People offered lessons in Cornish

People are being given the chance to drop into a Cornish library and have a go at learning Cornish. Truro Library will be holding a Cornish language taster day, where people can learn a few words and phrases. There are thought to be up to 400 fluent Cornish speakers in the county, with thousands more who know at least some words of the language.

Tuesday, 19 February
BBC website

CILT statement on changes to GCSE languages assessment

'Recent press reports have created a perception that proposed changes to the assessment arrangements for GCSE foreign languages will lead to a lowering of standards. This is unfortunate, as above all we need to hold on to the value that language learning has for learners, employers and for academic study. The misunderstanding perhaps arises from a misplaced confidence in the existing system of measuring oral competence. We concur with Lord Dearing that the current arrangements can be demotivating for pupils – not only because they are stressful, but because the tasks involved are not creative or stimulating. Bringing in more teacher assessment is an opportunity to correct this, not a threat to standards, but it will need to come with more training, support and appropriate monitoring arrangements.'

Full press statement from CILT:

http://www.cilt.org.uk/news/latest/2008/19_02_oral.htm

QCA response to Dearing published

This document provides QCA's response to Lord Dearing's view that the award of grades in GCSE languages is more demanding than for most other subjects.

http://www.qca.org.uk/libraryAssets/media/qca-08-3570-Grade_standards_in_GCSE_MFL.pdf

DCSF statement on GCSE language orals

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2008/0028) issued by The Government News Network on 18 February 2008

Monday 18 February 2008
Wired-gov

Pourquoi? Warum? Perché? Study of languages is in decline

An influential group of experts is putting pressure on the Scottish Government to take urgent action to make Scotland more multilingual.

Figures show that the number of school pupils taking modern language Highers has slumped by nearly 60% since the 1970s. The group has highlighted an "apartheid" in foreign language study in Scottish universities and fear the nation is becoming less competitive in the global economy as a result.

Saturday, 16th February 2007
The Herald

Language GCSEs 'could drop orals'

Oral tests could be dropped from language GCSEs because they are "too stressful", according to a report.

Sunday, 17 February 2008
BBC website

Michael Shade: Blog post on recent LLAS event

http://michalska.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/a-couple-of-recent-elearning-events/