December 2016

The know zone

  • The road ahead
    There’s a new emphasis on technical qualifications in the government’s plans for skills post-16. Kevin Gilmartin examines what’s in store. More
  • Beyond the headlines
    It’s never dull working for ASCL, says Julie McCulloch. Here she explores why this summer’s media reports on Key Stage 2 SATs results should be treated with caution. More
  • We're all ears
    School leaders and inspectors must continue to listen to each other during Ofsted visits, as it’s difficult for someone to understand without having first listened, says Stephen Rollett. More
  • Falling out of love with languages?
    Modern languages continue to be a headache for schools and colleges but help may be at hand from an unexpected source, says Dennis Richards. More
  • Leaders' surgery
    Hotline advice expressed here, and in calls to us, is made in good faith to our members. Schools and colleges should always take formal HR or legal advice from their indemnified provider before acting. More
  • A hitch for universal translators
    There has been a national decline in the number of entries in modern foreign languages (MFL) at GCSE and A level. What steps can be taken to reverse this downturn? Are you doing something innovative to help encourage take-up? Here ASCL members share their views. More
  • Adding value
    Using BlueSky to support your trainees and Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs). More
  • Keeping our children safe from harm
    The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is the leading charity fighting to end child abuse in the UK and the Channel Islands. More
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Modern languages continue to be a headache for schools and colleges but help may be at hand from an unexpected source, says Dennis Richards.

Falling out of love with languages?

Could Brexit work wonders for the modern foreign languages (MFL) department? How ironic would that be? For years, students have been questioning us as to why they have to learn a foreign language at all. Everybody speaks English, don’t they? Our staff trot out the same old tired mantra.

When the Germans want to sell us their BMWs and Audis, they will happily speak English. However (note of triumph from the linguists at this point), if we want to sell them our . . . actually what do we sell them?… then we will be required to speak German. It was tripe and we knew it. And, even worse, the kids knew it.

But what if it is about to come true? The day after the EU referendum result was announced, when UKIP leader Nigel Farage was doing his “You’re not laughing now” routine, his targets fired back in French. Les salauds! And there was quickly more to come. The tide may be turning.

Enter Michel Barnier, chosen by Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, to lead the Brexit negotiations on the EU side. Apparently, this former French government minister insists on carrying out his EU duties in French. How dare he?

Enter Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. Jean-Marc Ayrault, his French counterpart, kicked off their new relationship by criticising his role in the Brexit campaign. Boris’s response? A speech in decent A level standard French, as part of a typical Boris charm offensive. A godsend to kick-start our A level conversation classes next year.

How good was it? Not bad actually. He did sound a bit like a nervous candidate in an oral exam and reading from a script is clearly cheating. Not since Tony Blair has any government minister made such a thing of speaking another language.

I don’t hold out much hope for the politicians, though. English or nothing, I suspect. A bit like the way our curriculum is going.

Doing the sums

In 2016, a princely total of 1,505 boys did the A level German exam and just over 3,000 did French. Of the German entries, less than 10% got an A*, which means only a hundred or so boys in the entire country reached the top grade in German. As a comparison, 57,000 boys did maths. Great for doing the sums in the new Brexit climate but not much use if we have no idea what they are talking about.

It’s all the fault of the Europeans, of course. They’ve made their languages too hard. Take French, for example. What kind of language has no number for 70, or 80 or 90 for that matter? The GCSE French oral exam was easier this year, because most of the candidates were born in the year 2000. Deux mille. Last year’s candidates were unfortunate enough to be born in 1999. Answers on a postcard please.

Most candidates struggled to get their date of birth in the right century, never mind the right year. As for German, don’t even go there. They have six different words for ‘the’ and another six for ‘a’. And they don’t even put their words in the right order. Requiring us to place the verb at the end of the sentence can only have one result. By the time you get there, you’ve forgotten how you started.

Proper exams

As former secretary of state for education, Michael Gove’s great idea to stimulate MFL was to take the assessment of them back to the fifties. Three A level subject choices instead of four and an exam at the end of two years and proper exams like maths and science.

At this rate, we may achieve a duck in German A level entries in the next five years. There’s a sure way to convince headteachers to up the ante in relation to MFL: double the tariff for the league tables. And if that doesn’t work, start offering triple Nectar points.

I’m doing my bit. I am an ex-head and the newly appointed French assistant in another school. I suspect the students were hoping for a chic Michelle or a debonair Michel. They’ve got me. Smirks all round.

I’ve just shown them the new French A level syllabus. They’re not laughing now. Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose. Not any more it isn’t.

Want the last word?

Last Word always welcomes contributions from members. If you’d like to share your humorous observations of school life, email Permjit Mann at leader@ascl.org.uk ASCL offers a modest honorarium.

Dennis Richards is a retired headteacher.

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