Read the following role-cards and be ready to participate in the round table discussion on the theme above.

1. You are a Modern Foreign Language Teacher in the United Kingdom. Tell about the status of the Foreign Language teacher in your country. Ask your question.

2. You are the Education Secretary of the Council of Europe. Report on the situation in Foreign Language education in Europe/the United Kingdom (plurilingualism/CEF/ELP, etc.).

3. You are the Representative of the Minister of Education in the United Kingdom. Dwell on the situation in the sphere of Foreign Languages education.

4. You are the Chairperson of the round table discussion. Introduce the theme ‘The Foreign Language Teacher’s Role in the Modern Multicultural World’, the participants of the discussion (A modern Foreign Language teacher from the United Kingdom, the Education Secretary of the Council of Europe, the Representative of the Minister of Education in the United Kingdom, a modern Foreign Language teacher from the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Minister of Education from the Republic of Kazakhstan, a famous American lector, a group of enthusiastic teachers), let journalists ask their questions, let participants vote for the programme/Competency Model, summarise the discussion.

5. You are a modern Foreign Language teacher in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Tell about the status of the Foreign Language teacher in Kazakhstan and the problems in Foreign Languages education. Ask your question.

6. You are the Minister of Education in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Report on the situation in FL education and perspectives of its development (12-year school, learning three languages at primary school, etc.).

7. You are a journalist. Ask the Education Secretary one question.

8. You are a journalist. Ask the Modern Foreign Language teacher in the United Kingdom one question.

9. You are a journalist. Ask the Modern Foreign Language teacher in the Republic of Kazakhstan one question.

10. You are a famous American lector. Dwell on the problem of the importance of cross-cultural awareness for the Foreign Language teacher. Be ready to answer the questions.

11. You represent a group of Foreign Language teachers in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Introduce a new programme for the Foreign Language teachers’ preparation in the Republic of Kazakhstan/A Competency Model of the Foreign Language Teacher.

3 Follow-up. Write an essay (300-350 words) on the theme ‘The Foreign Language Teacher’s Role in the Modern Multicultural World’.

A CASE STUDY

‘Global World and Knowledge of Foreign Languages’

Read the following case and be ready to discuss the following stories of people who share their experience and opinions on studying foreign languages.

'A language looks good on your CV'

The university student

Nilam Prajapati, 19, was in the last year group at her school to take a compulsory language. Most of her friends in the year below jumped at the opportunity to drop languages.

'As soon as they had the chance, they did not want to do it, ' she said. 'They did not think it was relevant. None of my friends in lower years, and none of my friends at other schools, did language GCSEs.'

Now an optometry student at Aston University in Birmingham, she is glad that she studied German. 'I was always told that a language looks good on your CV but it also broadens your horizons, ' she said. 'I think the government was wrong to stop them being compulsory. They might not be that relevant but they are important.

'Also, it is nice to be able to speak the language when you go on holiday in Europe.'

The last time Nilam travelled to Germany was on a school trip when she was 14. At the time she had not learnt enough vocabulary to make her lessons worthwhile, but she is looking forward to using her German on the next trip.

'There was no one at school to inspire you'

The parents and toddler

Louise Duncan dropped French at 14 - she was so bad at it that her school did not force her to sit a GCSE. Now she sees four-year-olds enjoying a language club at the infant school where she works as a teaching assistant and wishes she had tried a bit harder.

'I was made to do French and German and I just couldn't bear them. I could see no point at all in learning another language, and there was no one at the school to inspire you or explain why learning a language was important, ' she says.

Her husband James, 24, a communications manager for the Improvement Foundation, did take a GCSE in French, but says a poor grade was the black spot on his otherwise good results. 'Part of the problem was the lack of choice - you either did German or French and I didn't want to learn either. I never saw the advantage of having another language when I was at school, but now I'm thinking of taking one up. A lot of jobs ask for another language and it would be useful at the Improvement Foundation, because we are an international organisation.'

Both are determined that Charlie, their 18-month-old son, will learn another language at a young age and want him to see the benefits of continuing with it at secondary school. 'Hopefully by then it will be taught in a more interesting way instead of through lists of vocabulary and phrases, ' says James. 'How many times are people likely to need the French for kangaroo? '

'It's fun to teach your toddler'

The mother and child

Jo Lawton is taking no chances with her daughter, Millie. She has been speaking to her in French and English from when she was born. Millie, now nearly three, can communicate in both languages. Lawton now wants to share the experience with other parents and has founded a French group for babies and toddlers called Arc en Ciel. One small advert in a paper in Leeds brought 40 replies.

'For most people, it is the belief that children pick up things more easily at a young age, ' she said. 'The response has been unbelievable and it's not necessarily people who have had much experience of languages themselves.'

She studied French at A-level, largely because of the passion instilled into her by her parents and taking regular family holidays in France.

'I can't say that I found learning it at school a very enjoyable experience - always having to demonstrate things and say things in the right accent, which could be quite humiliating for a teenager, ' she said.

She studied French and business at university and now works in personnel, where she does not need her second language.

'The world has changed and there will be many more opportunities for Millie, ' she says. 'It's been fun teaching her and watching how easily she picks up the words.'

'We weren't learning stuff that would be useful if you went to the country'

The GCSE students

Matthew Rowland, a 15-year-old from Manchester, studied French when he was 11, then swapped to Spanish and has now given up languages completely in advance of his GCSEs next year.

'I'd say about 20 per cent of my year aren't doing a language, ' he says. 'I decided to drop Spanish because I never really found it interesting. I wanted to learn a language and it would be good to have one, but I didn't feel school was the right place to learn it.'

He says the subject was not 'practical' and the lessons 'quite abstract'. 'We weren't learning stuff that would be useful if you went to the country, practical things like food and directions. It was more to help you speak it fluently, but you're not going to get fluent in two years at school. So I took PE instead. In a way I regret not taking Spanish, but at least the practical lessons in PE are interesting and fun, so I would have regretted not doing PE more.'

He thinks employers and universities are finding it increasingly acceptable if pupils haven't studied a language. 'Even Cambridge is accepting people without a language.'

Grace Hallows, 16, also from Manchester, is currently on holiday with her family in France. She took French for GCSE and says: 'It is useful here and it is useful when you go skiing.' Only a handful of pupils in her year chose to study the subject after it was made non-compulsory.

Her friend, Sam Mottershead, wanted to study German, but there was not enough interest in her year so the school did not offer it. 'Loads of our friends gave up languages because they thought it would be quite hard, ' she says. 'I think they will regret it. Or maybe they won't be bothered.'

She admires visitors to Britain who speak English. 'It is good to at least try. That is why I think it should be compulsory to do a language.'

[78] Languages. The Observer, 2008

 

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