Languages for the future - Which languages the UK needs most and why www.britishcouncil.org
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Languages for the Future Which languages the UK needs most and why www.britishcouncil.org
This report was commissioned by the British Council and prepared by Teresa Tinsley and Kathryn Board of Alcantara Communications. Teresa Tinsley is a linguist with over Kathryn Board was Chief Executive Alcantara Communications provides 30 years’ experience in national of CILT, The National Centre for expertise to national and international organisations devoted to languages Languages from 2008 and has worked organisations, private companies and third education. At CILT, the National Centre with specialists and a wide range of sector bodies on language education for Languages, she led the organisation’s educational institutions to provide policies, multilingualism and languages information, research and publications advice on educational policy as well in employment and undertakes research activities. She established CILT’s as on initiatives aimed at increasing and analysis in this field. ‘Language Trends’ series of reports language learning across the UK. Before and produced statistics and policy joining CILT, she spent 30 years working developments published as Languages for the British Council in a number of Yearbooks 1995–2007. She was involved international and management roles. in several European research projects on Now partially retired, she continues to multilingualism and is a member of the work on research projects where she European Commission’s ‘Languages in can bring in her expertise. Kathryn Education and Training’ group. Since speaks Spanish, German and Dutch and founding Alcantara Communications, is working hard on improving her Arabic. she has conducted policy research on languages issues for clients including the British Academy and CfBT Education Trust.
Contents
Foreword 2
Executive summary 3
Introduction 4
The UK’s language challenge 6
Identifying the languages the UK needs 10
Conclusion and recommendations 19
The top ten languages 22–41
Appendix: Matrix of language indicators
weightings and scores 42
About the
British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities
and cultural relations. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK
and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.
We work in more than 100 countries and our 7,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers –
work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people
every year teaching English, sharing the arts and in education and society programmes.
We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A publically-funded grant-in-aid provides
less than a quarter of our turnover which last year was £781 million. The rest we earn
from English teaching, UK exams and services which customers around the world pay for,
through education and development contracts and from partnerships with other institutions,
brands and companies. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and creates
prosperity and security for the UK and the countries we work in all around the world.
For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org You can also keep
in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil
and http://blog.britishcouncil.org
Languages for the Future 1
Foreword
On a poster on the wall in a university in Beijing, I recently read these
remarkable words from Nelson Mandela: ‘If you talk to a man in a
language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his
own language, that goes to his heart.’ Nearly 1,000 people were taking
their English exams that day.
I am proud to work for an organisation unable – to travel, explore, navigate
which offers millions of learners and engage at some level with people
worldwide access to the education, in other languages.
job opportunities and social mobility
The analysis of economic and cultural
that English brings. But in the UK we
indicators in this report suggests not that
must accept that speaking English
people in the UK are learning the wrong
alone is not enough in a world where
languages, but that we need far more
multilingualism is becoming the norm.
people learning a much wider range of
There can be no doubt that the UK needs languages in the future. French, Spanish
more of its people to speak foreign and German will continue to be important
languages – for employability, for trade but we will also need significantly
and the economy, and for our cultural more Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and
life. But, let’s be honest, there are Portuguese speakers as well as speakers
big barriers to this. So many people of Italian, Japanese, Russian and Turkish.
worldwide do speak English, and learning
It is worth remembering that when we
foreign languages in the UK has often John Worne
think of languages in the UK, we tend to
been seen as an academic pursuit rather Director of Strategy,
think of ‘going away’. However, given
than a vital skill. Much of this revolves British Council
that Japanese car manufacturers,
around the difference between being
Chinese infrastructure developers and
‘fluent’ or ‘functional’ in a language. John Worne is responsible for the
French utility companies all make huge
The British Council’s experience of English contributions in the UK, you do not need British Council’s global strategy,
language teaching is that what matters to cross the equator or even the English governance, web and digital presence
most is being able to understand and to be Channel to find situations and jobs where and reputation. He writes and speaks on
understood; whether the need is for basic even a little Chinese, Japanese, or the value of culture and the importance
vocabulary to give directions to a taxi French can be a real career enhancer. of languages and international skills for
driver or for a more extensive vocabulary the UK’s young people. He is a regular
Five or ten phrases will enable most media commentator on soft power and
to be an international business person.
people to navigate many countries at a the UK’s standing in the world. A French
It is hard to know, especially at a young basic level. 1,000 words can be enough speaker, John has lived and worked in
age, which language is likely to be of to feel autonomous, confident and secure Paris as well as Hong Kong, Colombia,
most use. So perhaps a more ‘functional’ in another country and brings some Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia. He has
focus – having enough – might be the cultural understanding. ‘Fluent’ is an also held senior positions at the Cabinet
key to promoting language learning in inhibitor, ‘functional’ is a liberator. It begins Office and the Department of Health.
the UK. Not to impoverish or lessen the with a few words and phrases – and that
academic or cultural value of long-term small investment can grow into a lifetime
language study, but to increase the of interest, employment and opportunity.
number of people who feel able – not
2
Executive Summary
It is a widely held – if not undisputed – • Businesses, in that they should
1 Spanish
view that the UK is lacking in the invest in the development of the
necessary language skills for the future, 2 Arabic language skills from which they
partly because of the status of English will directly benefit.
3 French
as the language of international • Policy makers, businesses,
communications. 4 Mandarin Chinese
diaspora communities and minority
This report seeks to provide a strategic 5 German communities; in terms of ensuring
analysis of the UK’s long-term language these groups’ language skills
6 Portuguese
needs, looking at a variety of economic, and cultural skills are utilised
geopolitical, cultural and educational 7 Italian in the education system and for
indicators and scoring different languages business purposes.
8= Russian
against these. It identifies a list of • School curricula in all four countries,
ten languages which will be of crucial 8= Turkish in that they should be enriched by
importance for the UK’s prosperity, 10 Japanese the inclusion of new languages and
security and influence in the world in an increased focus on understanding
the years ahead. other cultures.
A survey commissioned by the British
The indicators used are: Council for this report suggests that • Schools, in exploiting the many
three quarters of the UK public are languages and cultural resources
1. current UK export trade
unable to speak any of these languages available; whether funded, free, local,
2. the language needs of UK business online or through international links
well enough to hold a conversation.
3. UK government trade priorities and partnerships with other countries.
These findings suggest not that people
4. emerging high growth markets • Young people – and their parents –
in the UK are learning the wrong
5. diplomatic and security priorities in that they should seek out more
languages, but the UK needs to develop
opportunities to learn languages and
6. the public’s language interests its citizens’ competence in a wider range
experience other cultures, both in
7. outward visitor destinations of languages, and in far greater numbers,
school and outside – and receive
in order to reap the economic and
8. UK government’s International more consistent advice about the
cultural benefits available to those who
Education Strategy priorities benefits of doing so.
have these skills.
9. levels of English proficiency • The UK’s international partnerships
in other countries The conclusion of this analysis is that with language and cultural institutes
the UK must take a strategic approach of other countries which enable
10. the prevalence of different
in planning for effective development of access to resources, support and
languages on the internet.
the language capacity which this country learning from good practice in the
From the analysis of languages against needs. This has implications for: teaching and learning of languages.
these indicators – and it is worth • The four UK governments, in terms of • UK adults who currently do not speak
remembering that they include cultural linking language education policy to any of the key languages should
and educational priorities as well as national aspirations for international endeavour to learn the basics of
economic ones – comes a list of the engagement in business, education one of them.
ten most important languages for the and cultural fields.
UK’s future; in order:
• Governments and business, in that
they must work together to develop
educational policy and priorities
relating to languages.
Languages for the Future 3
Introduction
Languages are the bedrock of the world’s cultural heritage.
Every language offers a rich and unique insight into different
ways of thinking and living as well as into the history of the
myriad of cultures and peoples across the globe.
David Crystal has written passionately speakers, unable to tap into the long-term benefits. It is important,
about the need to appreciate and multilingual environments enjoyed therefore, to attempt to address the
understand the world’s linguistic by others, would face a bleak difficult question of which languages are
heritage in the same way that we value economic future. likely to provide the best outcomes, and
its biological diversity.1 All languages to identify criteria by which we may be
Studies for the European Commission
are equal from a linguistic point of view. able to judge the potential value of one
have shown that the economic benefits
It is as wrong to judge the value of over another in terms of the UK’s future
of competence in more than one
one against another as it would be to economic prosperity and security.
language are not limited to English.4
compare the relative value of, say, the
A wide range of languages are needed Public debate about which languages are
culture of Renaissance Italy with that
to exploit the benefits of the single market important to learn is often dominated by
of Imperial China. But when it comes to
and keep improving trade between the particular interests of the individual
investing time, money and effort in the
peoples worldwide. Even when others commentator and too often lacks a solid
learning of languages, practical factors
have a high level of proficiency in English, and balanced information base. In shaping
inevitably come into play. Politicians,
this does not mean that their languages policy and priorities it is also important
taxpayers, parents and learners all want
can be ignored. In order to develop to balance economic with non-market
to be able to invest in those languages
relations between countries and interests – cultural, intellectual, individual
where their efforts and resources are
individuals based on mutual respect and societal factors. Current needs and
going to prove most effective for their
and trust as well as to do business the demands of the present must also
particular needs.
effectively, there is a need for an be considered alongside changing global
There is no denying the importance understanding of the social, political, patterns of economic and cultural
of English as a common means of and technical systems of a country, exchange, and what this might mean for
communication across the world, or its as well as the innumerable aspects languages needed in the future. The UK’s
strength as the first foreign language of daily life that are important to that position in the world depends not only
of choice for most non-Anglophone nation’s identity and culture. on its membership of organisations like
countries.2 But David Graddol’s 2006 the Commonwealth and the European
Of course people learn languages for
analysis of global language trends was Union (EU), but also on considering
more than purely instrumental purposes,
a timely warning against complacency where trust between other countries
but learners do want to be able to use
regarding the predominance of English and the UK could be enhanced by a
the languages they have learned, and
worldwide.3 He predicted that the greater understanding of their languages
taxpayers and governments want to see
competitive advantage of English will and cultures.
their education resources spent in a way
ebb and that monolingual English
that will provide the greatest possible
1. David Crystal (2000) Language Death, Cambridge University Press.
2. Janet Enever, Jayne Moon and Uma Raman (2009) Young Learner English Language Policy and Implementation: International Perspectives, British Council and Garnet Education.
3. David Graddol (2006) English Next, British Council.
4. http://ec.europa.eu/languages/languages-mean-business/evidence-from-research
4
This publication focuses on the UK’s Neither does it set out to provide an enrich cultural understanding and provide
long-term strategic needs for languages in-depth consideration of the use a valuable resource which can be drawn
and asks which of them are most likely of particular languages in different on in overcoming communication barriers
to meet the UK’s needs and aspirations contexts and environments, but to in an international context. All and any
over the next 20 or so years. provide a strategic analysis to feed languages are worth having – this report
into public debate. simply indicates those the UK needs most.
It uses a number of criteria, based on
both economic and non-economic It cannot be stressed strongly enough
factors, to help identify language that all languages are valuable and this
requirements for global engagement, report does not seek to advise against
using evidence from a range of sources. learning a language which might suit
It does not seek to provide the definitive an individual’s interests and particular
answer – recognising that politics and needs. The knowledge of any language
priorities are very likely to change over in addition to one’s mother tongue not
time – but rather to provide material for only expands linguistic capability, but
an informed discussion of the issues. can also give access to employment,
ity
l Univers
age an d Cultura
g Langu
l of Beijin
Poster on a wal
the UK’s language challenge
The current language deficit Despite this apparent richness, the need the 4,700 students who have been
for the UK to improve its capability in accepted in 2013 to start language
In many ways the UK is linguistically rich.
languages is incontestable, as shown by degrees is dwarfed by almost ten times
It has major indigenous languages: Welsh,
the following factors: that number taking business studies.14
Gaelic, Irish, Scots, Ulster Scots, Manx
and Cornish; and in total somewhere • The achievement of pupils in England • British employers regularly express
between 200 and 300 languages in the European Survey on Language dissatisfaction with school and college
are represented amongst its diverse Competences was poorer than that leavers’ skills in languages. In a
population.5 The 2011 UK Census of pupils from any other country taking 2013 survey of businesses by the
identified Polish as the most widely part.10 In fact, 30 per cent of 15 year Confederation of British Industry only
spoken ‘main language’ after the UK’s olds about to take their GCSE exams 36 per cent were satisfied with their
own indigenous languages (but the did not achieve any measurable level at employees’ language skills, compared
formulation of the census question all in the language they were studying. with 93 per cent who were satisfied
meant that many other languages spoken or very satisfied with school and
• The number of students taking A-levels
by more established immigrant groups college leavers’ skills in the use
in languages has been falling for a
were under-represented). Pupil censuses of IT.15 Seven out of ten businesses
number of years – in 2013 alone by
carried out by the Department for stated that they value language skills
five per cent. Languages now make
Education (DfE),6 the Scottish Executive,7 in their employees.
up only 3.8 per cent of all subject
education authorities in Wales8 and entries, meaning that fewer than one • In their 2012 publication Exporting is
research conducted by the Northern in every 26 students learns a language good for Britain, the British Chambers
Ireland Department of Education9 show beyond a basic level. French and of Commerce16 argued that an inability
that the top ten languages spoken by German entries fell by ten per cent to trade in languages other than
schoolchildren in the UK consist of four and 11 per cent respectively, English is damaging the UK’s export
from the Indian subcontinent (Panjabi, following on from five per cent and performance. Their report stated
Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali), three from seven per cent declines in 2012.11 that ‘the extent of the language
Europe (Polish, French and Portuguese), In Scotland there is concern about deficit in the UK is truly serious: up
and Arabic, Tamil and Somali. The the continuing decline in French to 96 per cent of respondents had
linguistic skills of these children should and German in both Standard no foreign language ability for the
be taken into account in any consideration Grade and Higher examinations.12 markets they served, and the largest
of how language skills can be developed language deficits are for the fastest-
• There is concern about the low
to enhance future cultural and economic developing markets.’17
numbers of students taking language
contacts between the UK and countries • The British Academy has made a
degree courses.13 As a front page
where these languages are spoken. powerful case for languages not
article in the Observer recently noted,
5. John Eversley et al. (2010) Language Capital. Mapping the Languages of London’s Schoolchildren, CILT/Institute of Education.
6. National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (2011) School Census January 2011 Language Data. Number of Compulsory School Age Pupils in Primary,
Secondary and Special Schools by Declared First Language: www.naldic.org.uk/research-and-information/eal-statistics/lang
7. National Statistics (2011) Pupils in Scotland 2011. Main Home Language.
8. Welsh Assembly Government (2010) School Census: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/schools2011/110906/?lang=en
9. Department of Education Northern Ireland (2013) Newcomer Pupils: www.deni.gov.uk/index/support-and-development-2/additional-educational-support/newcomer-policy.htm
10. European Commission (2012) First European Survey on Language Competences. Final Report: http://ec.europa.eu/languages/eslc/index.html
11. Joint Council for Qualifications (2013) A, AS and AEA Results, Summer 2013.
12. Scottish Qualifications Authority (2013) National Course and Awards Result Statistics 2013.
13. See latest statement from the Higher Education Funding Council for England at www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/crosscutting/sivs/data
14. The figures on which this article is based are published at www.ucas.com/sites/default/files/daily-clearing-analysis-subject-130816.pdf
15. Confederation of British Industry and Pearson (2013) Changing the Pace. CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2013.
16. British Chambers of Commerce (2012) Exporting Is Good for Britain – Skills:
www.britishchambers.org.uk/policy-maker/policy-reports-and-publications/exporting-is-good-for-britain-skills.html#.UMDH-9vKdAM
17. ibid.
18. British Academy (2011) Language Matters More and More. A Position Statement.
19. Ethnologue: www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size
6
only in relation to trade and global Making sense of the at all, or instead be putting its energies
economy, but also for greater UK’s language needs into developing competence in major
intercultural understanding, as well global languages such as Mandarin
But which languages does the UK most
as highlighting their value as both Chinese and Arabic? And what about
need? Unlike their peers in many countries
the object and vehicle of study and Russian and Japanese, heralded some
of the world, people in English-speaking
research.18 It states that ‘Understanding years ago as upcoming languages,
nations do not have one obvious language
the languages, cultures and societies but stubbornly resistant to significant
which everyone should learn. Traditionally
of others, as well as the way in which growth within our education systems?
our schools and universities have taught
languages interact with each other and
French and German, but these are the In terms of numbers of first language
with English, is an important means
languages that have suffered most from speakers, Mandarin Chinese is easily
of improving intercultural interactions
recent declines. The number of people the most predominant language in the
and enhancing social well-being at
studying Spanish has increased steadily world today, and collectively, all Chinese
home as well as overseas.’
– to the extent that it has now overtaken languages total 1,197 million native
• A recent survey conducted by YouGov German as the UK’s second most speakers.19 Many of the languages in
for the British Council highlights that popular language to learn. But is this Chart 1 below also have very large
75 per cent of the adult UK population what the UK needs, given the strength numbers of second language speakers.
is unable to hold a conversation in of the German economy, its status as It would be easy to conclude that we
any of the ten languages highlighted the UK’s number one trading partner should align our language learning
as important in this report. and known employer demand for efforts accordingly, but does this reflect
German in the UK? Indeed, should the the true balance of the UK’s future needs?
UK be looking at European languages
Chart 1: Top ten most widely spoken languages, by first language speakers (millions)
848 406 335 260 223 203 193 162 122 84
Spanish Hindi Portuguese Russian Javanese
Mandarin Chinese English Arabic Bengali Japanese
(all varieties)
Source: Ethnologue: www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size
Languages for the Future 7
English is of course widely used as a Table 1: Ranking of economies with the largest GDP in 2010
lingua franca as well as in international versus 2020 (PPP I$)
organisations such as the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Rank 2010 2020
where it is the only official language. But
1 United States China
a number of other languages also appear
frequently as co-official languages in 2 China United States
international organisations. The United
3 Japan India
Nations (UN), for example, has as its official
languages Arabic, Chinese, English, 4 India Japan
French, Russian and Spanish while the
5 Germany Russia
International Labour Organisation (ILO)
uses English, French and Spanish. 6 Russia Germany
French is an official language alongside
7 United Kingdom Brazil
English at the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), 8 France United Kingdom
the International Olympic Committee and
9 Brazil France
the Council of Europe, while Spanish
and Portuguese are co-official in pan- 10 Italy Mexico
American institutions, as are Portuguese 11 Mexico South Korea
and French in African international
organisations. In the EU, the national 12 South Korea Indonesia
languages of all member states are 13 Spain Italy
official, with English, French and German
considered ‘procedural languages’. 14 Canada Canada
Table 1 shows a ranking of the top 15 Indonesia Spain
15 economies based on GDP in 2010
Source: Euromonitor International 2010
and 2020 by Euromonitor. The growing (http://blog.euromonitor.com/2010/07/special-report-top-10-largest-economies-in-2020.html)
importance of emerging economies will Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a method of measuring the relative purchasing power of different countries’
have implications for global influence, currencies over the same types of goods and services, thus allowing a more accurate comparison of living standards.
consumption, investment and the
environment. Their developing consumer
markets present enormous opportunities
for businesses (although it is worth noting
that income per capita will remain
higher in the established economies).
8Languages for the Future 9
Identifying the languages
the UK needs
Methodology Table 2: The ten factors The ten indicators chosen take into
account future requirements as well
Investment in language learning, whether 1 Current UK export trade as current practice. Evidence has
by central government, educational
2 The language needs been gathered from international
institutions or private sector organisations,
of UK business organisations, from UK government
requires a systematic analysis of which
sources, from business organisations
languages can bring most benefits, 3 Government’s future
and from independent research. The
whether to people, society at large or trade priorities
criteria have been selected to capture
our economy. This publication seeks to
4 Emerging high ‘bottom up’ indications from business
take forward this analysis by identifying
growth markets organisations and the general public,
a number of criteria which can be
as well as the way in which languages
used to aid the prioritisation of languages 5 Diplomatic and
security priorities can support ‘top down’ government
and has taken into account both market
policy. The research does not make
and non-market factors. Economic 6 The public’s value judgements about the relative
indicators have been balanced with language interests worth of different cultures.
cultural indicators, public interest in
7 Outward and inward tourism The methodology is open to refinement
learning different languages, and the
need to develop strong relationships 8 Government’s international with the addition of new indicators or
for diplomatic, educational or strategic education strategy priorities alternative weighting, should this be
purposes. thought beneficial. For example, the
9 Levels of English proficiency
extent to which languages or their scripts
Economic and cultural factors have in other countries
are related could be factored in – the
been weighted equally and then qualified
10 The prevalence of different ability to read the Arabic alphabet gives
with two additional contextual factors: languages on the internet access not only to Arabic, but to Urdu,
the extent to which people in the countries
Farsi and other languages; and vice
concerned are proficient in English and Economic factors
versa. Similarly one might wish to include
the representation of different languages Cultural, educational and diplomatic factors the extent to which different languages
on the internet.
Balancing factors are easy to learn for English speakers.
Consistent with the macro focus of the
research, the data used relates, in general,
to the whole of the UK; data taken from
sources of evidence relating to the
individual nations of the UK might give
slightly different results for England,
Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales
respectively. As has been noted above,
the aim is not to provide a definitive
answer, but to open up a discussion about
which languages are most important.
10Economic factors account, since this would necessitate a Table 3: Top ten languages of the
much more complex piece of research. UK’s current most important
Current UK export trade
However, the likely extent to which export markets (excluding English)
(Indicator 1) business can be done in English has been
The main source for current demand Rank Language
factored in – see Table 8 on page 15.
is the Office of National Statistics (ONS) 1 German
data on the UK’s top export markets It is recognised, however, that there is
in 2012. These are set out in Chart 2. no straightforward relationship between 2 Dutch
A simple matching exercise makes one nation and one language, and
3 French
it possible to identify the languages that global mobility and the internet
most associated with these countries. are creating ever more complex 4 Mandarin and other
multilingual societies. Chinese languages
For the purpose of this exercise, regional
The top ten languages associated with 5 Spanish
or lesser-used languages have been
omitted. More detailed patterns of the UK’s current largest export markets
6 Italian
language use in business in different are shown in Table 3.
7 Swedish
countries have not been taken into
8 Russian
9 Arabic
10 Japanese
Chart 2: UK’s top export markets in 2012
Value (millions)
0 £9,000 £18,000 £27,000 £36,000 £45,000
United States 41,089
Germany 32,669
The Netherlands 25,204
France 20,213
Ireland 17,532
Belgium and Luxembourg 14,675
China 10,538
Spain 8,546
Italy 8,126
Switzerland 6,777
Sweden 5,772
Russia 5,587
Hong Kong 5,369
United Arab Emirates 5,364
Japan 4,922
Source: Office for National Statistics (2013) Publications Tables UK Trade February 2013: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm:77-279148
Note: This chart shows goods export figures from 2012. Equivalent figures for services in 2012 were not available at the time of publication. An analysis of 2011 services export
figures suggests that including services would not alter our list of top ten languages (shown on page 17 in this report).
Languages for the Future 11The language needs of UK UK government future trade In part this adds further weight to German,
business (Indicator 2) priorities (Indicator 3) French, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and
The second source of evidence used In its strategy for future international Arabic which have already been
in relation to the current language needs business engagement, Trade and mentioned above, but it also introduces
of business is the Confederation of British Investment for Growth,21 the UK some new languages into the mix:
Industry’s 2013 Education and Skills government stresses the continuing Portuguese, Korean, Turkish and
Survey.20 It reports that 70 per cent of importance of trade with existing Indonesian as well as the languages
responding businesses value language partners including the EU, mentioning of India and South Africa. All these
skills among their employees, particularly in particular Germany, France and languages have been treated equally
in helping to build relationships with Benelux, as well as the Nordic and Baltic and not put into any rank order.
clients, customers and suppliers. From countries. But it also mentions India,
this report the top ten languages most Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, the Gulf
in demand are shown in Chart 3. States, South Africa, Turkey and Indonesia.
Chart 3: Percentage of companies rating this language as useful to their organisation
0 20 40 60 80 100
French 49
German 45
Spanish 34
Polish 29
Mandarin Chinese 28
Arabic 16
Cantonese 16
Russian 13
Portuguese 13
Japanese 8
Source: Confederation of British Industry and Pearson (2013) Changing the Pace. CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2013.
12Emerging high growth markets Table 4: High growth markets and their languages
(Indicator 4)
Country Language
Evidence was used from the joint CBI/
Ernst & Young publication Winning Argentina Spanish
Overseas,22 which is explicit about the
Bangladesh Bengali
need for better language skills in order
to improve the UK’s export potential. It Brazil Portuguese
calls for a more strategic approach in
Chile Spanish
order to target high-growth markets in
less developed countries, citing not only China Mandarin and other Chinese languages
the so-called BRIC(S) countries but also
Colombia Spanish
the ‘Next 11’ identified by Goldman
Sachs and the ‘25 high growth markets’ Czech Republic Czech
set out by Ernst & Young. Combining the
Egypt Arabic
‘Next 11’ and ‘25 high growth markets’
produces the list of countries and Ghana English, plus Akan and others
associated languages shown in Table 4.
India English, Hindi, Gujarati, Panjabi, Urdu, Bengali and others
This listing introduces a number of
Indonesia Indonesian, Javanese and others
languages not yet mentioned, as well as
giving further weight to some of those Iran Farsi
already identified. Spanish and Arabic
Kazakhstan Kazakh
score particularly highly on this indicator.
Malaysia Malaysian
Making predictions for future economic
importance can be precarious, and Mexico Spanish
political events may intervene to change
Nigeria English, plus Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and others
expectations, as can be seen in Egypt,
in the time since this analysis was Pakistan Urdu
undertaken by the CBI and its partners.
Philippines Tagalog
For this reason a range of sources has
been used for this research to balance Poland Polish
the score. Russia Russian
An explanation of individual scores and Saudi Arabia Arabic
how points were awarded is provided
in the Appendix. South Africa English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and others
South Korea Korean
Taiwan Mandarin Chinese
Thailand Thai
Turkey Turkish
United Arab Emirates Arabic
Ukraine Ukrainian
Vietnam Vietnamese
20. Confederation of British Industry and Pearson (2013) Changing the Pace. CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2013.
21. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2011) Trade and Investment for Growth.
22. Confederation of British Industry/Ernst & Young (2011) Winning Overseas: Boosting Business Export Performance.
Languages for the Future 13Interim analysis of languages and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the A Eurobarometer survey carried out
needed for economic reasons Serious and Organised Crime Agency in 2012,25 which interviewed 1,000
Combining the evidence from the four and the Government Communication adults across the UK, found that French,
economic indicators used, the languages Headquarters (GCHQ), among others. followed by Spanish, German, Chinese,
already most widely taught in the UK The report reflected the growing Italian and Russian, were regarded as the
education system (German, Spanish and importance now being given to language most useful languages to learn. However,
French) emerge as the most important competence within the FCO’s Diplomatic this survey only provided respondents
languages for UK trade. These are Excellence initiative, with specialist with a choice of six languages and is
followed by Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, knowledge of foreign states, languages, perhaps more indicative of past practice
Dutch and Portuguese, then Russian and peoples now explicitly acknowledged than future intent.
and Swedish, with Polish in tenth place. to be an important element of the British
The decision was taken to use the
diplomat’s skill set. It also made the case
Table 5: Languages needed availability of beginner courses for adults
that the national security agenda now
for economic purposes as an indicator of public interest in learning
encompasses conflict prevention and
particular languages, since such courses
peace-building, activities in which
Language Score can be provided on a more flexible basis
language assumes an important role.
than languages in schools or universities,
German 24 At the same time new linguistic skills
and reflect grassroots public interest,
are required to counter the growth of
French 23 rather than past practice. Research into
cybercrime, organised crime enabled by
Spanish 23
part-time evening courses26 – selecting
the ease of global communications, and
those which do not lead to qualifications,
Arabic 15
terrorism. Although the British Academy’s
since formal qualifications are not
report did not seek to identify priority
Mandarin Chinese 15 available for all languages – shows that
languages, our review of its findings
Spanish is the most popular language by
Dutch 14 shows Arabic and Mandarin Chinese
this measure and the top ten languages
as the most frequently cited. These are
Portuguese 10 are shown in the table below.
followed by Spanish, Portuguese
Russian 9 and Farsi (Persian) as well as Korean, Table 6: Languages offered
Pashto and Turkish. A wide range as evening classes
Swedish 9 of other languages, including French,
German, Polish, Urdu and Vietnamese Languages most Number
Polish 8
frequently offered of
are cited as important.
as part-time evening pages
Details of the scores, evidence and
The public’s language interests classes across of web
rationale behind each indicator are the UK (without listings
(Indicator 6)
provided in the Appendix. qualifications)
This indicator seeks to represent
grassroots public demand for language Spanish 9
Cultural, educational learning in the UK, with the caveat
and diplomatic factors that demand is often conditioned
French 7
Italian 7
Diplomatic and security by the availability of courses, rather
priorities (Indicator 5) than vice versa. German 4
Japanese 3
For this indicator researchers drew Looking at A-level entries, it is evident
24
on a recent inquiry carried out by that Spanish, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese 2
the British Academy to establish Turkish, Portuguese and Mandarin Arabic 2
how languages are used by the UK Chinese are all increasing, but this may Polish 2
government in meeting public policy Portuguese 2
reflect populations of speakers of these
Russian 2
objectives in the areas of diplomacy and languages resident in the UK, rather
security.23 The inquiry took evidence than wider public demand. Source: www.hotcourses.com
from organisations including the Foreign
23. British Academy (forthcoming) Lost for words. The Need for Languages in UK Diplomacy and Security.
We are grateful to the British Academy for allowing us access to a pre-publication copy of this report.
24. Joint Council for Qualifications (2013) A, AS and AEA Results, Summer 2013.
25. European Commission (2012) Europeans and Their Languages. Special Eurobarometer 386.
26. www.hotcourses.com
27. Populus/British Council (2013) (available on request from the British Council).
28. House of Commons library (2013) Tourism. Standard Note SN/EP/6022.
29. HM Government (2013) International Education: Global Growth and Prosperity.
14Outward visitor destinations UK government international Interim analysis of languages
(Indicator 7) Education Strategy priorities needed for cultural, educational
Overseas visitor figures provide a good (Indicator 8) and diplomatic reasons
indication of interchange between In July 2013 the UK government published By combining evidence from the four
different countries and peoples, the its International Education Strategy,29 indicators used in this section, the
sort of contact that people in the UK setting out the opportunities it sees following interim ranking of languages
typically experience with speakers as a result of demographic changes most needed for cultural, educational
of other languages. in rapidly emerging economies. This and diplomatic reasons emerges:
involves both attracting international
Research by Populus commissioned by Table 7: Languages for
students to the UK and supporting
the British Council27 showed that 22 per cultural, educational and
transnational education. Although the
cent of British adults say they have paid diplomatic purposes
teaching and learning of English is an
more for goods or services as a result
important element of this strategy, Language Score
of not being able to speak the local
the government wants to demonstrate
language when overseas, 18 per cent Spanish 35
that the UK seeks to build relationships
report that they have stayed primarily
based on mutual respect and a two-way Arabic 20.5
in resorts – avoiding the local culture –
exchange of ideas and people.
when on holiday and eight per cent Portuguese 20
admit they have caused offence The International Education Strategy
on holiday as a result of a lack of French 18
identifies eight priority countries and one
understanding of the local culture. region as the primary focus of international Mandarin Chinese 16.5
education partnerships. These are China,
The most visited non-English-speaking Italian 16.5
India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Colombia,
countries by people from the UK in 2012
Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia and the Gulf. German 14.5
were (in descending order) Spain, France,
The languages involved are Chinese
Germany, Portugal, Greece, Poland Turkish 11
languages, Indian languages,
and Turkey.28 Points have therefore
Portuguese, Arabic, Spanish, Turkish Polish 7.5
been given to Spanish, French,
and Indonesian. The education sectors
German, Portuguese, Greek, Polish Farsi 7
in these countries are more likely to want
and Turkish in descending order.
to engage with those who can meet
Comparing this ranking with the top
Languages are also useful for providing them halfway and demonstrate mutual
languages required for economic
information and a warmer welcome respect and understanding by working
purposes, it is interesting to note that
to visitors to the UK. According to Visit in the language of the host country.
Italian, Turkish and Farsi have come
Britain, the largest inbound tourist markets
Four points were allocated each time into the list at the expense of Russian,
were France, Germany, The Netherlands,
a country was mentioned in the report Dutch and Swedish.
Spain, Italy, Poland and Belgium.
and this favoured Arabic and Spanish,
Details of the scores, evidence and
An explanation of individual scores and which are used in more than one of the
rationale behind each indicator are
how points were awarded is provided in countries mentioned.
provided in the Appendix.
the Appendix.Balancing factors Table 8: English proficiency
The findings on economic and cultural/ Level of proficiency Countries relevant Languages
diplomatic needs have been qualified in English to this study concerned
with two further indicators: the degree
Very low Chile, Kuwait, Brazil, Spanish, Arabic,
to which populations in different countries
Egypt, UAE, Colombia, Portuguese
are able to speak English, and the
Saudi Arabia
extent of use of different languages
on the internet. Low Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Spanish, Indonesian,
Taiwan, Vietnam, Turkey, Farsi, Russian, Chinese
Levels of English proficiency in China, Qatar, Mexico languages, Vietnamese,
other countries (Indicator 9) Turkish, Arabic
The English Proficiency Index30
Moderate Spain, Portugal, Japan, Indian languages,
benchmarks English proficiency in France, Italy French, German,
54 countries using a sample of just Spanish, Portuguese,
under two million people: Japanese, Italian
One point per language per country was High Belgium, Austria, Dutch, French, German,
allocated for those with only a moderate Germany, Poland, Polish, Malaysian
level of English, two points for those Singapore, Malaysia
with low proficiency and three points
Very high Sweden, The Netherlands, Swedish, Dutch,
for those with very low proficiency
Norway Norwegian
(see Table 8).
The prevalence of different Source: English Proficiency Index: www.ef.co.uk/epi
languages on the internet
(Indicator 10) Chart 4: Internet use by language
Chart 4, compiled from Internet World
Stats, shows that, although English is English
still the most dominant language on the
Chinese
internet, Chinese is running a close 18%
Spanish
second. Spanish and Japanese are the 27%
next most frequently used languages. Japanese
2%
Details of the scores, evidence and 3% Portuguese
rationale behind each indicator are 3% German
provided in the Appendix. 3%
Arabic
3%
French
4%
5% 24% Russian
8% Korean
Other languages
Source: Top ten internet languages: www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm
30. English Proficiency Index: www.ef.co.uk/epi
16The ten most important Table 9: The top ten languages
languages
language Score
Taking all ten indicators used in this
analysis into account, the ten languages Spanish 76
which emerge as the most important Arabic 54
for the UK are as set out in Table 9.
French 47
Details of the scores for different
languages appear in the Appendix Mandarin Chinese 45.5
along with an explanation of the German 43.5
evidence underlying each indicator.
Portuguese 41
The British Council commissioned a
survey from YouGov to find out to what Italian 22.5
extent the UK population was able to Russian 19
communicate in the languages identified.
Turkish 19
The results can be seen in Chart 5. It is
clear that considerable work needs to Japanese 17
be done to increase the UK’s language
capacity and this report offers a set of
recommendations to address the deficit. Chart 5: Language skills in the UK’s adult population
Question: Which, if any, of the following languages can you speak well enough
to hold a conversation? (Please tick all that apply)
Survey of language skills in the UK’s population (per cent)
100
90
80 75
70
60
50
40
30
20 15
10 6
4 3
2 1 1 1 1 0.43 0.43
0
None of these
French
German
Spanish
Italian
Arabic
Japanese
Mandarin Chinese
Russian
Turkish
Portuguese
Don't know
Source: Survey of 4,171 UK adults, YouGov. Fieldwork was undertaken 1–4 October 2013. The survey was carried out
online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
Languages for the Future 17Other Languages destinations for visitors from the UK. a third of a million children. In Scotland,
The 2011 UK census revealed that Polish Urdu and Panjabi are second and third
Beyond the ‘top ten’ languages identified,
is now the third most widely spoken in importance respectively.37 However,
there were four other languages, or
language in the UK after English and Indian languages are currently taught
groups of languages, which emerged
Welsh. With over 47,000 speakers, at the margins of mainstream education,
as important for the UK according
it is the fourth most widely spoken supported by families and local
to the indicators used in this report,
language by English schoolchildren communities.38 Entry numbers at A-level
scoring above ten points each. These
with English as an additional language.33 and at GCSE are small39 and Indian
were Dutch, Polish, Indian languages
Among Scottish pupils it is the most languages are not widely available at
and Korean.
widely spoken language after English degree level in British universities.40
The position of Dutch reflects the fact with more than 7,000 speakers.34
Korean is spoken as a first language by
that The Netherlands is the second most
Indian languages are important some 78 million people and is the official
important non-English speaking goods
because of India’s position as the language of South Korea, North Korea
export market for the UK after Germany.31
second most populous country in the and parts of China. South Korea is cited
Belgium, in which Dutch is an official
world and a growing economic power.35 by the CBI41 as one of the world’s fastest
language, and Luxembourg are in fourth
India is currently the UK’s 18th largest growing markets and important for the
place. This accounts for the high demand
goods export market worth £4.6 billion UK’s economy over the next decade
for Dutch in job advertisements.32 Dutch
in 2012. Indian languages are widely and beyond. It was a very early adopter
people are the third most frequent
spoken in large minority communities of the internet and Korean usage currently
travellers to the UK of any non-English
in the UK. Department for Education accounts for two per cent of the global
speaking country.
statistics show Panjabi, Urdu and figures for internet use.42 Korean is not
The status of Polish is based on Poland Bengali as the top three languages available in the UK either as a GCSE or
being identified as one of the world’s spoken by English schoolchildren with A-level subject.
rapidly growing markets and the fact English as an additional language.36
that Poland is one of the top ten Together these account for more than
31. Office for National Statistics (2013) Publications Tables UK Trade February 2013: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm:77-279148
32. Anne Marie Graham (2013) Labour Market Intelligence Report – a Picture of the Jobs Market, Summer 2012 in British Academy/Teresa Tinsley,
The State of the Nation. Demand and Supply of Language Skills in the UK: www.britac.ac.uk/policy/State_of_the_Nation_2013.cfm
33. National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (2011) School Census January 2011 Language Data. Number of Compulsory School Age Pupils in Primary,
Secondary and Special Schools by Declared First Language: www.naldic.org.uk/research-and-information/eal-statistics/lang
34. National Statistics (2011) Pupils in Scotland 2011, Main Home Language?
35. Office for National Statistics (2013) Publications Tables UK Trade February 2013: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm:77-279148
36. National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (2011) School Census January 2011 Language Data. Number of Compulsory School Age Pupils in Primary,
Secondary and Special Schools by Declared First Language: www.naldic.org.uk/research-and-information/eal-statistics/lang
37. National Statistics (2011) Pupils in Scotland 2011, Main Home Language.
38. CILT, SCILT and CILT Cyrmu (2005) Community Language Learning in England, Wales and Scotland.
39. Teresa Tinsley and Kathryn Board (2012) ‘Language Learning in Primary and Secondary Schools in England – Languages Trends Survey’, CfBT Education Trust
40. British Academy/Teresa Tinsley (2013) The State of the Nation. Demand and Supply of Language Skills in the UK, British Academy:
www.britac.ac.uk/policy/State_of_the_Nation_2013.cfm
41. Confederation of British Industry/Ernst and Young (2011) Winning Overseas: Boosting Business Export Performance.
42. Top ten internet languages – Internet World Stats: www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htmConclusion and
recommendations
This report argues that, while millions of people around the world are
learning English, the UK has fallen behind by not devoting sufficient
time, resources and effort to language learning.
The resulting language deficit, if not systems. The greatest gaps are perhaps policy relating to languages and
tackled, is a threat to our competitiveness, in Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, which international skills, as these have a
influence and standing in the world, both appear in the top five. However, direct impact on the UK’s prosperity
as well as to our citizens’ ability to play Portuguese and Turkish, also present and international influence.
a meaningful role in the global economy significant challenges for our education 3. Businesses should be encouraged
and an increasingly networked and systems and Italian, Russian and to invest in the development
interconnected world. Japanese also require increased effort of the linguistic skills in their own
to achieve a critical mass of speakers. organisations from which they
Our analysis has identified those
languages which are likely to be of The overall conclusion therefore, will benefit directly.
greatest importance to the UK in is not that people in the UK are 4. Policy makers should find effective
the next 10–20 years, based on a learning the wrong languages, but ways of utilising the vital language
range of criteria relating to both that the country needs to build and cultural skills of the UK’s diaspora
economic and non-economic factors. on its existing language learning and minority communities. This talent
Unsurprisingly, there is not a complete profile to include a wider range should be used to enable education
coincidence between the languages of languages and to enable far systems to increase opportunities to
needed for economic purposes and greater numbers of people to learn learn the ten languages identified here.
those required to build trust, deepen languages. This is crucial in order to 5. The teaching and learning of
international influence and cultural prevent the current deficit in linguistic languages should be enriched by
relationships, and keep our country skills from increasing and to enable the the inclusion of new languages in
safe. This analysis has identified ten UK to reap the economic and cultural the curriculum, and an increased
languages (Spanish, Arabic, French, benefits available to those who have focus on the need to understand
Mandarin Chinese, German, Portuguese, more than one language at their disposal. other cultures.
Italian, Turkish, Russian and Japanese)
We therefore recommend that: 6. Schools should fully exploit the range
which have the potential to add most
1. All four governments of the UK of free or funded resources available
value to the UK’s strategic interests.
should take a more strategic to support language learning, which
However, the survey commissioned by approach to language education are available locally, online or through
the British Council for this report shows policy, linking it to national international links. These include
that there is a low capacity in these key aspirations for international language assistants, exchanges
languages in the UK adult population. engagement in business, education and overseas trips, and international
and culture. Languages should be cultural institutes in the UK.
French, Spanish and German, the
UK’s first, second and third most held in the same high regard as
widely taught languages respectively, science, technology, engineering,
all appear in the top ten list, as do a and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
number of languages which have very 2. Government and business should
little representation in UK education work together to develop educational
Languages for the Future 197. Young people should be given 8. Policy makers and practitioners in 9. The 75 per cent of UK adults unable opportunities to sample a range of the UK should establish wider and to hold a conversation in any of languages and cultures during their deeper partnerships and co-operation the ten key languages should make school career. They and their with foreign education and cultural efforts to learn the basics of at least parents should also seek out more bodies in order to access resources one new language, as advocated opportunities for language learning and support as well as to learn from by Speak to the Future’s 1000 outside school, and all students best practice in the teaching and Words campaign. 43 should receive appropriate advice learning of languages directly from about the benefits of competence the countries in which the languages in another language for work and are used. adult life. 43. www.speaktothefuture.org/1000-words-challenge 20
You can also read
