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Universities "forced to stop teaching languages" (The Guardian)

Polly Curtis, The Guardian, 9 September 2009

Universities are being forced to abandon the teaching of pure languages after the government dropped mandatory lessons in secondary schools, the head of Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, is warning as its annual conference starts today.

Applications to language degrees are drying up and those that are left are increasingly dominated by private school pupils, Steve Smith, who is also vice-chancellor of Exeter University, said.

Universities are dropping pure language degrees to do "language and culture" alternatives, with less time dedicated to developing fluency and mastering speaking skills. The government has commissioned a major review into languages in universities, which is due to report this month.

Smith told the Guardian: "I think there are two prongs to the problem. One is the sheer decline. The second is that language teaching is becoming increasingly an activity of the independent sector. Getting those balances right is quite difficult.

"I think the trend will be much more towards teaching modern languages in the context of the societies in which the languages are actually spoken. In other words, you might do Italian, but you might do it as part of a degree about its literature and culture. In the single honours languages, the declines at the moment are really quite significant.

"It's an issue of languages in schools that worries me the most. There is a very real problem in what they call modern foreign languages. On the surface, the policy change in schools does seem to have contributed to this, but that is one of the issues which we need to get up to date with."

Last month's A-level and GCSE results revealed another drop in the proportion of students entering for language subjects, French and German in particular. It follows the government's decision in 2004 to drop compulsory languages at GCSE. Ministers have promised to improve language learning in primary schools instead, but the scheme has been slow to take off.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England has ordered a review into languages in universities led by Michael Worton, vice-provost of University College London. It will consider the impact of recent government policies and investment in the area. The report is due to be completed this month and published later in the autumn.

It was ordered after a run of cuts at some of the country's most prestigious universities, including Oxford, Edinburgh and King's College London. They were blamed on a decision by the government to divert research funding from arts and humanities subjects to protect the sciences.

Oxford University, which is ranked number one in the country for languages, faced a £1m shortfall in its language budget, King's had been told to make 20% cuts and European linguists at Edinburgh University were ordered to save £400,000 over two years.

Kathryn Board, chief executive of CILT, the national centre for language teaching, warned that without a workforce skilled in languages, the UK would be held back in its efforts to recover from the recession.

"English is one of the great global languages of the 21st century but it will only take us so far. Our engagement with the non-English speaking world will remain superficial and one-sided unless we develop our capacity in other languages. In this precarious economic climate, we need to make Britain strong in the global economy."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills said it was looking at ways to improve language learning, including by making it compulsory at primary school.