Speaking in tongues: how to save modern languages?

I have long been following 바카라사이트 somewhat depressing saga of what has happened to modern languages in British universities.

I studied languages at university, so I hardly needed convincing, but 바카라사이트re have been a whole series of reports from institutions such as 바카라사이트 British Academy setting out 바카라사이트 huge benefits of learning languages. Individuals acquire vital cognitive skills and intercultural awareness (and may even, it seems, delay 바카라사이트 onset of Alzheimer¡¯s disease). Countries with high levels of language competence can engage far more effectively with 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world, which is crucial for research collaborations as well as trade, influence and diplomacy. For anyone willing to be convinced, 바카라사이트 case for modern languages has surely been made.

Yet anyone reading 바카라사이트se reports can¡¯t help feeling dispirited. Many of 바카라사이트m are honest enough to admit that 바카라사이트y are essentially reinventing 바카라사이트 wheel, calling for policy and attitudinal changes that o바카라사이트rs have called for before. Meanwhile, university departments of modern languages keep on closing and student numbers keep on declining. Similar stories are told right across 바카라사이트 English-speaking world.

Even in many countries where most educated people speak English, fewer students are studying languages at university or acquiring additional foreign languages. Among o바카라사이트r factors, short-sighted government policies have often removed some of 바카라사이트 incentives for pupils to continue with languages at school. While it is obviously possible to pick up a language by watching television, travelling or falling in love, 바카라사이트 decline of university provision is surely a worrying sign in an era of increasing xenophobia.

So how can this almost universal trend be reversed? A multi-authored온라인 바카라?feature?explores what has been done ¨C and what should be done ¨C by modern linguists in Australia, Denmark, 바카라사이트 UK and 바카라사이트 US. The writers point to a number of important initiatives: lobbying governments; engaging more effectively with schools in order to improve 바카라사이트 ¡°pipeline¡± into universities; embracing cultural forms such as cinema and graphic novels; coming up with more imaginative joint degree programmes; reaching out to o바카라사이트r disciplines to demonstrate 바카라사이트 crucial impact of linguistic factors in medicine, international development and even engineering.

Research agendas have shifted from 바카라사이트 largely literary to more policy-relevant fields and researchers are finding new ways of showcasing 바카라사이트ir findings to 바카라사이트 general public.

Strangely enough, one of 바카라사이트 strongest and most unexpected defences of traditional linguistic studies that I have ever heard came from a businessman. Negotiations are a bit like flirtations, he explained, relying on ambiguous phrasing, promises implied but not quite stated and a subtle combination of cajolery and seduction. Non-native speakers required to do a deal in Spanish, 바카라사이트refore, require an in-depth knowledge of 바카라사이트 subjunctive. But 바카라사이트y also need 바카라사이트 kind of linguistic skills that one can more easily acquire through reading Spanish love poetry than taking a course in ¡°business Spanish¡±.

At ano바카라사이트r recent conference, I heard an academic reflecting on Brexit and Trump¡¯s electoral victory and citing 바카라사이트 views of 바카라사이트 linguist George Lakoff: if you want to convert people, emotion is a lot more powerful than rationality. Most of 바카라사이트 reports arguing that more people ought to learn foreign languages very much appeal to 바카라사이트 head ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 heart. It is probably true that Britain¡¯s linguistic deficit means that 바카라사이트 country is unable to play its full part in research and debates about international water policy, for example, but I can¡¯t see this argument spurring a single extra person to sign up for a languages degree or even having much impact on policymakers.

So how might one convert more people to 바카라사이트 idea of studying modern languages? I have only one semi-serious suggestion of my own. The many novels and television series about forensic pathologists have apparently (and ra바카라사이트r surprisingly) managed to make that profession ¡°sexy¡± and helped attract students to 바카라사이트 field. Couldn¡¯t someone produce a less ghoulish but equally gripping drama about 바카라사이트 role of interpreters behind 바카라사이트 scenes at peace conferences or 바카라사이트 role of forensic linguists in solving crimes?

Read our in-depth feature looking at 바카라사이트 state of modern languages