The National Languages Strategy overview

The National Languages Strategy for England no longer exists, a victim of the cuts. Dr Lid King has just published an overview of the strategy from 2003-2011. His report is a mixed one and features worrying facts about the state of languages in England. He notes, for example, that we now have fewer A-level linguists than we did in the 1960's after a relative boom period in the 1990's. He also reminds us that the progress achieved in primary schools is fragile and, without dedicated funding, may not survive. Dr King is now Director of The Languages Company which was set up in 2008. He was previously Director of CILT, a recent victim of the cuts.

His report makes interesting yet slightly depressing reading, and not just for languages teachers. The E Bacc may mark something of a renaissance for modern languages post 14. We shall have to see. Michael Gove has talked a good game about languages so far, but all he has achieved is to cut much of the funding which has built up capability over the last few years.

http://www.languagescompany.com/images/stories/docs/news/national_language_strategy.pdf

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What is skill acquisition theory?

For this post, I am drawing on a section from the excellent book by Rod Ellis and Natsuko Shintani called Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research (Routledge, 2014). Skill acquisition is one of several competing theories of how we learn new languages. It’s a theory based on the idea that skilled behaviour in any area can become routinised and even automatic under certain conditions through repeated pairing of stimuli and responses. When put like that, it looks a bit like the behaviourist view of stimulus-response learning which went out of fashion from the late 1950s. Skill acquisition draws on John Anderson’s ACT theory, which he called a cognitivist stimulus-response theory. ACT stands for Adaptive Control of Thought. ACT theory distinguishes declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and concepts, such as the fact that adjectives agree) from procedural knowledge (knowing how to do things in certain situations, such as understand and speak a language).

The 2026 GCSE subject content is published!

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La retraite à 60 ans

Suite à mon post récent sur les acquis sociaux..... L'âge légal de la retraite est une chose. Je voudrais bien savoir à quel âge les gens prennent leur retraite en pratique - l'âge réel de la retraite, si vous voulez. J'ai entendu prétendre qu'il y a peu de différence à cet égard entre la France et le Royaume-Uni. Manifestation à Marseille en 2008 pour le maintien de la retraite à 60 ans © AFP/Michel Gangne Six Français sur dix sont d’accord avec le PS qui défend la retraite à 60 ans (BVA) Cécile Quéguiner Plus de la moitié des Français jugent que le gouvernement a " tort de vouloir aller vite dans la réforme " et estiment que le PS a " raison de défendre l’âge légal de départ en retraite à 60 ans ". Résultat d’un sondage BVA/Absoluce pour Les Échos et France Info , paru ce matin. Une majorité de Français (58%) estiment que la position du Parti socialiste , qui défend le maintien de l’âge légal de départ à la retraite à 60 ans,

Language Teacher Toolkit: Steve Smith's blog

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