Higher Education

Baroness Coussins Excerpts

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Coussins (CB)]

My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, for introducing this debate, and I should like to raise some concerns about the teaching and learning of modern languages in British universities. It is an area that is changing rapidly and the Government need to be fully aware of the implications of these changes for the future of the UK’s capacity in business, in diplomacy and security, in teaching and specialist language services and, of course, in intercultural understanding. I declare interests as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages and vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Linguists.

Last week, Salford University became the latest university to announce that it would no longer be teaching any degrees in or with languages, including postgraduate courses in interpreting and translation. This will bring the total number of universities offering language degrees down to 61. In 2000, there were 105, so that is a pretty dramatic decline. In the case of Salford, the announcement is not only a body blow for languages, for prospective students and for those who would have been teaching them; it is also disastrous for international bodies such as the EU and the United Nations, which have in the past seen Salford as one of their principal recruiting grounds for specialist linguists. The shortage of English native speakers in this field is at crisis point and, as a nation which aspires to be influential on the international stage, this is a challenge that the Government need to acknowledge urgently. Is the Minister aware of the recent report from the British Academy, Lost for Words, which spells out the importance of languages for meeting the UK’s public policy objectives in international relations and security.

As well as the overall decline in the number of universities offering language degrees, there has also been a concentration of the provision that does exist within certain types of university. The Russell group dominates, offering 78% of the degrees in European languages and 95% of the degrees in non-European languages. Adding to the perception of elitism, 28% of languages undergraduates now come from independent schools. This compares to only 9% across all subjects.

This, of course, links back to what is going on in schools. The removal of a modern language as a compulsory subject after the age of 14 in 2004 was a retrograde step. Take-up at GCSE in the state sector halved as a result. It is to the Government’s credit that we are now, finally and belatedly, seeing a significant improvement at GCSE attributable to the EBacc. However, we will have to wait until 2025 to see the full impact of the Government’s other strategic initiative—mandatory languages at key stage 2 from next September.

In the mean time we are likely to see further decline in modern language degrees because universities will, quite reasonably, continue to respond to the decline in applications. In 2012, we saw a 14% drop in student applicants for language degrees, attributable to the tripling of fees, which had a disproportionate impact on language courses because they are four-year courses. The introduction of Erasmus Plus and the settlement over fee waivers has been encouraging in this respect.

However, on the down side, we learned only two weeks ago from the 2013-14 Language Trends survey that the number of pupils doing A-level languages is dropping at what was described as “an alarming rate”. What is more, this decline is particularly marked in the independent sector. There are three reasons. First, if too few students opt for a language course, the course is considered unviable and the school will not run it. Secondly, sixth formers perceive languages to be tough, and it is true that there is certainly a big leap between languages at GCSE and at A-level. Thirdly, and related to this, the Russell group universities are calling for triple A grades for admission. Schools and pupils all know that there is convincing evidence now to show that language A-levels are more harshly marked than other subjects, so why are they going to risk their A or A* by choosing a language?

I appreciate that the Minister today is speaking for BIS rather than the DfE, but the links and the interdependency between schools and universities are self-evident. Is the Minister aware of this latest finding on the alarming decline in A-level languages and its likely knock-on effect for higher education? Does he agree that it would be much better to act swiftly to nip this trend in the bud rather than watch it fester for years, like the GCSE decline, and then have to administer life support?

We cannot wait until 2025 for the impact of the new policy to resolve all this. We need to attract and retain students at A-level now and encourage them to continue languages in higher education. This will not happen unless we campaign to change public attitudes towards the value of language skills and the wider cultural value of studying another language. What do the Government plan to do to lead such a campaign? Specifically, would the Minister respond to a suggestion, made at a recent meeting of the HEFCE steering group for the Routes into Languages programme chaired by Sir David Bell, that the issue of languages in HE needs to be the subject of a Downing Street forum, in the same way as happened successfully for the STEM subjects? Languages have to feature more prominently on the political agenda. I hope that not only will we see such a forum at No. 10 but that over the course of the next year we will see every party’s manifesto spell out positive, detailed and informed policies on languages, recognising that this can be what makes or breaks success in so many fields, from exports to community cohesion.

As for universities, I hope that more of them will acknowledge that to survive in the 21st century means more than just using fine words in the mission statement about being an international institution and producing global graduates but that in practice this means fostering languages, not abandoning them. More universities could set the right tone from the beginning by emulating the UCL policy of requiring a GCSE language or equivalent from every applicant at matriculation, irrespective of degree subject or, failing that, requiring all first years to take an accredited language course.

HEFCE and the Government still regard modern languages as “strategically important and vulnerable subjects”. Never has this descriptor seemed more apt. The continued funding for Routes into Languages is welcome and I ask the Minister to confirm that this is secure for the foreseeable future. Will the Government also support the bids from universities to the HEFCE catalyst fund for five-year projects for improvement and innovation in languages in HE?

The final point I want to make is to explain the apparent languages paradox at British universities because, despite what I have said, there are more students doing a language course than ever before. However, this is because of non-specialist language provision—in other words, students doing a degree in another subject, such as law, business or economics, but doing a short language course on the side. About 60% of these are getting some form of credit, but 40% are taking it as extra-curricular and often have to pay extra fees on top of the high fees that they are already paying for their degree. The courses I am talking about are provided in the university languages centre, not within the language faculty, and they focus exclusively on practical language skills.

It is important not to be misled into thinking that this is a viable replacement for or updating of the modern languages degree. The courses in question are not even being taken mainly by UK students. At the last count, at least 55% were non-UK students picking up their third, fourth or even fifth language. The others are taking one course in one language for one year and are very unlikely to acquire more than basic levels of competence or have the confidence to take a year abroad to consolidate the language in context.

By contrast, it is a requirement for all those doing a languages degree to have that year abroad. That is a major advantage in terms of immersion in the relevant culture and society and also for future employability. The UK needs graduates with the highest levels of fluency and cross-cultural competence to enable them to operate in a complex global society. The insights and refined understanding of other cultures developed through specialist study of literature, culture and society through a particular language takes the learner way beyond the merely functional and transactional. This is vital for our diplomats and business people. It is only from among language graduates that we can develop translators and interpreters and the language teachers that we need to go into our schools system. It is not a question of either/or; both types of provision are needed. However, the language degree courses are strategic and vulnerable and must not be allowed to wither away.

In the words of the latest Language Trends survey,

“speaking only English in today’s world is as big a disadvantage as speaking no English”.

Our universities are uniquely placed to ensure that we produce a critical mass of young people who can not only function in a global economy but lead and succeed in it. Will the Government support the universities in achieving this objective through languages as vigorously as they have, rightly, supported the STEM subjects?