Ministers may rethink language plan

12 April 2012

Ministers will reconsider their decision to make languages optional at GCSE if a new drive fails to increase the number of teenagers studying French and German.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced that all seven-year-olds in England will have to learn a language to encourage them to continue their studies as teenagers.

But a review of languages education by Lord Dearing said that if this and other measures did not work, Mr Johnson should reintroduce compulsory courses for 14-16 year-olds.

A Department for Education and Skills (DfES) spokesman said: "Obviously if things did not improve, then we would have to look at the issue of compulsion again."

Business leaders called for compulsory languages to be brought back and warned that Britain's economy will suffer because workers can only speak English.

The Dearing report followed a dramatic decline in the number of pupils choosing to study French and German at GCSE after ministers made languages optional for older students from 2004.

Mr Johnson said: "We are about to embark on a renaissance in languages in schools and beyond. I want languages to be at the heart of learning. That's why I accept Lord Dearing's recommendation that we look to fully embed languages in the primary curriculum when it is next reviewed.

"The earlier you start learning a language the better. Making language study compulsory from seven to 14 will give pupils seven years to build up their knowledge, confidence and experience. By the time they reach Key Stage 4 (GCSE-age) pupils will have built up a critical mass of knowledge - and hopefully a love - of languages."

But Lord Dearing told Mr Johnson that the Government should be prepared to return to compulsory GCSE languages if the other plans fail. He said forcing teenagers to study languages was not his preferred option, but it should be considered if necessary.

The report told Mr Johnson: "We recommend you make clear that you are prepared, if the decline is not halted and turned around within a reasonable timeframe, to return languages to the statutory curriculum."

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