1. SATEAL conference 16 March 2019
Almost there: Scotland's 1+2 Languages Policy
Louise Glen
Senior Education Officer
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

2. Languages : why bother?! Closing the gap
Personal and societal benefits of bilingualism
Contribution to Scotland’s prosperity
‘Cultural agility’ from knowing other languages and cultures
Equality of opportunity for Scotland’s children and young people
Breaking down cultural misconceptions
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3. Brief history of modern languages in Scotland’s schools
1977 : No primary languages
S1/2: Compulsory
S3/4: Elective but most able ‘should be encouraged’
1987: No primary languages S1- S4: Compulsory
1989: Primary languages! P6-S4: Compulsory
1993: P6- S2: Compulsory 2008 – present Some primary S1-S3: All pupils entitled to learn a language until the age of 15 at least - but not sustained in all schools yet… From 2021: P1- S3 !!
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

4. 2011: Scottish Government manifesto commitment
By 2021 :
“… a norm for language learning in schools based on the European Union model … every child will learn two languages in addition to their own mother tongue. This will … create a new model for language acquisition in Scotland.”
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

5. Why start early?
Child’s brain from infancy → 5 : primed to learn language
Birth → puberty : brain plasticity & cognitive flexibility
Accent mimicry at its peak
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6. Policy into practice :
L2 (first additional language) - entitlement P1 to S3
L3 (second additional language) - to be introduced from P5 at the latest
L3 at some point in secondary BGE (S1-S3) - in addition to L2
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

7. Policy into practice : L3
Starts P5 (at the latest) & is a P5- P7 experience, as well as at some point within S1-S3
Can be the same language, P5-P7 eg German
Can be a variety of languages eg Japanese in P5, BSL in P6, Polish in P7
Can be a 1x per week experience with follow-up work (not unlike the old MLPS model)
Can be over a school session, or over an intensive block of time each year
Can be delivered by another teacher, a member of the school community, a languages student etc
Has to cover all 4 skills and be a progressive experience
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

8. Which language? No hierarchy of language
The first additional language (L2) must be a living language, able to be carried on into secondary school and be available as a National Qualification thereafter
L3 can be any language
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

9. Modern languages available as L2 :
French
Spanish
German
Italian
Gaelic (learners)
Urdu
Mandarin
Cantonese
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

10. Snapshot of L3 in P5-P7 across Scotland 2018
Scots Gaelic BSL Russian Polish Japanese Dutch
Mandarin Arabic Welsh Greek Swahili Portuguese Swedish Norwegian
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

12. BBC News 8 May 2018
The belief that Scotland is more welcoming to immigrants than the rest of the UK is a "misleading fantasy”
Scotland's vote to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum has “given the myth that the country is not racist a new lease of life”
2013/14 - just under 5,000 racial attacks in Scotland.
Similar discrimination is continuing against eastern Europeans, gypsy/travellers, Muslims and other ethnic groups.
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13. 2011: Scottish Government manifesto commitment
In a nutshell...similarly we bend over backwards to motivate youngsters to learn some languages, whilst ignoring other languages that they already bring with them to school. Complete paradox! And a waste! We are rich in languages yet we talk of a deficit.
Dr Terry Lamb, Westminster University
For Scotland’s learners with Scotland’s educators

14. Questions? Ceistean? ¿Preguntas? Fragen? Domande? 问题 ? سوالات ? Speirins?
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