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and higher education to a larger
proportion of middle and workingclass
students. Nonetheless, entry was
still competitive in Bangor and all
other universities.
In the 1980s and 1990s, with the
expansion of MFL and other subjects
in polytechnics and the conversion of
practically all of them to universities
post 1992, the situation changed. As
the number of departments increased
and the number of students began to
decrease, more and more
departments stopped selecting and
started recruiting, and more students
started selecting.
From HESA data gathered in the
last few years, we have proof that (as
we always suspected) across the
university sector as a whole in England
and Wales, fewer MFL students come
from the lower social classifications
than students in other subjects. Of
course, this varies from one HEI to
another across the UK but Welsh MFL
departments can take a sovereign off
the mantelpiece for recruiting a higher
proportion than the Welsh average for
all subjects.
Motivation at A-level
In 1999, I gathered data from
approximately 3000 Year-12 students
– some doing A-level, others not –
to establish what motivated their
choice. In a sample of that data, a
recurrent explanation for not
continuing was the narrow choice at
A-level (three for most). Asked what
subject they would choose if they had
had a fourth option in Year 12, roughly
one third chose a language.This
provided strong support for the AS,
still under discussion at that time.
Since then, the introduction of an
extra subject through AS has
increased MFL numbers continuing
beyond GCSE, but not into A-level.
Other surveys of motivation
confirm the positive importance of
enjoying the subject. On the negative
side, especially once the national and
individual necessity of language skills
are cast aside, the question arises of
what you do with a language degree.
In the mid-1990s, the answers I got
from audiences in all schools and most
careers advisers, business managers
and parents were the same: teaching
and translating.This narrow range of
professional opportunities clearly
turned off a lot of pupils and those
advising them.
Financial return from a degree
When I was an undergraduate, liking a
subject was enough. Since
maintenance grants have been
replaced by loans, and fees have been
introduced for the great majority of
students, the financial return from a
degree is more important. Surprisingly,
from my experience, the great
majority of students are not
concerned with what they are going
to do after their first degree.They are
having a good time, are caught up in
their studies, and staff judge them only
in academic terms. Despite the best
efforts of university careers advisers,
many, encouraged by academic staff,
focus exclusively on their degree
classification. After graduation too
many students have no idea what to
do and waste time, initially at least, in
pointless jobs.
I have a horrible memory of two of
our Bangor students, who had worked
hard, got firsts and received praise all
round. I met them both separately the
day after graduation on their way to
see a careers adviser for the first time.
Neither had a clue what to do next.
Since then I must confess I have had
very little success persuading students
to give some thought to their careers
while still undergrads!
“Welsh MFL departments can take a sovereign off
the mantelpiece for recruiting a higher proportion
than the Welsh average for all subjects.”
What would you say have been the
high points of your career
Teaching
From the beginning I enjoyed teaching
and the company of students.
Whereas most academics make
research the cornerstone of their lives
and fit the teaching round about it, I
concentrated on teaching. In the
1970s this was not encouraged, but
allowed. Currently, I would get sacked
within a year!
Course development
To counter the dip in French
applications at Bangor in the early
1980s, I coordinated the development
and introduction of an option-based
system. It allowed students to choose
between two degrees: one, a mix of
options with a bias towards a
traditional pre-20th century degree,
and the other a new post-1900
degree,“French Language and Modern
France”.This model, borrowed from
colleagues in the Bangor German
Department, worked right away to
solve the admissions problem.
Three language honours
In 1994, in response to the deepening
recruitment crisis, I put together a
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