Can policy learning help solve the language learning crisis?

A briefing published today highlights the potential for cross-nation learning to address the decline in language learning in the UK and Ireland. This could be improved through convening key stakeholders across the nations in a collaborative forum for discussion and exchange. 

Language researchers, policymakers and educators have long recognised the worsening situation for language learning in the UK and Ireland; sometimes described as a ‘crisis’.

The contributing factors are complex and varied, including inadequate statutory provision, inconsistent government policies, the domination of global English, low learner motivation and societal attitudes,. This situation has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Brexit. Teacher recruitment and retention, along with inequalities in access to language education, also continue to exacerbate the issue.

Recently however, discussions have shifted away from focusing solely on the decline, towards exploring how increased collaboration in research, policy and practice could help improve the situation. Cross-nation collaboration and comparative research are key to finding solutions that account for contextual differences and diverse educational landscapes.

All nations in the UK and Ireland have invested significant resources and time into reversing the trend, recognizing the critical importance of language learning. However, national strategies have varied in their focus and effectiveness. The absence of a coordinated, UK-wide strategy for language promotion has drawn criticism, but such an approach would be difficult to implement, given the devolved status of education policy.

This briefing helps identify key policy approaches to promoting language learning across the nations and where they differ. These include:

• The delivery and evaluation of national language strategies
• Changes to education systems, including curricula and assessment.
• A shift to multilingual approaches and a diversification of the languages available to study.
• Extra-curricular interventions and support.

All these represent opportunities for comparative policy analysis, as well as drawing attention to aspects of the crisis that have not been the focus of policy efforts.

Comparative analysis could consider not only national differences, but also comparisons across education systems, linguistic landscape, age/education stage and languages available.

Co-author, Dr Elin Arfon, Research Fellow at the IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society says:

‘Many language educators, researchers and policymakers across the nations of the UK and Ireland have been working tirelessly for years to address this crisis. It’s important that we harness all that expertise and effort to ensure that learning is shared collectively and used to inform future policy interventions, building a picture of what works and in what context. In particular where similar policy approaches have been used but implemented on different timescales across different contexts, this represents an opportunity to pass on experiences.’

Co-author, Dr Eira Jepson, Research Associate at PolicyWISE says:

‘The purpose of this Wise in 5 is not to provide answers or comprehensively evaluate the approaches of each nation. Instead, we aim to generate discussion, develop mutual understanding and encourage policy learning across these contexts. Due to our different social, educational, political and linguistic landscapes, there is no one size fits all answer to the language learning crisis, but that should not deter us from supporting and learning from one another.’