Letters: Modern language exam grades translate into poor results. It is well-known that the UK is losing out culturally and economically because of inadequate foreign-language skills among English native speakers. This problem has been significantly exacerbated by the fact that pupils choosing modern languages have not been rewarded adequately for excellent performance. Ofqual has acknowledged in its corporate plan 2013-16 that "relatively few A* grades are awarded in modern foreign languages when compared with other subjects with a high proportion of A grades". This finding confirms evidence by schoolteacher associations that has repeatedly been presented to Ofqual and the exam boards since introduction of the A* grade at A-level in June 2010. The disadvantaging of modern languages candidates in school examinations has been blighting the subject at all levels, and will continue to do so until the unfair grading is addressed effectively.
Gifted linguists discouraged by poor results drop the subject after GCSE. Ofqual to probe ‘inconsistency’ of top A-level grades. A-level languages: is Britain at risk of turning into a nation of monoglots? | David Bellos. When I was a boy London was a dowdy place of tea-houses and stale rock cakes where everybody spoke English. When I come back now it's much more exciting – and not just because the food has improved. On the 37 bus, on Kilburn High Road and in Sainsbury's, I can hear people speaking in all the languages of the world. Was that Pashto or Hindi I heard in the queue? I can just about differentiate Polish from Lithuanian, and delight in hearing them mingled with snatches of French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese … London has become the capital of linguistic diversity.
But there's one important group that seems to be leaving itself out: students. Foreign language learning at Britain's schools has been in decline for decades, while the number of universities offering degrees in modern languages has plummeted. Indeed, an inquiry is now under way after the number of teenagers taking traditional modern foreign languages at A-level fell to its lowest level since the mid-90s. Falling modern language entries at A-level. This is an update of a previous blog following yet another year of decline in A-level modern language entries.... Once again in 2013 the number of students taking A-level languages has declined overall, with only Spanish seriously bucking the trend by holding its own.
In The Independent today Andrew Hall, head of AQA, denied that languages are harder than other subjects. If he is well informed, he knows better than this. But severe grading of languages is only part of the problem. In 1993 nearly 30,000 students entered for A-level French. Maths 66,000 86,000 History 46,000 52,000 Geography 46,000 32,000 Physics 38,000 34,500 (fell, but rising since 2006) Biology 48,000 63,000 Chemistry 41,000 49,000 (fell, but rising since 2003) Psychology 22,000 56,000 Religious studies 9,000 23,000 Media,film,TV 7,000 32,000 Business 23,000 28,000 French 30,000 13,000 2013: 11272Spanish 4,800 7,300 2013: 7651German 11,000 5,000 2013: 4242 So what has been going on? Drop in number of A-level students studying foreign languages. A major inquiry is under way after the number of teenagers taking traditional modern foreign languages at A-level fell to its lowest level for more than a decade. Examination results released on Thursday show students are shunning French and German for the sciences and economics, triggering concern from the three main exam boards.
Entries to German were down 11.13% compared with last year, while French fell by 9.9%. Spanish was the only language to buck the trend, with a 4.08% increase. Andrew Hall, chief executive of AQA, one of the biggest exam boards, said the boards would research why languages were so unpopular – and why comparatively few A-level language students achieve the top grades.
Some 6.9% of students sitting French, German and Spanish achieved an A* compared with 8.4% of those sitting physics, chemistry and biology. He questioned why the proportion of language entries getting A* was so small. In physics, boys made up 79.3% of entries – an increase of 3.8% this year.