Modern Languages Blog

This one somehow slipped under the radar until today. The Sunday Times reported on 18 September 2005 (”Teachers released to refocus on the three Rs”) that more time would be released from the “crowded” curriculum, with a recommendation that teachers “should be allowed to spend less time on peripheral subjects… and also allowed to cut back on modern languages, geography and history.”

Do you think MFL is a peripheral subject, or is it a subject that contributes to the three Rs we are all keen to see improve?

Schools will soon have the built-in capacity to make Voice over Internet phone calls - you will be able to call anywhere in the world for free because you’re not using the phone, you’re using the internet.

Free tools already exist to do this but the downloadable programmes (like Skype) are blocked in most schools. Also, to make a call the computer must be switched on and connected to the net.

High street retailers are now selling cheap monthly subscriptions to Freetalk which allows you to make Voice over Internet phone calls for “free” and on a regular telephone handset. Free, in that you pay no call costs, but not free because of the small subscription.

If you’re a languages teacher with an expensive habit in calling friends abroad this might be of interest to you. The MFLE will be launching a guide to this new technology soon.

Seven out of 10 people have tried to learn a language at some point in their life and most wish they could speak one more fluently, a survey found. And nine out of 10 people want their children to learn foreign languages at primary school, said the poll for the OCR exam board.

Read more on this latest news at BBC News

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, to pick up the European Award for Languages for Musselburgh Grammar School, along with Morgane Leroux, who is helping to carry on the successful weblog and podcast exchanges this year.

Sir Trevor McDonald gave hearty handshakes to the winners (although that seemed to be more of a thrill for the adults in the audience than the younger school students who are probably wrapped up in bed when he’s on the telly).

The main message from all the speakers, from TV personality to Director of Languages at the DfES was this: we need more people knowing more languages and getting certification in them. A large number of community languages speakers are still not being recognised for the abilities, often gained from within their own community.
But I always leave these events feeling that it’s the converted being preached to. Am I alone in wanting something that we can use to convince those parents and pupils who are not yet on our side of the linguistic fence?

The European Day of Languages celebrates linguistic diversity on Monday 26th September. Events are planned across Europe from a conference on regional languages in Armenia to last Saturday’s debate on Cornish development.

In Belgium several events are looking at the threat to European linguistic diversity faced with the ongoing expansion of English usage. One university seminar looks at how English is becoming the sole medium for law and medical courses, the German Goethe Institute is hosting an event asking why learn any other language than  English; meanwhile Eurolang is participating in a Café Babel debate on whether the EU needs a lingua franca.

Full details about the Day can be found on the EDL site at the EDL website (Eurolang 2005).

The BBC reports that growth in communities teaching their own languages in the UK should be seen as an educational asset, language experts have said. Fewer pupils are studying language GSCEs but more communities are teaching their languages, say researchers. More than 60 languages are being taught in communities, promoting bilingualism, says CILT, the National Centre for Languages.Schools offer 35 languages in the curriculum or after-school clubs. Read the BBC report for more.

I had the good fortune to be chairing this well attended session at SETT. I had previously heard lots about eTwinning without knowing how schools can get involved in the first place. Well, that was all made very clear thanks to a very clear introductory presentation by Matt Cresswell and Susan Linklater of the British Council. For sure, they dispelled the misconception that for schools to get started involves lots of administration and paperwork … not so. It’s more straightforward than I had imagined.

Matt and Susan then handed over to George Glass, Headteacher at Cauldeen Primary school in Inverness. He really did bring eTwinning to life be showing us two projects with schools in Malta and Poland. What clearly came out of these projects was the fact that cross-curricular work in history, geography, language skills, ICT and so on was greatly enhanced.

What did those of you who attended this session think about it? Were you enlightened (I was) ? Might you think it’s time to go for it and get involved in eTwinning for real ?

Finally, I took note of a useful tip from George … build and enhance upon work already being carried out in your school rather than invent something completely new almost for the sake of it.

Views welcome!

A national schools intranet digitally linking Scotland’s 800,000 teachers and pupils came a step closer today. Education Minister Peter Peacock awarded ICT specialists RM a five-year £37.5 million contract to develop the intranet, the first project of its type anywhere in the world.

When the intranet goes live in early 2007 it will:

• Offer pupils and teachers access to a range of learning and teaching resources from their computers at school or home
• Allow teachers to maximise the use of internet technology such as video clips and high-quality graphics, making lessons more exciting for their pupils
• Enable every pupil and teacher to communicate and collaborate electronically with one another, sharing ideas and resources.

Some of you might have trouble viewing the MFLE Blog on the Safari browser for Apple Mac. All you need to do is go to the File menu and empty the Cache (or press Apple+E). Reload the page and you should see the blog in all its glory.

British Telecom’s Schools Awards are focusing on Speaking and Listening being at the heart of everything a school does. If ever there was a reason for podcasting - creating online radio shows - to become more of a norm in Scottish schools then this is it!

The MFLE will be putting up its own podcasts during the SETT Learning Festival this week, available from this blog.

We would like to encourage more podcasting in Scottish schools in Modern Languages. We are already helping projects around Scotland. Would you like to join them? Send an email to Ewan McIntosh on the contacts page.