Please join us online for our Autumn Seminar:
A discussion on the new GCSE in languages with a focus on social justice, led by Alice Harrison
10.30 – 11.30am, Saturday 11th November 2023
To claim a free space for the online event, please register via this link
The National Association of Languages Advisers invites you to join a Saturday morning series of one-hour online briefings, with opportunity for questions and discussion. NALA continues to explore issues around social justice in teaching and the implications for modern languages.
The first session will be a presentation of current findings from the second NALA survey on the Languages Curriculum and Disadvantaged Students, with an opportunity to discuss and ask questions.
The second will continue the theme of social justice in Education.
Alice Harrison
Alice led the original NALA survey on the Languages Curriculum and Disadvantaged Students, and is following up opinions on the newest examination board specifications in the same context.
Alice was Chair of NALA until July 2023
Social Justice in Education
Speaker and details tbc.
At the time of the Department for Education’s GCSE subject consultation (Summer 2021) NALA sought members’ views about the proposed reforms. Webinars about the consultation were open to all members, and those who attended participated in lively debate. The NALA Executive Committee then sent the DfE a detailed response which set out a collective view based on what members told us. A period of ‘radio silence’ from the DfE followed until NALA was invited by the Department to attend an informal meeting about the proposed changes in mid-October of this year.
The Exec felt that this was an important time to work closely with other languages subject associations (ALL and ISMLA) to give the most powerful voice possible to language teachers. The three associations identified a great deal of common ground and met with the DfE on three occasions to discuss collective points of agreement and give detailed explanations about our areas of concern. The three subject associations also collaborated to hold meetings with the awarding bodies who, we discovered, shared our concerns about the DfE’s proposals.
Ultimately, the outcome of our concerted efforts to engage with the DfE has resulted in the following joint statement on behalf of MFL subject associations, awarding bodies and head teacher associations. A full list of signatories is available at the bottom of the statement, or by downloading the statement here.
Background
We share the Department for Education’s ambitions to increase participation in language learning at KS4 and beyond. We welcome research-informed initiatives to achieve this, as well as the intention to make expectations for learners as transparent as it is wise to do so in the context of Modern Languages.
We recognise the GCSE as the pivotal moment within the languages system, around which other key phases and stages revolve. We recognise, too, the critical importance of ensuring that the languages curriculum is viable and enjoyable for students right across the UK’s communities, and we are concerned by current patterns of unequal uptake.
Proposed changes to GCSE MFL Subject Content
The publication of new draft subject content for GCSE MFL in March 2021 by the Department for Education included some uncontroversial and positive developments.
However, significant concerns were voiced by school leaders, subject associations, academic researchers, awarding organisations, practitioners, teacher educators and parliamentarians relating to certain key aspects of the proposals. These concerns related to issues such as:
- Whether students will have sufficient vocabulary to communicate in real life situations
- The divergence between GCSE and A-level and the likely adverse impact on take-up of languages
- The adverse impact of reform so soon into the lifecycle of the current specifications, such as the effect on workload for teachers and schools, as well as the costs relating to resources and training
Specifically, it was identified that further consideration was required on three matters:
- Vocabulary size and standards of attainment
- Vocabulary selection and cultural content (where a proposed reworking of the draft subject content has widespread stakeholder consensus)
- Assessment parameters.
While the proposals were based on a segment of relevant published research, we note there is a considerable body of research which validates our concerns. We also note that the proposed model of learning and assessment is a risky one, given the lack of international precedent and absence of independent evaluation.
There is widespread stakeholder consensus regarding the necessary direction of travel for these proposals, particularly in terms of vocabulary and thematic, cultural content. We are reassured that the Department for Education appears to be taking the time necessary to closely consider these and other issues raised in the consultation before publishing its formal response.
Next steps
We now propose a new, second phase of design and development be undertaken by the Department for Education, collaboratively with a full range of subject stakeholders, including awarding organisations, to be completed before Easter 2022.
We propose that this second phase of design work focus on:
- Short-term improvements that can be made to existing qualifications within the existing content criteria
- The nature and extent of vocabulary specification in the future GCSE
- The coherence of the defined content with its learning outcomes.
It remains our collective goal to increase uptake in Modern Language learning, while continuing to raise standards through a knowledge-led model, and help ensure that learners experience a carefully planned, manageable curriculum which delivers genuine, real-life linguistic proficiency and the wider benefits that language-learning provides.
The Department for Education’s GCSE Modern Foreign Language (MFL) subject content review public consultation document can be found here. The draft subject content consulted on by the Department can be found here.
Notes
List of organisations and their websites:
The joint statement can be downloaded here.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages has today issued a statement calling on the Department for Education to address concerns raised by stakeholders in relation to the review of the Modern Languages GCSE.
The APPG calls the review “risky” and “untested”, and asks that the review “… be delayed to give more time for consensus across the sector”.
The statement has been issued with the full support of sixteen organisations representing teachers, school leaders, linguists and education experts, including NALA. Other organisations backing the statement include the Association for Language Learning (ALL), the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), National Education Union (NEU) and the University Council of Modern Languages (UCML).
To read the full statement and add your support, please visit this link.
Download the statement, including the full list of supporters, at this link.
Today we have published a number of documents following the consultation on the proposed Subject Level Conditions and Requirements (SLC) for GCSE Modern Foreign Languages (MFL): the consultation analysis report, the decisions document, and the final SLC.The SLC include the assessment criteria teachers should use when assessing speaking skills, along with further details on the assessment approach:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gcse-mfl-spoken-language-assessment-criteria-and-approach
We also published recently the entry data for the autumn 2020 exam series for GCSE, AS and A level:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/entries-for-gcse-autumn-2020-exam-series
The National Association of Language Advisers (NALA) is carrying out a nation-wide survey of language teachers to investigate the extent to which the current secondary curriculum content disadvantages certain groups of pupils by asking them personal questions on topics where their own experience is limited or sensitive.
So far 375 language teachers, consultants and teacher trainers have responded. Initial findings show that the current secondary GCSE language assessments discriminate against vulnerable pupils, particularly those from socio-economically deprived backgrounds.
“Pupils without disposable income or experience of travel and many other privileges feel alienated by a lot of the topics.”
“I was this child at school who always had to ask e.g. ‘How do I say dead?’ when the question was to describe your dad.”
“One photo card last year expected pupils to talk about a skiing holiday. Some of mine live on the 14th floor and have never left Wigan.”
“Modern languages examination specifications view poverty as something that happens to other people, as if our children live in some kind of middle-class bubble.”
The survey will close on Monday, 7 September 2020. Access the survey here.
A full report of the findings will be published in Autumn 2020.
The languages curriculum, including GCSE exams, requires students to have the potential to answer a whole range of questions on travel, social issues, their home situation, celebrations with their family, or to discuss possibilities about university. The speaking and written elements focus largely on students responding about personal experiences.
NALA is keen to investigate to what extent the content of the language curriculum, including GCSE exams – and in particular the speaking and written elements – is further disadvantaging particular groups of vulnerable and disadvantaged students.
We would like to consider to what extent the exams and curriculum content pose issues for these students and would like to gather the views of the languages teaching community.
We would therefore be grateful if you could take a few moments to give your opinions in this short survey to help our research. Please share the survey with your relevant contacts as well. The aims of the survey are to identify:
Additional contextual information: vulnerable and disadvantaged students
Whilst answering the survey we would like you to consider the following student:
Student 1 (vulnerable pupil with Child Protection Plan)
This student may be suffering or may have suffered previously from neglect, and is living in a family where there is drug addiction and some violence. He / she is part of a child protection plan.
Student 2 (vulnerable and low income pupil premium student)
This student lives in a low-income family, possibly in a family where adults have struggled to work for more than one generation. The student may have little experience of travelling outside of the immediate local community.
Student 3 (vulnerable Looked-After Child or post Looked-After Child)
This is a student who may have suffered neglect and/or abuse when young and who has been in Local Authority care for years but is now in a stable household, either adopted or in long term foster care. The student has access to some additional support as part of a personal plan to support social and emotional needs, but these difficulties might not appear to pose any great barrier to learning specific subjects.
Additional contextual information: curriculum and GCSE exam content
We would like you to consider the content of the 2018 and 2019 GCSE exams and the content of your GCSE and KS3 curriculum, and reflect on whether this might disadvantage students, particularly those who fall into vulnerable categories.
For example, here are some speaking question suggestions which might ‘typically’ appear in classrooms as part of preparation for GCSE content:
Thank you for taking the time to consider this background information and for responding to our survey. If, after completing the survey, you have any further comments you would like to be considered, please email communications@nala.org.uk.