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29 September 2025. Boosting the status of languages

Boosting the status of languages

What can we do - from government to us all as individuals - to boost the status, visibility and support available for languages?

By Anna Lise Gordon, member of the ALL ITET* forum, Co-President of ALL

*ITET: Initial Teacher Education and Training

Anne Lise Gordon

Given the well-documented benefits on the Languages Gateway of being able to communicate in other languages, it is surprising (perhaps even shocking) that there is a constant need to boost the status of languages in the UK. This is perhaps even more unexpected, when we know from the Language Trends 2025 report that more than 200 languages are spoken in primary schools in England. Why is this linguistic diversity not translating into a wider passion for languages?

The challenge is clear, as noted in ‘Towards a national languages strategy: education and skills’ (2020):

  • ‘We need urgent, concerted and coordinated action to address the critical situation for languages in the UK’ (page 6)

and

  • ‘a system-wide approach is needed because each part of the system is dependent on the others’ (page 8)

So, let’s consider just two suggestions to boost the status of languages for some of the key players. You will be able to add your own ideas. Our combined efforts would make a tangible difference. We all have a part to play – no excuses!

Government / DfE

  • Ensure a coherent and well-resourced policy for languages as a springboard for practice, including support for recruitment of international trainee teachers and school trips abroad.
  • Explore incentives for promoting languages e.g. through a subsidised Foreign Language Assistant for every school, support for school trips abroad.

Local communities

  • The recent ‘City of Languages’ initiatives across the UK (Sheffield, Portsmouth, Newcastle, London etc.) are a cause for celebration, showcasing the joy of languages in our communities. All are welcome to get involved!
  • Engage with local activities (e.g. European Day of Languages on 26th September, International Mother Languages Day on 21st February) that promote linguistic diversity and cultural understanding, emphasise benefits of language skills, and enjoy the social connections.

Examination boards

  • Provide an examination syllabus that is engaging and relevant to young people.
  • Ensure fair grading for languages, so that learners are not disadvantaged in comparison to their other subjects.

Universities

  • Enhance the university learning journey for students with well-resourced opportunities to learn a language, including ab initio. Many young people realise the importance of languages after they have left school!
  • Consider ways of supporting young people with language learning e.g. Cardiff University mentor scheme, accessible and affordable online and residential language courses.

School leaders

  • School leaders are pivotal in ensuring that languages are valued and supported, for example celebrating pupils’ work in languages in assemblies, school newsletters, encouraging languages in GCSE option choices, hosting trainee teachers of languages on placement etc.
  • Ensure a coherent approach to promoting languages with governors, parents, careers staff, local employers, books in other languages in the school library, multilingual signs around building etc.

Teachers

  • Collaborate with teachers across the school who speak other languages, and can promote the benefits of learning languages in their subjects e.g. Learning a language makes you better at mathematics.
  • Effective teaching is essential, and language teachers deserve ongoing professional development throughout their careers, including membership of the Association for Language Learning. As ASCL’s Suzanne O’Farrell noted in a blog for the Association for School and College Leaders (2024): ‘language teachers offer much more than just knowledge; they impart the lifelong skill of how to learn a language’. Language teachers are special!

Employers

  • Connect with local schools, colleges and universities to promote the importance of languages at Careers Fairs, provide language ambassadors for schools etc.
  • Host students on work experience, providing meaningful opportunities to use languages in the workplace.

Family and Friends

  • Share your love of languages at every opportunity, including pride in any non-English home languages. According to a recent article in The Spectator, about a quarter of teenagers have an immigrant mother and many will speak other languages at home – wonderful!
  • Lots of young people enjoy learning apps like Duolingo and, even without technology, everyone can help learners by testing vocabulary and celebrating achievements!

Individuals

  • Match the time you spend on other hobbies (and social media) with learning a language. You’ll be amazed at how much progress you make!
  • Embrace the challenge of learning a language and be proud of what you CAN do, not what you can’t. Yes, it takes time and commitment, but it can soon become one of your superpowers!

Of course, we recognise that ‘change in education is easy to propose, hard to implement, and even harder to sustain’ (Hargreaves & Fink, 2006:1), but there is no excuse for not trying. English may well be a dominant language in the world, but our world is truly multilingual, so let’s #TalkUpLanguages at every opportunity!

References:

ASCL, British Academy, British Council, UKRI, Universities UK, 2020, Towards a national language strategy. British Academy, London.

Collen, I and Duff, J, 2025, Language Trends England 2025. British Council, London.

Hargreaves, A and Fink, D, 2006, Sustainable leadership. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Nucette, A, Hamamura, T, Leitao, S and Biedermann, B, 2025, ‘Can learning a new language make you better at maths? A meta-analysis of foreign language learning and numeracy skills during early adolescence’, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 28(4), pp. 923–953.

O’Farrell, S, 2024, Boosting language learning: Strategies for education leaders. ASCL.