a diagnosis of English language skills before entering secondary education and skills are monitored regularly using age-appropriate standard instruments. The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant has also been used for language support in Secondary schools (see above – Primary)

¹ Towards an integrated curriculum. CLIL National Statement and Guidelines 2009
² Source: www.naldic.org.uk/eal-teaching-and-learning/faqs

Although the three vocational institutions surveyed for Language Rich Europe provide language support, across England there is very little provision for languages alongside vocational courses. A survey in 2006 estimated that less than one per cent of all students on vocational courses were studying a language. Those that were, were mainly studying Spanish in either Travel and Tourism or Business courses. A 2011 follow up survey found that provision had declined even further and that very few attempts were being made in the sector to link languages to the world of work¹.

English universities offer a wide range of languages as degree subjects or complementary modules. Traditional language and literary studies have always been strong in the older universities. There has, however, been a decline in language study over recent decades. Since 2005 languages have been designated ‘strategically important and vulnerable subjects’ in English higher education. This means that they qualify for additional public funding to address declining national capacity. There is a lack of degree courses in the four most widely spoken community languages (the UK term for what LRE refers to as immigrant languages): Urdu, Cantonese, Panjabi and Bengali, and barriers to professional training in community languages for teaching, translation and interpreting have been identified as concerns². The concentration of languages in the older universities, the narrow student class profile of language undergraduates and the low incidence of courses combining languages with scientific and technological subjects are additional concerns in the sector.

¹ Vocationally related language learning in further education, CILT, 2006
² Community Languages in Higher Education, McPake and Sachdev, Routes into Languages, 2008

The use of languages other than English is not prevalent in mainstream audiovisual media (such as radio and terrestrial television), although there are some relatively popular subtitled detective series; in the newer media, however – cable television, satellite, online – European and minority language television channels are widely available. There are also many community radio programmes available in English cities. Newspapers are available in a large repertoire of other languages especially in large cities. Foreign language films in the UK are invariably shown in the original language with subtitles in both cinema and on television. Sign language is regularly offered in important media events in all cities and broadcasters are required by law to cater for hearing-impaired viewers.

In the cities surveyed, police, health services, courts and local government all make extensive use of translation and interpreting services and both written and online information is made available in a variety of languages. The languages supported are defined by the languages of the communities being served.

Estimation of skill needs by UK employers tends not to reveal a very strong demand for languages¹. On the one hand this may be because many monolingual employers have a rather narrow perception of the value of languages to their business; on the other because those that do value language skills are able to recruit from a plentiful supply of multilingual foreign-born workers. However, employers organisations such as the CBI regularly highlight the importance of language competence for competitiveness in the global economy, and a recent survey showed that only a quarter of British businesses had absolutely no need of language skills². Recent research on Small and Medium Sized Businesses approaches to exporting showed they regard language and associated cultural issues as one of the biggest barriers to doing business overseas³.

¹ Leitch Review of Skills, ‘Prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills’ 2006
² Building for Growth: business priorities for education and skills, CBI Education and Skills survey 2011
³ The eXport factor, British SME’s approach to doing business overseas, Barclays and Kingston University Small Business Research Centre, 2011

England’s lack of ‘national capability’ in languages has been a matter of considerable debate in recent years and in particular since the Nuffield Languages Inquiry of 2000. At policy level and in public discourse, languages are described as important, but in practice and provision there have been many fault lines. This is undoubtedly a reflection of the growing importance of English as a lingua franca and a continuing perception that ‘English is enough’, and that other languages are ‘important but not essential’¹. Despite this there has been significant progress and innovation in introducing the early learning of other languages, in supporting community languages and in promoting of language competence to young people. Partly as a result of this, languages remain on the political agenda – the case is not closed.

¹ King et al Languages in Europe, Towards 2020 - Analysis and Proposals from the LETPP Consultation and review. London 2011

England has been particularly active in bringing forward evidence to demonstrate the need for languages and in developing coherent rationales for language learning.

The National Languages Strategy (2002-2011) was responsible for a number of key initiatives, especially the creation of a framework for language learning 7-11 (The Key Stage 2 framework for Languages) and a new assessment framework (The Languages Ladder/Asset languages) based on the CEFR. It also supported links between mainstream and complementary schools such as the Our Languages initiative. 

Routes into Languages, managed by the University of Southampton has targeted secondary school students with messages about the importance of language learning through direct engagement with universities and student ambassadors. It has brought universities into contact with schools and developed some highly successful models of collaboration. 

The 2011 report Labour Market Intelligence on Languages and Intercultural Skills in Higher Education (CILT) demonstrated the need for a wide range of languages across both public and private sectors in combination with different workplace skills. 

In 2011 a new campaign was launched to support language learning - Speak to the Future. This has built a broad coalition of support around five key issues to promote the importance of language skills and bring about changes in policy and attitudes.