Specialist language teachers 'urgently required' (U.K.)
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| | Ty Kendall 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:07
Hebrew to English
| So, still no demand for languages then | Mar 15, 2012 |
The real "surge" then is in the demand for the English Baccalaureate, not for languages per se.
The rise is thought to be tied to the English Baccalaureate
...Well I'd say their recruitment efforts are less successful than this article would have you believe. I personally know of one recent case of a media studies graduate being sent in to teach German (not knowing a single word of the language).
I don't know where they expect to find language graduates these days when University language departments are withering and closing down left right and centre.
[Edited at 2012-03-15 19:25 GMT]
| | | | Anne Maclennan
Local time: 08:07
Member (2010)
German to English
+ ...
| Can they re-invent the wheel? | Mar 23, 2012 |
I entered school teaching as a language teacher and mature entrant in the mid 1980's. There was a shortage of applicants then, as well. Perhaps because the organisation of the English curriculum as regards Modern Languages has been so unsettled for so long. Also, I learnt my foreign languages in secondary school, not in England, but in another part of the UK and when I compare how I was taught with what my English contemporaries tell me about their lessons, I have to conclude that the problem ... See more I entered school teaching as a language teacher and mature entrant in the mid 1980's. There was a shortage of applicants then, as well. Perhaps because the organisation of the English curriculum as regards Modern Languages has been so unsettled for so long. Also, I learnt my foreign languages in secondary school, not in England, but in another part of the UK and when I compare how I was taught with what my English contemporaries tell me about their lessons, I have to conclude that the problem goes even further back. I left school with A-levels in two European languages and was immediately able to cope with working in a bank in Germany. A colleague the same age as myself, at a school in England was given the opportunity to learn only French; she is fluent, but frustrated that she has had to come to her second MFL much later in life.
One thing that remains with me from my interview - in French - for a place on the teaching course, is the memory of the PGCE course tutor's surprise that I had a fluent command of French and an authentic accent. I have always wondered why this should have surprised him in someone who intended to teach the language - did it reflect the shortcomings of the English system, even then?
Throughout my career in teaching languages the curriculum changed again and again and I saw teachers leave the system in despair and disgust. New, young teachers became disillusioned. Schools where I taught often undervalued the worth of MFL and that coloured the attitude of the pupils. Languages were depicted as "difficult" to get a good grade in exams, so pupils chose other subjects.
One of the best-reputed university courses for translators in England has closed, language graduates are often regarded as being without "real" skills. Language departments in universities are slimming down or closing. A modern language is compulsory only up to the age of 14 years. The exam boards are recording a drop in numbers taking most of the foreign languages they examine.
Now the English Bacalaureate has been invented..... plus ça change.....?
Here, in France the debate is about whether they should retain all of the 47 languages available for the Bac, while in England they go round in what appears to be yet another circle.
anne mac ▲ Collapse
| | | | | They need to learn to write English... | Mar 24, 2012 |
"With a renewed focus on engaging young people in languages from the government, we need the mind of highflying teachers who are going to help those pupils excel."
Languages from the government?
I remember my Latin teacher - not my favourite person at school, but I have been very grateful to her since - saying you do not really learn your own language until you learn a foreign one. She was not the only person who said that, but she said it frequently, in that funny acce... See more "With a renewed focus on engaging young people in languages from the government, we need the mind of highflying teachers who are going to help those pupils excel."
Languages from the government?
I remember my Latin teacher - not my favourite person at school, but I have been very grateful to her since - saying you do not really learn your own language until you learn a foreign one. She was not the only person who said that, but she said it frequently, in that funny accent of hers.
Now what makes me think of that? ▲ Collapse
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