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Still gardening in a gale: policy, research and practice in foreign language education in England

Still gardening in a gale: policy, research and practice in foreign language education in England
Still gardening in a gale: policy, research and practice in foreign language education in England
This paper reviews the recent evolution of foreign language education policy and research in England. The first main section deals with the impact on foreign languages of the introduction of a National Curriculum in the 1990s. Initially this curriculum centralisation led to an increase in foreign language learning in secondary schools, but by the 2000s this was followed by a significant decline, counterbalanced to some extent by growth of languages in primary schools. It is argued that stress on achieving pre-determined learning outcomes and accountability of schools and teachers through examinations have stifled experimentation, and made it harder to devise a viable foreign language curriculum for an Anglophone environment. The second main section reviews selected research fields receiving attention in the English context: learner motivation, early language learning, and learning strategies. This research evidence converges to show that attention to classroom processes can promote more positive attitudes to language learning, even where broader contextual and societal support is weak.
0932-6936
49-67
Mitchell, Rosamond
de2eabed-7903-43fa-961a-c16f69fddd7e
Mitchell, Rosamond
de2eabed-7903-43fa-961a-c16f69fddd7e

Mitchell, Rosamond (2011) Still gardening in a gale: policy, research and practice in foreign language education in England. Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen, 40 (1), 49-67.

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper reviews the recent evolution of foreign language education policy and research in England. The first main section deals with the impact on foreign languages of the introduction of a National Curriculum in the 1990s. Initially this curriculum centralisation led to an increase in foreign language learning in secondary schools, but by the 2000s this was followed by a significant decline, counterbalanced to some extent by growth of languages in primary schools. It is argued that stress on achieving pre-determined learning outcomes and accountability of schools and teachers through examinations have stifled experimentation, and made it harder to devise a viable foreign language curriculum for an Anglophone environment. The second main section reviews selected research fields receiving attention in the English context: learner motivation, early language learning, and learning strategies. This research evidence converges to show that attention to classroom processes can promote more positive attitudes to language learning, even where broader contextual and societal support is weak.

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Published date: 2011

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 182537
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/182537
ISSN: 0932-6936
PURE UUID: 5ca52364-0a9a-498c-883f-9bca63106d0f
ORCID for Rosamond Mitchell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-528X

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Date deposited: 28 Apr 2011 08:50
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:33

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