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Love of Language: How schools are creating linguists

Love of Language: How schools are creating linguists

Pictured: Feltonfleet School

If you’re a native English speaker, there is a temptation to downplay the importance of learning another language, given it is the world’s most widely spoken language. Even so, a huge proportion of the global population doesn’t speak it, and learning a foreign language opens up social, cultural and career opportunities.

At Feltonfleet Preparatory School in Cobham, there is a big emphasis on ensuring pupils know why they are learning another language. Explains Mrs Elizabeth Sieczko, Senior Deputy Head: “In a postBrexit, technologically advanced and English speaking world, it is easy to see why children may find it difficult to accept that being able to communicate in other languages is relevant and necessary.

“Discussing, laying out and revisiting the ‘why’ is a key element of Feltonfleet pupils’ MFL (Modern Foreign Languages) lessons. This big picture signposting facilitates learning as, quite simply, our pupils understand the point of it all. This brings motivation and the learning cycle of purpose leading to achievement starts to turn.”

At Feltonfleet, pupils predominantly learn French and Spanish, but Elizabeth says it is arguably unimportant which particular additional language a child learns. “The skills that are developed when learning one additional language are easily transferable to other languages. These skills include a pupil being able to successfully reflect on and review their learning to make improvements to their learning methods or to the process they used.”

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Dedicated language classrooms are kitted out with the latest digital technology sitting alongside roleplay areas depicting a shop, a market stall and a police station. Its MFL curricula are designed around authentic foreign language texts. For example, pupils in Year 3 learn French through La Chenille Qui Mange Des Trous (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) unpicking the language and developing vocabulary banks.

By the time the pupils are in Years 7 & 8, they are equipped to tackle Eric a Disparu, a play about a boy who goes missing.

“Through literature and texts, pupils are exposed to the natural use of complex grammatical structures which they can pick apart, make links with other language structures and use to construct their own phrases,” says Elizabeth. “Alongside this, pupils develop robust learning skills so that they can readily recall vocabulary and verb forms. Add to this the option of learning Latin, and the result is pupils who understand how language works, how the elements fit together and how to build sentences.”

The idea of being fluent has been replaced by the goal of being autonomous in a language. “Fluency, often displayed through rote-learned phrases, etched into our working memory, can be deceptive. When you are autonomous in a language, you have the skills to use the building blocks of that language. You can unpick a rote-learned phrase into its different elements, and re-form it so that you are expressing exactly what you want to, in the way that you need to. In short, you can be you,” Elizabeth says.

Sutton High has a range of opportunities for pupils to immerse themselves in languages. Gabrielle and Amelia, two Sutton High Year 12 linguists, are passionate about languages. They see language-learning as key in setting candidates apart in a competitive job market as well as providing an insight into other cultures. “By learning a language, we can gain access to a new worldview and develop empathy toward people from different cultural backgrounds,” they say.

Over the course of their GCSE studies, they have gone on trips to help with their learning, including an exchange visit to Normandy, and to Nice. Every year, Sutton High invites students to participate in the Girls’ Day School Trust Languages Festival, bringing together students from other GDST schools to bond over a mutual love for studying languages.

The school has a languages magazine and podcast, where students explore the cultures of different countries, including art, music, poetry, sports, politics and festivals. A Languages Cabaret lets students demonstrate what they have learned, from singing La Vie en Rose in French to acting out a scene from a German play.

Languages are important for their career aspirations: Gabrielle is planning to study languages at university and spend a year abroad in France. She aspires to a career that is language-based, such as a diplomat, and to act as a volunteer to help international charities. Amelia wants to work in either the film, TV or theatre industry and hopes to take part in work experience in the French film business to cement her language skills.

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The Roche School in Wandsworth recently attained the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.

Sophie Roche, Head of the Spanish Bilingual Stream, tells us about the school’s approach: “Language teaching at The Roche School exposes the children to other languages and cultures, thereby helping them to become global citizens with an open-minded outlook.”

At The Roche School, children start to learn from nursery onwards. The school is shifting to teaching Spanish as its main language, given that Spanish is the second most spoken native language in the world, and the majority of its feeder secondary schools teach it from Year 7. Pupils can also learn French during its after-school clubs.

In terms of what parents can do to support learning, Sophie notes that watching Spanish films, reading Spanish books, organising playdates with Spanish peers, and even having a Spanish-speaking nanny, can all enhance the child’s familiarity with and confidence in the language.

Adds Sophie: “Research shows that learning another language is good for the brain, can bring cognitive advantages, and encourages a global outlook and open-mindedness. It’s also fun to learn – and speak – another language!”