Press Release

The contribution of languages to Adult and Continuing Learning

25 May 2006

Statement for Adult Learners’ Week

According to a survey[1] last autumn, 82% of adults who have learnt another language wish they could speak it better. There is strong demand amongst UK adults for language learning, with languages the fourth most popular subject area for adult learning[2]. This helps to make the UK one of the best-performing European countries as regards participation by adults in lifelong learning - over 29% of UK adults are involved in some form of adult learning[3].

However, we are witnessing a period of great change and upheaval in adult learning and there is a danger that demand may remain unsatisfied, and national needs remain unmet, unless more specific attention can be focused on languages at both regional and provider level. Last month’s Adult Learning Inspectorate report[4] drew attention to the hurdles to be overcome if we are to ensure that language teaching provision for adults matches the demand, both in terms of quantity and quality.

As a result of the Skills Strategy[5] and FE White Paper[6], the needs of employers and the economy are being given a more central role. We know that using a language at work gives job satisfaction to individuals[7] and tangible benefits to employers[8]. The recently-created Language Skills Alliance[9] will ensure that languages are represented alongside other skills areas in planning for qualifications frameworks and the new Specialised 14-19 Diplomas. The Regional Language Networks[10] are crucial to raising awareness amongst employers of the importance of language skills, and to ensuring that their needs are articulated and fed into planning at regional and UK level. Adult language learners will be able to benefit from these developments.

At the same time languages bring wider educational, social and cultural benefits to individuals. The National Languages Strategy[11] describes the ability to speak another language as ‘an essential part of being a citizen’. Language tutors know that adults have mixed and varied motivations for wanting to learn a language, and it is their task to work with these motivations in order to achieve the best outcomes for learners. Between now and 2010, as a result of the National Languages Strategy, we will be seeing a rapid expansion in the number of primary school children learning a language. Parents, grandparents and carers developing their own language skills alongside their children can be an important source of support and mutual satisfaction.

As we review the prospects for languages in adult education in Adult Learners’ Week 2006[12], there is much to aspire to and much work to be done. CILT’s Strategic Plan sets out a vision of a society which is strong and confident in its use of languages, one in which plurilingualism and intercultural competence contribute to personal development, cultural understanding, social cohesion and economic growth. In order to achieve this, we would like to see all parties implement the recommendations of the ALI report. We ourselves are committed to making full use of the resources we have available to support languages for adults, namely:

Providing up-to-date information for planning and development – for example our Language Trends survey on adult language provision which will be repeated later this year
Providing opportunities for training and professional development for adult tutors, through our annual Adult Education Languages Show[13], our Netword newsletter and web pages, and our Comenius Netword Centre and its work throughout the Comenius network.
Work with the Language Skills Alliance and Regional Language Networks, as described above.
Making the case for languages and promoting language learning through work such as the European Awards for Languages[14], the European Day of Languages[15] and Languages Work[16]
Re-launch of the Lingu@NET Europa[17] website providing on-line support for language learners across Europe
Extensive research on behalf of the European Commission, involving 29 countries, into the link between languages and business success, in order to be able to quantify the contribution of language skills to the economy[18]

We will be working to encourage more strategic action at regional and local level and will be publishing a book on the theme of partnership in language provision in adult learning later this year.We will also seek to maximise the potential of the new European Union integrated programme for Lifelong Learning[19] to support language tutors and learners.  We will be keeping a close eye on all developments at European level and their potential for positive influence on languages in the UK. We will be following in particular the progress of the European Commission proposal on key competences for lifelong learning, in which the ability to speak another language is given a high priority for all citizens.

Isabella Moore
Director

References:

[1] NOP World Poll on behalf of Asset Languages.
[2] NIACE survey on adult participation in learning, 2005. Adults currently learning or who have been learning in the recent past most commonly study IT, business studies, health and medicine, then languages
[3] European Commission 2006 report on progress towards Lisbon targets for Education and Training
[4] ‘Language for adults: overcoming the barriers’ www.ali.gov.uk
[5]  DfES www.dfes.gov.uk/skillsstrategy
[6]  DfES www.dfes.gov.uk/furthereducation
[7]  See www.languageswork.org.uk
[8]  Talking World Class, the impact of languages skills on the UK economy, CILT, 2005 www.cilt.org.uk/key/talkingworldclass.pdf
[9]  The Language Skills Alliance is a partnership between CILT, the SSDA and Go Skills. Its aim is to ensure that employer need for languages and cultural skills is articulated and that Sector Skills Councils take proper account of languages and cultural skills as they influence the shape of future vocational education and training UK-wide.
[10]  CILT’s regional networks promoting languages for languages for employment purposes www.cilt.org.uk/rln
[11]  Languages for all, languages for life, a strategy for England, DfES, 2002  www.dfes.gov.uk/languagesstrategy
[12] Adult Learners Week campaign 20-26 May 2006 www.cilt.org.uk/promoting/activities/alw2006.htm
[13] The Adult Education Langauges Show 2006 will take place on Friday 9 June at Beaumanor Hall, Loughborough. For further details see www.cilt.org.uk/cpd/adult.htm. For Comenius Netword see www.cilt.org.uk/adulteducation
[14] See www.cilt.org.uk/eal
[15]  See www.cilt.org.uk/edl
[16]  www.languageswork.org.uk
[17] www.linguanet-europa.org
[18] www.cilt.org.uk/europe/elan.htm
[19] http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/newprog/index_en.html