Department for Education written question – answered at on 23 July 2015.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from (a) schools, (b) community groups and (c) other organisations on the future of examinations in (i) Turkish, (ii) modern Greek and (iii) other community languages.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will launch an immediate consultation into securing the future of examinations in (a) Turkish, (b) modern Greek and (c) other community languages.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make of the benefits of pupils learning (i) Turkish, (ii) modern Greek and (iii) other community languages.
I have recently met representatives of communities and schools in which these languages are spoken, to hear their concerns and consider how we can work with the awarding organisations and Ofqual to maintain a range of languages at GCSE and A level, including Turkish, modern Greek and other languages.
The number of pupils studying for a modern language GCSE has increased by 20% since 2010 due to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. Studying a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures, fosters pupils’ curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. It also equips pupils to study and work in other countries. There are considerable benefits to learning a second language and the government is keen to see the range of languages at GCSE and A level preserved.
The Department for Education does not promote the teaching of one foreign language over another and has not made an assessment of the benefits of pupils learning Turkish, modern Greek or other community languages.
The department is currently working with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level. The government has been clear that it wants to see all pupils provided with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern foreign languages.
The Secretary of State wrote to exam boards in April 2015 to express her concern about awarding organisations’ decision to stop awarding qualifications in some languages, and to ask those organisations to work with Ofqual on the future of these qualifications. We are actively exploring the best approach, in close discussion with those organisations, and in consultation with community representatives.
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Iftikhar Ahmad
Posted on 24 Jul 2015 10:55 pm (Report this annotation)
One in six children in English primary schools do not have English as a first language. "These are real languages: living languages that give people a huge insight into culture and give the children who can speak them additional opportunities. "Isn't that what education is about – enabling every child to achieve the maximum potential? What I'd love to see is an emphasis that this is an added value that that child has, a talent, and we should aspire to allow other children who may be monolingual to strive to become as bilingual as they possibly can be." The more languages one speaks, the greater is one's capacity to engage with, and profit from meeting other people... and you also learn a lot about yourself in this process.
Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted.
The demand for Muslim schools comes from parents who want their children a safe environment with an Islamic ethos. Parents see Muslim schools where children can develop their Islamic Identity where they won't feel stigmatised for being Muslims and they can feel confident about their faith. Muslim schools are working to try to create a bridge between communities. There is a belief among ethnic minority parents that the British schooling does not adequately address their cultural needs. Failing to meet this need could result in feeling resentment among a group who already feel excluded. Setting up Muslim school is a defensive response. State schools with monolingual teachers are not capable to teach English to bilingual Muslim children. Bilingual teachers are needed to teach English to such children along with their mother tongue. According to a number of studies, a child will not learn a second language if his first language is ignored.
Bilingual education is a human and civil right. Being bilingual and bi-cultural is an important resource in today’s global economy and the British government should be encouraging this rather than suppressing it. It is crucial that children feel secure in their bilingual identity. A research project at the Institute of Education, University of London, shows that five and six years olds cope well with biliteracy and gain advantages from it. If young people see their community language and culture is valued, they will feel integrated into British society. There is a great demand for individuals fluent in English and mother tongues by educational institutions, TV Channel, radio stations and service industries.
Bilingualism has positive effects on children’s linguistic and educational development. The level of development of children’s mother tongue is a strong predictor of their second language development. Mother tongue promotion in the school helps develop not only the mother tongue but also children abilities in the majority school language. Spending instructional time through minority language in the school does not hurt children’s academic development in the majority school language. When parent’s culture are recognized by the school, their interest and involvement in the curriculum often increase dramatically.
Children’s mother tongue is fragile and easily lost in the early years of school. Language lies at the heart of any culture. The different languages spoken provide clear links with the family and community traditions which enrich British culture. To reject a child’s language in the school is to reject a child. Children cultural and linguistic experience in the home is the foundation of their future learning and we must build on that foundation rather than undermine it. Increased cultural and language awareness could help to combat hooliganism.
Languages, by virtue of their direct contribution to economic competitiveness, intercultural tolerance and social cohesion, should have the status of a key skill alongside literacy, numeracy and ICT. The government should establish a national strategy for developing capability in languages and a system capable of supporting such a strategy. A language supremo should be attached to the cabinet office and have direct access to the Prime Minister. He should persuade the notoriously monolingual British to learn a language. New languages supremo must persuade reluctant Brits to speak something other than English. British society is already a multilingual society. The first wave of immigrants arrived with two or three languages from the sub-continent but its young generation is unable to feel pride in its mother tongue. The government should declare a firm commitment to early language learning for all children at age five. The key to success in business, the law and politics in the future will be the mastery of at least one foreign language. Knowledge of more than one language demonstrates that a candidate has the ability to think across cultural boundaries. Bilingualism enhances children’s development.
After the Second World War migrants from the Indian sub-continent started creating pockets by settling in all big cities of the United Kingdom with a spoken language known as Urdu by Muslims and Hindi by Hindus. It is impossible to find any Asian who cannot speak or understand this language. Majority of the movies, radios and TVs programs are in Urdu/Hindi. We can easily say that it has become a lingua francia of the Asian community.
Arabic, Urdu and other community languages are taught in all secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. But the curriculum is so basic that the pupils are unable to read a newspaper or write a letter. The tradition of British education is that it never took the teaching of foreign languages seriously, therefore, the standard and the quality is poor. It does not matter for the English pupils to take a foreign language with interest but it is a question of life and death for the Muslim and especially Pakistani pupils, otherwise they will be cut off from their roots. Majority of Muslims are from Pakistan, they also need to learn and be well versed in Arabic as a religious language and Urdu as a social and emotional language. The teaching of Arabic Urdu and other community languages should be introduced from Nursery level; otherwise there is a danger of its extinction.
At present the Muslim community from the sub-continent is confused about so many issues regarding Urdu language. Sooner or latter they have to get rid of the confusion for the sake of their future generation and for the future of Urdu language. The Muslim youths are unable to enjoy the beauty and charm of their language. They are incapable of enjoying the emotional, mental and spiritual pleasures of Urdu language. The intellectuals of the Muslim community are worried that the dominance of English language will destroy the cultural heritage of Muslims from the sub-continent. Now they are thinking very seriously to devise ways and means to avoid the natural death of Urdu language.
Iftikhar Ahmad
London School of Islamics Trust
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk