Spring 2013 - The Independent Schools' Modern Language ...

Thinking Outside the BoîteChanging the Shape of Languages ProvisionWhich languages we offer and at what level within our schools is very oftennot in our hands as Heads of Languages. We inherit Departments where acertain structure exists and that structure often exists as a response to thingslargely beyond our control, such as the provision extant in feeder schools,the preconceptions and fears of our SMT, existing staffing and the expectationsof often conservative parental bodies.Few of us have the opportunity to take a step backwards and reconsiderthe structure of our provision based on what pupils really needfrom language-learning.Whitgift offered me just such an opportunity in 2010. With a Languages Facultyof thirty-three teaching eight languages, an SMT which is open to changeand willing to experiment, and a Headmaster who is a strong supporter ofLanguages, the possibility was there to implement something radical.Previously French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Mandarin and Latin wereavailable as options on entry to the school (Year 7). Pupils chose two in anycombination except Japanese with Mandarin. This was already an impressivestructure but one which caused timetabling nightmares, and where the twomost frequent combinations were disappointingly cautious from a pedagogicalviewpoint; French and Spanish dominated with French and Latin as thesecond most frequent combination. The combination of French and Spanish inparticular was meaning too much similar content, too much overlap in staff(Mr X teaching a pupil French and Spanish in Year 7, Spanish in Year 8,French in Year 9 and Spanish again later on, for example) and a general lackof linguistic stimulation for our pupils. French results were consistently wellbelow the Whitgift average. As it was by far the largest language within theFaculty, this was clearly disastrous for us as well as for the pupils.My background may be revealing when it comes to our solution to this problem.Having graduated in French and German I spent a year at a Japaneseuniversity learning Japanese and, since starting to teach, I have also learnedsome Mandarin – Whitgift sent me to China for a period. I am a firm believerthat the main purpose of learning languages is to gain an understandingof language itself and the interplay between language andculture (in the Sapir-Whorf sense not the cheese-and-wine tasting, let's makepaella, do origami, go to German Christmas markets, get the canteen tomake something Chinese for Chinese New Year sense). I become very crosswhen I hear lots of fuss made about the ostensible practical reasons to learnindividual languages. To my mind that misses the point entirely.22