Languages after Brexit

The UK electorate has voted to leave the EU and we will probably have to live with it. There is of course still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the next moves for the UK, but that should not stop us thinking (and talking) about what it means for language teaching and learning in this country.

The background is clear. For over a decade language learning in the UK has been in decline in both secondary and higher education. Recent moves to halt this decline, at least in secondary schools through the introduction of the Ebac, have so far not been successful. Soon, only two English exam boards will be offering languages GCSE and A-level exams, with an emphasis on the three most popular languages: French, Spanish and German. Thus, languages are also losing breadth of coverage. Moreover, languages are being pushed out by other subjects, especially in many state schools. They are therefore rapidly becoming a middle-class preserve. Most universities offer their students an opportunity to study foreign languages in institution-wide language programmes, i.e. as part of, or in addition to, their degree course in another subject. Whilst this has been a welcome move, it has not stopped the decline in courses for specialist linguists.

As linguists we all believe in the importance of language learning, because it is so much more than just speaking that foreign language. Speaking another language teaches you about other people, it widens your horizon, it broadens your mind, it opens your heart to others. It also makes you more flexible, adaptable, creative and ... more employable. Many employers in the UK are crying out for workers with more, and better, foreign language skills. They know, like us, that English is simply not enough.

None of this will change.

Promoting learning and teaching foreign languages has always been important, but as many commentators have said in the days since the referendum, languages have just become a lot more important. The country needs its linguists now more than ever. That means that language teachers need to make the case for languages more forcefully than ever. Not only in highereducation, but especially in secondary education. More young people from all sections of society need to learn languages. And we need to better recognise the linguistic capital that already exists, for example in community languages and the country's minority languages.

But there is something else. Learning a foreign language and its associated cultures is not an end in itself. The ultimate aim of good language teachers is to develop their students' intercultural skills through foreign language learning. This is what I mean when I write that learning a foreign language widens your horizon, broadens your mind and opens your heart to others. However, we would be missing our aim if by learning foreign languages our students become estranged from the society and communities in which they are also anchored.

Many young people, especially students, are said to be angry with their elders because of the different choices they have made, which they feel reflect negatively on their own future. We may agree with them, but we also need to get across to them that another culture is not necessarily far away, but can also exist within your own culture. Learning to live with and negotiating those differences at home is just another aspect of intercultural competence.