Consultation on (1) the draft Order making Foreign Languages a statutory subject for Key Stage 2; and (2) a proposal to require schools teach one or more of seven languages at Key Stage 2

Consultation Response Form

The closing date for this consultation is: 16 December 2012Your comments must reach us by that date.

/

Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes, primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.

If you want all, or any part, of your response to be treated as confidential, please explain why you consider it to be confidential.

If a request for disclosure of the information you have provided is received, your explanation about why you consider it to be confidential will be taken into account, but no assurance can be given that confidentiality can be maintained. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

The Department will process your personal data (name and address and any other identifying material) in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and in the majority of circumstances, this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

Please tick if you want us to keep your response confidential. /
Reason for confidentiality:
Name / Professor James A Coleman
Organisation (if applicable) / University Council of Modern Languages
Address: / Department of Languages, The Open University, StuartHallBuilding, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

If your enquiry is related to the policy content of the consultation you can contactThe Departmenton:

Telephone: 0370 000 2288

e-mail:

If you have a query relating to the consultation process you can contact the Public Communications Unit on:

Telephone: 0370 000 2288

Or via the Department's 'Contact Us'page.

Please mark an X in one box below that best describes you as a respondent.

/ Primary School / / Secondary School / / SpecialSchool
/ Academy/Free School / / Subject Association / / Parent
/ Young Person / X / Higher Education / / Employer/Business Sector
/ Local Authority / / Organisations representing school teachers / / Other
/ Please Specify: I am elected Chair of the University Council of Modern Languages, the overarching national membership organisation which represents virtually all departments and associations in modern languages, linguistics and cultural and area studies in higher education throughout the United Kingdom.

1 Do you have any comments onthe draft Order attached at Annex 1?

/ Comments: No comments

2a) Do you agree with the Government's proposal to require primary schools to teach one or more of French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish or a classical language (Latin or Ancient Greek) at Key Stage 2?

/ Yes / X / No / / Not Sure
/ Comments: The University Council of Modern Languages strongly endorses the notion that children should be exposed to other languages at primary school. UCML also endorses the idea that both modern and Classical foreign languages, including Mandarin, are appropriate. However, UCML disagrees with the proposal that offering just one foreign language in primary schools is acceptable.

2b) Please explain the reasons for your answer

/ Comments: Research evidence shows that pupils of primary age lack the cognitive maturity to acquire the morphosyntax of a foreign language if their only exposure to it is in the classroom – and especially if they have less than 60 minutes of expert teaching per week, which has often been the case in recent years. As a result, pupils reach secondary with very low target language knowledge, yet are demotivated if they are then expected, because they are joining pupils who have not studied the same language at primary, to start again from scratch. The excitement, enthusiasm and fun of early language study, which has been very widely evidenced, is thus squandered. Authorising the study of just one language at primary school would also perpetuate the current chaos of transition to secondary, where, in the absence of national or local agreement on which languages to teach, pupils are put off by the lack of continuity, and schools have to cope as best they can with the different experiences which pupils bring to secondary.
There is no convincing evidence that British pupils can acquire worthwhile foreign language skills through classroom teaching at primary school. However, there is substantial evidence that at this age they enjoy discovering foreign languages, and can acquire the oral-aural flexibility which will subsequently enable them to master foreign languages. Learning another language brings benefits to early learners through enhanced mother tongue literacy, language awareness and improved cultural and intercultural understanding. Early learners tend to be less anxious about language learning than later starters, and are better at acquiring the sounds and rhythms of other languages. The principal benefits of early language learning for longer-term language learning lie in enthusiasm, motivation, language awareness and flexibility, and not in actual acheievement in a single foreign language. Rather than concentrating on a single language throughout Key Stage 2, UCML therefore argues that primary provision should give pupils tasters of several foreign and heritage languages, thus maintaining their motivation, interest and enjoyment and developing awareness and flexibility. At the same time, such a ‘carousel’ solution would address the difficult issue of language choice, and facilitate a coherent transition to secondary.
For any primary language policy to work effectively, adequate resources must be made available to train teachers, adequate curriculum and materials support must be provided, and adequate and appropriate timetable provision must be made. Only a properly resourced national policy can guarantee these prerequisites for successful primary languages.

Thank you for taking the time to let us have your views. We do not intend to acknowledge individual responses unless you place an 'X' in the box below.

Please acknowledge this reply

Here at the Department forEducation we carry out our research on many different topics and consultations. As your views are valuable to us, would it be alright if we were to contact you again from time to time either for research or to send through consultation documents?

XYes / No

All DfE public consultations are required to meetthe Cabinet Office Principles on Consultation

The key Consultation Principles are:

  • departments will follow a range of timescales rather than defaulting to a 12-week period, particularly where extensive engagement has occurred before
  • departments will need to give more thought to how they engage with and consult with those who are affected
  • consultation should be ‘digital by default', but other forms should be used where these are needed to reach the groups affected by a policy; and
  • the principles of the Compact between government and the voluntary and community sector will continue to be respected.

Responses should be completed on-line or emailed to the relevant consultation email box. However, if you have any comments on how DfE consultations are conducted, please contact CaroleEdge, DfE Consultation Coordinator, tel: 0370 000 2288 / email:

Thank you for taking time to respond to this consultation.

Completed questionnaires and other responses should be sent to the address shown below by 16 December 2012

You can respond to theconsultationby completing theresponse form andemailing it to or sending it by post to:
Send by post to:

Public Communications Unit, Area 1C
Castle View House
East Lane
Runcorn
Cheshire, WA7 2GJ.