Our European neighbours have solutions to our language learning woes

CAMPAIGNERS have said that reversing the decline in modern language learning in Scotland is vital in order to boost Scotland's chances of becoming an independent nation within the EU.

Away from ranting about politics, languages are a keen interest of mine – both Scotland's own languages Gaelic and Scots, and other languages.

Readers may be aware that I have researched and published a series of Gaelic language maps of Scotland.

Additionally, I am a fluent Spanish speaker, speak Catalan, and in a previous life worked as a Spanish/English and Catalan/ English translator and interpreter. So, I have some observations on the state of language learning and teaching in Scotland.

Studies have found that the number of young Scots studying European languages has dropped significantly over the past two decades, with an overall drop of more than 30% at Higher level and fewer than 1000 pupils in the whole country studying a language at Advanced Higher.

These figures are measured against what was already a pretty low base level.

READ MORE: Alex Cole-Hamilton urged to explain vote from Scottish Parliament bar

People from the UK are widely recognised as being the worst at learning foreign languages in Europe. Research carried out by language learning app company Duolingo in 2021 found that just 6% of people in the UK are proficient in another language. The research also found that 21% of people in the UK admit that when they were school age they believed 'everyone abroad spoke English.'

The data also revealed that 40% of UK residents have felt embarrassed by their lack of language skills on holiday. Meanwhile research conducted by the British Council in January 2023 found that two thirds of people in the UK speak only English and many say they don't feel the need to learn another language. There is a common perception that 'English is enough' as it’s a global 'lingua franca'.

English is indeed a global language and worldwide is the most commonly spoken second language. According to an EU survey carried out in 2006, over 80% of the populations of Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark report being able to speak English, often with a high level of fluency. Likewise between 50% and 79% of the populations of Finland, Estonia, Greece, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Luxembourg are able to speak English.

In other European nations, foreign language learning begins early in a child's educational career, and remains obligatory throughout schooling.

READ MORE: Stephen Flynn hits back as Anas Sarwar names him amid Thatcher row

In Scotland until recently, foreign languages were not introduced into the curriculum until secondary school and often were subjects that a pupil was able to drop. This is in marked contrast to Spain and other European countries where English is an obligatory subject for the entirety of a child's schooling, from starting school at age 5 or 6, until leaving at age 18.

This is typical in many European countries.

In Belgium, children in the Flemish speaking part of the country must learn French in addition to English. Here learning English is also assisted by the wide availability of TV shows and movies in English, often with Flemish subtitles.

The answer to decreasing levels of language learning in Scotland must be to copy European models and to introduce another language as soon as the child starts school and to make this an obligatory subject throughout the child's educational career.

There’s no such thing as a ‘useless’ language It is worth pointing out that no language is 'useless'.

When a child learns Gaelic, this does not detract from their ability to learn French or Spanish. Indeed, the contrary is true.

Countries such as Belgium excel in teaching school children second languages

Exposing a child to one different language enhances their ability to acquire another as research has shown that irrespective of the second language learned, bilingualism produces cognitive benefits including better attention, task-switching skills, and protection against aging declines, thanks to the developed ability of the bilingual brain to inhibit one language while using another. Bilingual children as young as seven months can better adjust to environmental changes, while bilingual seniors can experience less cognitive decline. These positive effects are found no matter what second language is acquired.

Critics of Gaelic language teaching not only neglect the practical, educational, and cognitive advantages of bilingualism by complaining as they often do that time spent learning Gaelic would be better used learning a 'more useful' language like French or German, they show that they are locked into antiquated models of language learning.

Once a language is acquired it is perfectly possible to learn other languages and subjects through the medium of it. Although it is not, as far as I am aware, a practice in Scottish schools, due no doubt to a shortage of teachers and textbooks, in theory it is perfectly possible to teach French through the medium of Gaelic.

It is also worth pointing out that stigmatising a language as 'useless' has more to do with engrained attitudes of snobbery and prejudice than linguistic reality.

I have in-laws who grew up as native speakers of French in northern Maine in the USA. This is an area where French speaking is typically associated with rural working class families. These districts were settled by French speakers from Quebec in the late 18th century before the USA and Britain had agreed where to draw the border.

READ MORE: Reversing language decline ‘crucial’ for independent Scotland in EU

When the border was officially demarcated in the 1940s, thousands of French speakers ended up on the American side.

My family members were strongly discouraged from speaking French at school where they were told that it was a 'useless' language which would only inhibit their career prospects. Similar negative attitudes towards Spanish are reported in Spanish speaking areas of Texas and New Mexico.

Reversing the decline in language learning in Scottish schools will not only require policy changes, such as making a language obligatory from the child's first year in primary school all the way through to their final year in secondary, it will also require considerable investment in teachers and resources.

It could also be assisted by broadcasters showing more foreign language shows and movies with subtitles.

This piece is an extract from today’s REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.

To receive our full newsletter including this analysis straight to your email inbox, click HERE and click the "+" sign-up symbol for the REAL Scottish Politics