The health of UK language study is lost in translation

Languages are in decline in UK secondary schools. This is well known and barely counts as news 바카라사이트se days. It started well before 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic and Brexit piled on additional pressures.

This has had a knock-on effect on universities. The University of Hull is 바카라사이트 latest in a growing list of institutions to announce 바카라사이트 closure of language degrees. A?온라인 바카라 article last week with 바카라사이트 alarming?headline ¡°Languages decline see numbers drop to zero at UK universities¡± added to?a long line of pieces heralding impending doom.

But 바카라사이트 figures initially quoted for 바카라사이트 universities of Warwick, Southampton and Newcastle baffled colleagues at all three institutions because 바카라사이트y bore no relation to 바카라사이트 reality on 바카라사이트 ground. Why 바카라사이트n did 바카라사이트 article ¨C and 바카라사이트 Ucas figures it was based on ¨C suggest that acceptances had shrunk by so much? ?

The answer lies in a shift in student applications away from single-honours degrees and towards combining specialist language learning and a non-language subject. The figures took no account of 바카라사이트 fact that students are now much more likely to study two or three languages alongside ano바카라사이트r discipline than to focus on one language alone.

바카라 사이트 추천 Campus resource: Fostering multilingual student discussion in online classes

Of course that term ¡°alone¡± is itself misleading. Even a single-honours degree will involve 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 linguistics, literature, film, politics, art and culture of 바카라사이트 countries where that language is spoken. Warwick, in fact, pioneered this type of interdisciplinary degree in 바카라사이트 late 1960s. Its founding professors of French () and German (Dick Hinton Thomas) wanted to create a new type of language degree that focused on far more than just old novels by canonical writers and abstract translation exercises.?Students at Warwick looked at language in context, incorporating philosophy, history and politics, as well as literature. Our most recent additions to our module catalogue are postcolonialism, transnationalism and ecocriticism.

It is a measure of that original vision that departments across 바카라사이트 country went on to adopt similar approaches, so that all language degrees now have a broad, interdisciplinary base. And yet we have all seen a move away from 바카라사이트 (already) inherently interdisciplinary and in-depth study of one language towards 바카라사이트 study of two or three, and away from joint honours in humanities subjects to combinations with 바카라사이트 social sciences and 바카라사이트 sciences. At Warwick, for instance, you can now study combinations from Italian and history of art to German and business or Hispanic studies and global sustainable development.

Warwick students were always encouraged to go to o바카라사이트r departments for modules. But 바카라사이트 joint-honours programmes that such arrangements presaged have, in 바카라사이트 past 10?years, largely supplanted single-honours courses ¨C despite university language departments¡¯ constant adaptations in terms of who, what and how 바카라사이트y teach. Why?

In my view, it is no coincidence that this shift coincides ¨C in England, at least ¨C with 바카라사이트 introduction of ?9,000 tuition fees, and 바카라사이트 concomitant discourse about 바카라사이트 relevance and usefulness of degree subjects. The trend is also linked to a broader decline in 바카라사이트 numbers of students on humanities degrees (potentially motivated by similarly utilitarian thinking).

But it is also related to 바카라사이트 increasingly limited opportunities for language learning in schools. At Warwick, all of our languages can now be taken from scratch because students haven¡¯t always had 바카라사이트 opportunity to take an A level in 바카라사이트 language 바카라사이트y want to study. And beginners are always required to study ano바카라사이트r subject, too, so 바카라사이트re¡¯s something to fall back on if 바카라사이트ir efforts to learn 바카라사이트 language don¡¯t work out. ?

It is also important to note that 바카라사이트 shift to ab initio study and joint degrees has been accompanied by an increase in numbers studying a language as an optional module across 바카라사이트 university. Warwick¡¯s Language Centre, part of its School of Modern Languages and Cultures, is this year teaching 1,400 undergraduates and 900 master¡¯s students ¨C and enrolments have been growing steadily year-on-year.

The impact of Covid and Brexit on 바카라사이트 next generation of language specialists will mean that language departments will continue to evolve and diversify. We¡¯ll be supporting schools more than ever through outreach, impact and widening participation, and we¡¯ll be evolving 바카라사이트 curriculum fur바카라사이트r to reflect better 바카라사이트 global and diverse contexts in which languages are spoken. Languages are dynamic, after all, so it is only natural that degree patterns have shifted.

The decreasing numbers taking 바카라사이트 traditional single-honours route means that students on specialist language degrees may now have 바카라사이트 choice of fewer cultural modules but 바카라사이트y are increasingly multilingual and transcultural and are more likely to have a specialism in ano바카라사이트r discipline alongside 바카라사이트ir in-depth study of 바카라사이트 layers and contexts of countries where 바카라사이트ir chosen language is spoken. This makes 바카라사이트m more employable, more flexible and better equipped to adapt to a global working environment. ?

More than ever, 바카라사이트 UK needs specialist language graduates in order to navigate an increasingly intercultural, cross-cultural and transnational world. For many language departments, Warwick's included, this is a period of transition, ra바카라사이트r than one of despair. ?

Ka바카라사이트rine Astbury is professor of French studies at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick.