The teaching of modern languages in the United Kingdom occurs mainly from ages 7 to 16 in primary schools and secondary schools.
History 1900s
Linguaphone (company) was founded in 1901, becoming a significant company by the 1970s, with Berlitz of the US, which was founded in 1878, but Berlitz largely teaches English.
In 1907 Donald Mackay, 11th Lord Reay was appointed to the Treasury Committee on the Organisation of Oriental Studies in London, and produced a report in 1909; he had worked with the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1890s.Times Saturday June 14, 1947, page 5
1910s Stanley Mordaunt Leathes (1861–1938) was appointed in 1916 to set up the Leathes Committee, which found in the Report on the Position of Modern Languages in the Educational System of Great Britain, in 1918 that European languages should be taught.
1920s In January 1926 the National Union of Women Teachers proposed teaching foreign languages in primary schools.Times Tuesday January 5, 1926, page 17
1940s The British government provided no official language training for its diplomats until January 1943, under a White Paper proposal by Anthony Eden when the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service, the Commercial Diplomatic Service and the Consular Service were merged.Anthony EdenTimes Thursday September 21, 1978, page 11 In 1944 the Foreign Office Russian Studies Committee produced a report on the teaching of Russian
1950s After the Second World War, there was a much greater impetus for learning spoken foreign languages, such as German. Germany was subdivided into British and American sectors. Previous to the Second World War, the spoken language was not that urgently required. This grammar–translation method would persist until the 1960s.
At a North of England education conference in December 1959, Dr A Hay, the chief education inspector of London County Council, proposed some primary school language tuition, but only for gifted children.Times Wednesday December 30, 1959, page 4
1960s Until the 1960s foreign language education was mostly confined to grammar and independent schools. There were government plans for language teaching in primary schools, but the plans were dropped, due to the obvious situation of insufficiently trained teachers.
Secondary modern schools had limited modern language teaching, being occasionally found in the top stream of such schools, but often there was none at all.
On 22 February 1962 Conservative MP John Cordeaux asked the education secretary about foreign language teaching in primary schools.Times Tuesday March 6, 1962 The government was to implement an experimental scheme to attempt French teaching in some primary schools, in nine areas across England and Wales, from September 1964, in conjunction with the Nuffield Foundation.Daily Express Thursday 14 March 1963, page 17Times Tuesday September 17, 1963, page 18 By 1968, 850 Scottish primary schools taught French, with 200 out of Glasgow's 212 primary schools.Times Monday February 19, 1968, page 2
The Schools Council was founded in October 1964, which looked at the curriculum.Post-O-Level Studies in Modern Languages
1970s Following the introduction of comprehensive education in the 1960s the provision of language education at secondary level, mostly French, expanded and many primary schools introduced foreign languages as part of the 'Primary School Language Project' in the early 1970s. However, by the 1970s the status of French in primary schools was in question with the influential report 'Primary French in the Balance' ensuring that 11 was the age that most began studying French. Primary French teaching mostly finished in 1974, after reports by Clare Burstall published on December 9, 1970, and in December 1974.Times Thursday December 10, 1970 But Tameside, Kent and East Sussex continued some teaching, with East Sussex finishing by 1997.
The National Council for Modern Languages was founded in June 1972 for FE and HE teachers.Times Friday June 2, 1972, page 2
From 1970 to 1975 French A-level entries dropped from 25,925 to 17,025 and German entries from 7,520 to 5,516.Times Wednesday April 27, 1977, page 2 The move to comprehensive schools had not been seen to help language teaching to flourish, so a national survey of language teaching was conducted by five HM Inspectors of Schools in 83 comprehensive schools took place from 1975 to 1976, which resulted in the ungenerous DES report Modern Languages in Comprehensive Schools published on Thursday 17 March 1977. The report said that language teaching was often too 'mechanical' and inflexible, not nuanced.
The DES report said that mixed ability language classes were not a resounding success, that 'there was grave cause for concern' about bright children trying to learn languages at comprehensive schools, and that not enough was being done to help them. Teaching in sixth forms was 'no less disquieting'. Comprehensive schools had introduced language teaching, nominally for all, at some comprehensive schools, although most comprehensive schools only offered such language teaching to the top 60-80%, at most. Only a minority at such schools continued languages after 14.
Due to more language teachers being required, it became more difficult for comprehensive schools to offer two languages for those taking languages after 14. Under the former grammar school system, taking two languages up to 16 was never any profound difficulty; the grammar schools had enough teachers, and enough people capable of learning two languages. Comprehensive schools often had neither. The 1977 report also questioned why only people who took French A-level were able to continue French to 18, when there were many other people at 16 who had some capability in languages. Other European countries did not do this. Many former grammar school teachers found language teaching across wide abilities in comprehensive schools difficult. It found, over the 83 secondary schools, that there was one pass in a language O-level, or CSE grade 1, at 16, for every ten children at 16.
In the 1977 report, it found that many heads of language departments 'showed little awareness of the responsibilities they bore, beyond the walls of their own classrooms', leading some less-experienced teachers to flounder on their own, when such teachers needed to be assisted.Birmingham Daily Post Thursday 17 March 1977, page 7Nottingham Evening Post Thursday 17 March 1977, page 6Daily Mirror Monday 21 March 1977, page 2
The British Overseas Trade Board (BOTB) held a conference on 19 May 1978 at the Royal Society of Arts entitled 'Does Britain need linguists?', attended by Labour MP Les Huckfield.Coventry Evening Telegraph Friday 19 May 1978, page 10
In a BOTB report, 'Foreign Languages for Overseas Trade', published on Wednesday 23 May 1979, with a foreword by the Duke of Kent, it found that secondary school language abilities were not appropriate for the world of work. In his foreword, the Duke made several accusations, claiming that British companies had not tried with other languages, due to relying on Commonwealth connections, and that it was expensive to give language training to managers. The Duke claimed that secondary schools were obsessed far too much with syntax and grammar, and that secondary schools should have acquired the spoken diction beforehand.Birmingham Daily Post Thursday 24 May 1979, page 8 The BOTB report was later discussed at a conference for headteachers, hosted by the University of Surrey's Department of Linguistic and International Studies, on 8 December 1979.
In December 1979 the University Grants Committee published its 'Report on Russian and Russian Studies in British Universities', which proposed to end the teaching of Russian in 19 to 20 universities; this was to centralise teaching in 20 main university departments. This move was opposed by the British Association for Slavonic & East European StudiesTimes Wednesday January 9, 1980
1980s In 1983, the most French A-levels were taken: 27,103. The number fell but increased again by the early 1990s.Times Monday March 11, 1991, page 26
Universities were beginning to offer European business courses, to allow a year out in Europe, often at polytechnics, such as Middlesex Polytechnic. The University of Kent was a leading university with such courses, and cooperation with European universities. It largely coordinated all of the UK's part in the Erasmus Programme.
Many more secondary schools were offering languages up to 14, but not many comprehensive schools had obligatory language teaching after that. Most grammar schools would require a language to be followed up to 16. Prior to the 1970s, languages were largely only taught in grammar schools after the age of 14, and to take two languages up to 16. Most people believed that comprehensive schools could not achieve this, given the large range of abilities; only a few people, at most, believed it could be taught up to 16 in comprehensive schools.Inequality and Flourishing: A Theology of Education, Mariama Ifode- Blease, page 41 Some chief education officers believed that language teaching should be compulsory up to 16, for the able children only.Central Somerset Gazette Thursday 24 March 1977, page 2
In 1987, the report Curriculum Matters 8 - Modern foreign languages to 16 was published. The report found that 40% of people at secondary schools took a foreign language to 16. The report was quite general, and rarely mentioned individual foreign languages. The report did not greatly mention the glaring lack of language teachers.Curriculum Matters 8 in 1987
As part of the National Curriculum, a Modern Languages working group was established in 1989.The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages in the Primary School, Patricia Driscoll
The National Curriculum MFL Working Group (MFLWG) was chaired by Sir Martin Harris. The committee, possibly hardheadedly, believed that most children could study modern languages up to the age of 16, despite many other linguists, previously, not coming to that same radical, or optimistic, conclusion.
The Council of Europe, from 1982 to 1987, had been looking at language teaching across Europe, which influenced the findings of the committee of Sir Martin Harris. A national educational conference, to discuss any findings, was held in 1989.
As a result, all children at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 were required to study a modern foreign language. However, concerns were expressed as to whether the time devoted to learning modern languages was sufficient for acquisition to take place and the extent to which French had become the dominant language.
Some areas of Scotland taught French in primary schools from 1989.
1990s On 16 May 1990, the BBC launched a £3m series of educational programmes to prepare for the Single Market in 1992, such as a series of ten programmes entitled You and 92.Times Thursday May 17, 1990, page 5
In 1990 Betty Lockwood, Baroness Lockwood chaired a committee to look at language education in the UK: European Schools and Language Learning in UK Schools. It found that the UK was short of 1,750 teachers, and that the numbers of French A-levels had dropped 10% in eight years to 18,000.Times Thu May 17, 1990, page 5
The LINGUA programme was set up by the EC from 1990 to 1994, which changed to become the Socrates programme in 1994.
The 1990 House of Lords report 'European Schools and Language Learning in UK Schools' found that around 18,000 took French A-level, which had dropped by 10% in eight years.
The GCSE A* grade was introduced in 1994.
The 'Nuffield Languages Inquiry' was set up in 1998 by Sir John Boyd (diplomat), with Alwena Lamping.Nuffield Programme
2000s