The Future of Language Teaching at University LLAS Conference University of Dundee 4.4.2011

1. The languages marketplace: what does the world look like, what languages do we need and how do we get into new markets? The Future of Language Teaching at University LLAS Conference University of Dundee 4.4.2011

2. The Linguistic Marketplace A range of scholars … working on minority language settings have drawn attention to the fact that language can be considered a socioeconomic resort which has a market value (see also Bourdieu’s (1982) notion of the linguistic marketplace). In a contact setting it is the language or languages that are perceived as useful in a socioeconomic sense that will persist. Alan Davies and Catherine Elder (eds.) (2004) Handbook of Applied Linguistics, London: Blackwell, p. 728

3. The World’s Languages Ethnologue Table of Word Languages

4. World Events • Fall of Berlin Wall • Glasnost • 9/11 and London July Bombings • International Terrorism • War in Afghanistan • Opening up of China • Japanese Tsunami/Nuclear Disaster • Moslem Spring

5. The Top Ten Modern Languages in the US and their ‘Market Value’ • Forbes Magazine • Spanish (822,985 students)French (206, 426 students)German (94,264 students)American Sign Language (78,829 students)Italian (78,368 students). The Most Popular Foreign Languages: Foreign Language Enrollment in U.S. Schools, April 5th, 2010, ALTAlang.com

6. The most widely taught languages in the UK The most widely taught languages or language groupings in the UK have traditionally been French, Hispanic, Germanic, Italian, Slavonic and English as a foreign language. But there is growing interest in Japanese, Chinese and Arabic, as well as other less widely taught foreign languages. The main UK heritage languages (Welsh, Scots Gaelic, Irish) are undergoing a revival in some areas. Mike Kelly, State of the Subjects: Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies in the UK today, LLAS website

7. Numbers of Students In languages there are approximately 120,000 students studying at least one unit of language. Of these, rather less than half are following degree programmes that include language study, and more than half are studying a language as an additional subject, outside their main discipline. This does not include students studying a foreign language as a non-accredited unit, or studying English as a foreign language in pre-sessional and in-sessional courses. Facilities for these studies are available in most institutions, but since they fall outside accredited programmes, no figures are available. (Source: HESA, and Nuffield Languages Inquiry (1998).) Mike Kelly, State of the Subjects: Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies in the UK today, LLAS website

8. ESOL Ofsted (2005) reports that ‘ESOL is the largest single subject for enrolment on Skills for Life courses’. In 2001 there were 98,000 ESOL enrolments: by 2005, the number had grown to 243,000. If non-Skills for Life courses are included in the count, the number of ESOL enrolments is nearer 400,000. Most enrolments are for Entry 1 and 2 courses. ES OL and EFL: An unhelpful distinction? A report commissioned by CfBT Education Trust Eddie Williams and Ann Williams

9. Cuts in Overseas Student Numbers The home secretary, Theresa May, has unveiled the coalition's compromise package on the student visa system and claimed it would curb numbers by more than 25%, with up to 80,000 fewer coming to Britain each year. Guardian On-line 23, 3. 2011

10. Breaking into New Markets • Curriculum reform • Using agents • Setting up overseas offices/campuses • Working with Student Recruitment to • Develop marketable programmes • Cooperate with target universities to change their curricula in preparation for study in UK • Acknowledging split between research and service teaching

11. What are Modern Languages Degrees? Courses bearing the label ‘Modern Languages’ typically combine the acquisition of a skill – proficiency in a foreign language – with an infinite range of content. The content extends from literary, cultural, linguistic, social, historical, political or other studies pertaining to the country or countries where the target language is spoken and for whose access target language proficiency is normally a prerequisite, to the entire spectrum of university disciplines whose students opt to add generic or subject-related linguistic skills to their overall university curriculum. The professional identities of academics and students in Modern Language departments are so disparate that an ethnographic study memorably portrayed them as rival ‘tribes’ (Evans, 1988: 175-177), with primary allegiances to literary or sociological approaches or to language teaching. Coleman, James A. (2004). Modern Languages in British universities: past and present. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 3(2), pp. 147–162) (

12. Modern Languages and Literature But in the UK, as in the rest of Europe, a Modern Languages degree has traditionally meant a diet of literature, whether students wanted it or not. Increasingly, perhaps as Bassnett (2002: 102-103) suggests because of shorter attention span and diminished reading habits, they do not. (Coleman, James A. (2004). Modern Languages in British universities: past and present. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 3(2), pp. 147–162)