By Suzanne O’Farrell, ASCL MFL Consultant and former headteacher

The reasons for the continued decline in language uptake in schools and colleges since 2004 are well-rehearsed—recruitment and retention, funding, examinations, and grading (The Guardian). Yet, schools and colleges are the only places where young people can be truly inspired and excited to develop a lifelong love of language learning. Language teachers offer much more than just knowledge; they impart the lifelong skill of how to learn a language.

It's not just pupils who are losing out. According to the 2020 report, Towards a National Languages Strategy: Education and Skills, stronger skills in languages other than English would make the UK more prosperous, productive, influential, innovative, knowledgeable, culturally richer, more socially cohesive, and healthier. The 2022 Rand Report also indicates that the decline in language learning is likely to negatively affect the UK's ability to compete internationally.

Mobilise peer learning
How can school and college leaders create a culture that embraces and celebrates both language learning and all languages in its community? Culture encompasses all ways of life passed down from generation to generation. Your older generation of language learners in your school community are one of your most effective resources to inspire and motivate younger language learners.

Using sixth form or Year 11 pupils who have chosen to study languages to support younger pupils in lessons and extra-curricular language activities can provide inspiration and interest. Older students could become language ambassadors or mentors for those showing a keen interest in languages. Mentoring programmes in Wales have demonstrated that students are more likely to choose a language qualification after participating in a mentoring scheme. Read about the case studies using university students here.

A whole-school approach to language
Building a profile of languages holistically ensures they are not seen as an isolated subject. A school culture embracing languages should make all languages learnt and spoken visible everywhere—on displays in corridors, signage, the school website, newsletters, and prospectus.

Senior leaders should clarify the expectations of new students at open evenings, ensuring all pupils learn a language throughout their school career. This valuable life skill contributes to their development as open-minded, tolerant, and global citizens.

It's not just about languages being seen; it's also about them being heard. Assemblies featuring pupils speaking languages can have a powerful impact. These videos from the British Council are suitable for assemblies.

Mobilise your team
Involve all members of your senior team in promoting the importance of language learning. Ensure they speak a few words of the language when entering a language learning environment. Other staff can contribute to this culture through their curriculum and international activities.

When recruiting new staff and teaching assistants, find out if they have familiarity with home languages or experience in drawing upon different languages in their teaching and support for pupils. Governors with an interest in languages can also support and celebrate language-related activities.

A key member of staff who can significantly contribute to valuing languages is your careers guidance lead. They understand all the transferable soft skills that language learners develop: sociability, cultural awareness, self-confidence, open-mindedness, analytical skills, communication, and understanding different viewpoints.

There’s a great example of a success story from Language Trends England (2023) here. 

First steps to inspire language learning
To inspire pupils, they need to feel successful and make progress, recognizing their strengths, particularly at KS3. They need enough curriculum time and opportunities to engage with stimulating, culturally rich content.

What steps should you take first? 
Discuss with your department the steps to get the whole school on board with languages. Select a couple of easy-to-implement ideas, such as:

• ensuring visitors to the classroom greet the class in the appropriate language
• celebrating pupils’ success with languages (including home languages) in every year group
• choosing an assembly or inviting an outside speaker to showcase the value of languages and multilingualism.

These ideas are not groundbreaking, but if you haven’t tried them yet, see what impact they have on your students and staff. 

Resources

• Supporting Pupils with Home, Heritage and Community Languages (primary): guidance for mainstream primary schools in how to develop an inclusive curriculum which supports progress in learning English while also recognising the importance of children’s home languages and cultures.
• Supporting students with home, heritage and community languages (secondary): guidance for mainstream secondary schools in supporting school communities to realise the value of bilingualism and to support mainstream schools in facilitating home language exam entries for their pupils.
• ASCL Conference for Strategic Leadership of Languages: our inaugural event on 14 October 2024 in London where our superb programme of speakers will present tried and tested approaches to help leaders increase language participation and outcomes, access new, funded opportunities for languages, and establish a school culture where languages flourish.

By fostering a comprehensive and inclusive language culture in your school, you can inspire the next generation of language learners and leaders.


Suzanne O’Farrell is ASCL MFL Consultant and will be appearing at the ASCL Conference for Strategic Leadership of Languages. Event sponsors are the British Council, Goethe Institut, GIMAGINE, and the National Consortium for Languages Education.