A professional body for linguistics: the Linguistics Strategy Group

1. A professional body for linguistics: the Linguistics Strategy Group Paul Rowlett (Salford) P.A.Rowlett@salford.ac.uk

2. Linguistics Strategy Group • Origins • Activities to date • Future

3. Origins • Jun 04: PhilSoc Council meeting: concern • Sep 04: SOAS meeting: Footit enquiry into MFL in HE: should something be done for linguistics? • Feb 05: CILT meeting: 02-03 HESA data considered; historical data needed • May, Oct 05, Feb, May 06 meetings • Next meeting Oct 06

4. Activities to date • Statistical monitoring • Promote status of linguistics • Encourage student take-up

5. Statistical monitoring • Strategic aim: ensure we ‘know’ linguistics in terms of: student numbers, staff numbers, research activity

6. HESA student enrolment statistics • 02-03 statistics considered in Feb 05: n = 6180; no comparison or trends analysis • 98-99—01-02 statistics bought and analysed with funds from associations and societies • Linguistics: -1% overall (all HE: +13%) • Massive variation across institutions • Concerns regarding data reliability

7. Sample survey • ‘UG intake has held up well in recent years’, ‘a record intake in year 1 of the current year (05-06)’ • ‘fall between 2001–02 and 2002–03 . . . coincides with a bottoming out of our UG recruitment, persisting into 2003–04 . . . reversed in the last couple of years’ • ‘our target . . . in 96–97 was 12 (which we easily recruited); for 05–06 it was 24, and it’s been increased because of buoyant demand’, ‘linguistics is very healthy indeed’, ‘it is in this context that we have just raised our standard UCAS offer to BBB’ • ‘the growth in our student numbers for linguistics is more apparent than real’, ‘the number of linguistics students recorded in the HESA return ought to stabilize from now on’ • ‘the numbers are rising slightly’, ‘so linguistics and linguistics-related degrees here are quite healthy’

8. Linguistics and the RAE • 1992: n = 258 • 1996: n = 242 (-6%) • 2001: n = 210 (-13%) • 2001 results: 54% of linguistics submissions awarded 4, 5, 5* (cf. 74% of submissions in English, MFL, classics, anthropology, archaeology)

9. Promoting the status of linguistics • Strategic aim: ensure the value of linguistics is communicated to all relevant agencies, especially: HEFCE, DfES, QCA

10. Promoting the status of linguistics Highlight relevance of linguistics to: • language learning and teaching • literacy • speech and language therapy • citizenship and equality • lexicology and lexicography • forensic linguistics • developmental psychology

11. Encouraging student take-up • Strategic aim: ensure potential interest in HE linguistic study is maximally converted into registrations A-level linguistics cross-sector collaboration National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth ‘Why study linguistics?’

12. Future • Initial informal meeting • After Feb 05: societies/associations asked to sign up to Linguistics Strategy Group • Run on a shoestring as a LLAS SIG • Next step?

13. Philological Society • LLAS Subject Centre • University Council of Modern Languages • Linguistics Association of Great Britain • British Association for Applied Linguistics • British Association of Academic Phoneticians • Association of French Language Studies • Henry Sweet Society