Peter C.’s Post

Goal: To positively reframe foreign languages in the UK. Barriers: 🥲 Very limited school budgets 🥲 Lack of motivation and incentives 🥲 Shortage of teachers 🥲 Socioeconomic inequalities 🥲 Difficulties in movement post-Brexit ... among others One of the 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 📌 I'm working on (among others), is a Schools Pack which will contain a Private Joke ® game alongside hundreds of lesson plans, after school clubs, worksheets etc. All of these are centered towards reframing foreign languages more positively for the next generation. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬, 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧. 😏 I'm going to charge the Schools Pack at 49.99 GBP, and it includes: - Private Joke ® game (Limited Edition) featuring 15+ languages - Inspiration to learn languages, deepen motivation, and learn with confidence - The above mentioned lesson plans, worksheets etc. for years 7-13 - Topics will include MFL, English Language, EAL & Gifted and Talented - Years worth of inspiration, giggles, and creativity for students If you have the means, and would like to support a local comprehensive state school by investing in a Schools Pack, 👏🏻 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 "𝐏𝐉" 👏🏻 and I will start to put together a list of schools that want innovative MFL resources. #mfl #learnlanguages #mflteacher #mflresources #languages #creativity #21stcenturyskills #21stcenturyeducation #languages --- 🫒 2 ways I can help you: 1/ Train your brain to think more creatively. Play Private Joke ® with your family and friends; invent words, explore language, and laugh together. 2/ I design Olea Createathon workshops, immersive offline experiences for schools and companies to think like a multilingual. Get in touch if you're curious.

Growing numbers of schoolchildren are choosing not to study modern foreign languages (MFL) at GCSE because they do not think it will help them in their career, according to a new report. Only 131,000 pupils took French GCSE this summer, down from 331,000 in 2003, before the government dropped the requirement for all students to take a modern language beyond the age of 14. The number of children studying German at GCSE dropped from 125,600 to 34,700 over the same period, and while Spanish GCSEs have doubled from 61,323 to 125,000, it has not made up for the fall elsewhere. This has also led to a dwindling number of students taking language degrees, making recruiting MFL teachers even harder. A survey by the British Council has found that while children enjoy learning languages, they are choosing not to study them beyond the age of 14 because they do not see their value. Of 2,000 pupils at the end of their first year of secondary school in the UK, 46 per cent of children loved or liked learning a language with only 16 per cent disliking the lessons

I enjoyed reading this article this morning from Regent High School about how they are increasing uptake of languages at GCSE. https://lnkd.in/eYX7Yzxm Any thoughts on what they're doing? What are you're top tips? Any plans to try a new approach this year? #mflteacher #languagelearning #languageteaching

The new MLA report about students enrolling in foreign language courses is alarming. This should serve as a wake-up call to educational policy makers that promoting the study of languages K12 is essential in order to have sufficient interest at HEIs. If this trend is not reversed it will surely impact intercultural communication, intercultural competence, and national security according to the research. #languagelearning #languagematters #languageteaching https://lnkd.in/edT2Gv4R

There's been a lot of conversation this week today about a new article from Dr Abigail Parrish for The Conversation UK , titled: Young people in Britain aren’t bad at learning languages – but the school system doesn’t make it easy for them 💡 In the piece, Dr Parrish shares views taken from academic research, including their point that "there’s no reason to think that British students are any worse than anyone else – but they are let down by an environment that doesn’t prioritise learning international languages." (If you've not read the article, you can find it here: https://lnkd.in/eXVQmYaD) This is of course close to our hearts and incredibly timely during the current exam period. We also discussed the topic earlier this year with Dr Parris as they presented their webinar Languages For All? The Push and Pull of Policy, exploring how education policy, including EBacc and P8, has impacted language learning in schools across the UK. You can revisit that webinar here: https://lnkd.in/eQV7sb8x So, what IS the biggest challenge facing language learning in the UK❓ Let us know what you think in the comments 👇🏽 #languagelearning #teachinglanguages #education

Do you know what I’d LOVE to see as part of our initiative to better support multilingual learners who’ve had little to no exposure to the English language prior to their arrival to our classrooms? A space in the day for them to learn English as a foreign language. And you know what’s positively terrifying? That it’s become controversial to say that. Should an international new arrival receive grade level content in core subject areas? Absolutely. Should core teachers differentiate their material to accommodate those with differing linguistic abilities? Absolutely. Are students who literally can’t speak or understand the English language still going to struggle to access that material until they’re explicitly taught English as a functional language? ABSOLUTELY. Disagree? Go and sit in a 12th grade Science class in Mandarin for a year and smash the state exam using nothing but your context clues, the CLO written on the board, and your superhero ability to learn a language through osmosis. We all know our multilingual learners are brilliant. So give them the opportunity to learn the language necessary for them to thrive in their classes. Stop using your supposed belief in their brilliance as an excuse to justify your inability to provide them with the explicit language instruction that they deserve. Ask me how tired I am of educators who have never mastered a foreign language proclaiming that it’s ‘equitable’ to NOT teach international new arrivals English as an additional language. Just shove them into advanced classes and tell them to crack on, then throw our hands up when they ‘underperform’? Get out of here. Want to do right by your students? Choose empathy over personal fears and actually do right by your students. Invest in the best ESL programs and educators, and give your kids a chance to showcase their knowledge in all subject areas. Sincerely, DragonWise Education

Learn more about the argument to shift away from labeling students as English learners and the implications of these labels on educational policy and practice in this article from Language Magazine https://bit.ly/49R91SU #ELL #MLL #Education

Good to reflect on our practice and models for language instruction. Do we label or differentiate? Do we scaffold to power up the academic rigor or to enable lowered expectations?

🚕As I was ferrying children around this morning, I heard a debate about reforming the education system, and how we are failing children in the UK with our current exam system. 💪There's such an emphasis on core subjects like Maths and English, that many other subjects like Design, Engineering and Tech, Music, and Drama, are being shunted to the side; and fewer children are choosing them. Could these subjects be actually rather useful?! ☀️Most Year 11 children (like one of mine) will be taking around 27 to 30 exams in summer 2024. And not that many will have chosen a language. Which is my main bugbear. 🧠I don't expect that everyone who learns a language will go on to become a translator, or even be able to hold much of a conversation in another language. But there's evidence about language learning opening up a different part of your brain, not to mention helping you to learn about different cultures, history, and just the pleasure of words in any language. 🏫Two of my children are at two different secondary schools (this is very convenient, obviously) and the way that languages are taught differs vastly between the two. I was quite shocked by this, and no wonder so few children go on to study languages at A level. Meaning that university language departments have been closing for years now. 🔙I'm not sure that this can be reversed; it's a much deeper rooted problem that the British have about learning languages. Making a language GCSE compulsory would be better than nothing though. 🙏Thanks to Judith Pretty for sending me this article: Pupils say languages not key to careers - report 🤞Possibly good news for German to English translators though - it's going to become a premium language combination for sure! #LITranslators #LanguageLearning #LanguageLearners #GCSE #Education #TranslationAgency https://lnkd.in/eqyFchzU

❓ Do you ever wonder what language learners actually want to learn…? 📋 A recent Trinity College London study reveals that 71% of UK's foreign students want their teachers to decode modern Gen Z slang.   👩🏫  They surveyed 505 EFL teachers, & it turns out, students want the 411 on terms like "beef" (an argument & an Emmy-winning miniseries) & "pop-off" (getting wild). Not to mention, "rizz," short for charisma, which is officially Oxford's 2023 Word of the Year! 🌟   🌍 These slang terms, rooted in Multicultural London English (MLE) & African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), are going global thanks to platforms like TikTok & Instagram. 80% of foreign students arriving in the UK have heard them, but decoding the meanings? That's where you come in!   📺 Beyond social media, TV shows like 'Top Boy,' 'Friends,' & 'Stranger Things' are shaping the language landscape. 📝 Trinity's study found that 67% of EFL teachers include MLE in their lessons, & they recommend shows like 'Bridgerton' (it's a bit 2020, no?) to immerse students in British English.   🤔 What's your favourite example of English slang? (keep it clean!) Do you consciously include MLE or AAVE in your lessons? Share your thoughts below! https://lnkd.in/dGTVFjnn   #ELT #LanguageLearning #SlangDecoder #EnglishIdioms #GenZLanguage #TrinityStudy