Generation Global

For learners

• Why Languages? This page give lots of advice and information, including job profiles, some of the wider benefits of language learning, and course opportunities. 
• It doesn’t have to be a degree! Any language learning that you do is valuable. The Language Learning Opportunities page gives a list of universities and colleges across Scotland and beyond along with details of the courses that they have on offer, at all levels. You could continue a language that you already know, or start a new one from scratch! 
• Not sure yet what you want to do after school? Have a look at our Job Profiles, videos and career packs giving advice from people using languages in lots of different career areas. 

For parents/carers

• Languages in a Nutshell is a guide to learning languages, produced by SCILT in partnership with The National Parent Forum of Scotland. Aimed at parents, this leaflet explains how the 1+2 approach will be put into practice and why learning other languages is so important. It also suggests ways parents can support their child’s language learning. 

• Are you thinking about taking languages at school or university but unsure about exactly what you will gain from it? The University of Birmingham's Why Study Languages page shares advantages of language learning with other helpful information on their site too. 
• Education First has a great blog on 20 ways that learning languages changes the world (and transforms your life)! 
• And another blog on the many benefits of learning a language at any level. 

• Open Learn, from the Open University has a really interesting video on how languages can further your career. There are also links further down the page to loads of free online languages courses that you can sign up for with them. Fancied learning some Italian, Chinese or Welsh and didn’t know where to start? Here is your chance! 
• Where could your favourite subject take you? Get inspired by people using Modern Languages in real-life jobs. Find out how much you could get paid for different roles and what qualifications you might need on the BBC Bitesize Jobs that use modern languages webpage.
• Prospects has a list of jobs which use languages on their website - some may surprise you!
• If you want to see an even wider range of jobs that are currently being advertised and where languages are required, check out these searches from recruitment sites Reed and Total.
  
• Indeed has a really useful guide here to how languages skills generally are valued in the workplace along with a post on What are the most useful languages for your career.
• There is lots of inspiration, information and advice to help you on your languages journey on Blue Stamp Resources’ downloadable posters. 
• These two very useful guides have been designed by the EU Commission and are aimed at teenagers and parents with young people who have a career in Translation and/or Interpreting in mind: Guide for students and Guide for parents.
  
• In case you still need some more ideas of jobs that use languages, Success At School is here to help! 

• The Student has some helpful tips and advice if you’re thinking of studying languages after school. 
• For information on what you can do with all the skills that you gain from learning languages, look at the Target Jobs site. 
• Top Universities has both a general advice page and a blog of where a languages degree can lead – not translation, as the blog specifically says!
• The Bright Network says on their site that ‘Among Brits, knowing a second language is rare – about three quarters of us can’t hold a conversation in anything but English – and it makes you stand out to employers. Some roles you’re suited to use your language skills directly. Others benefit from the soft skills you’ve developed – flexibility, communication, cultural awareness, and many more.’ Have a look at their site for some of the career paths that you could take. 
• One final one! The Guardian has some very honest and helpful accounts from young people of their experience of learning languages and of where they are in their lives now as a result. 

• The British Council’s Languages for the Future report makes interesting reading regarding which languages are most needed for the UK economy and how we should be developing these. 
• The House of Lords Library hosts an interesting article about the UK’s ‘language deficit’: Foreign languages: skills in the workforce, which includes reference to many other reports and articles on the value of languages to the economy of our country. 
• ALL (the Association for Language Learning) has collated a range of documents and websites which provide a range of further reading on the benefits of language learning. They also have a really interesting page with lots of links to articles about the cognitive benefits of learning languages, covering everything from maths to music and medicine!
• ACTFL’s Guiding Principles publication on the language learning contains a summary of key information and good links to a number of other relevant articles if you want to explore this topic further! 

In 2015, in the most recent Scottish Social Attitudes Survey carried out by the Scottish Government, additional questions were added for the first time about people’s attitudes towards language learning in schools. The results were published in 2016 and you can read them through the link below.

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This year, as part of the Generation Global Erasmus+ project, SCILT undertook a small-scale national survey of learners, parents, carers and languages teachers looking at attitudes towards languages.

Many interesting messages came through from this, demonstrating a wide range of views and attitudes towards language learning. The key points are summarised as follows:

Learners

• The majority of learners who responded said that they enjoy learning languages.
• All of the learners who took part (even those who said they did not enjoy languages!) thought that young people should learn a language at school.
• The young people who did not enjoy languages wanted them to feel more relevant and to learn more about the culture of other countries.
• Many of the young people said that curricular constraints (ie. the limited number of subjects they could take) were a major factor on whether they or their friends opted to study a language once they had the choice, together with the perception that it was difficult.
• All of the learners thought that languages would be important to them personally in the future.

“I think that having another language really helps in getting a job as well even in a sector which isn’t directly linked to languages as it is a very important and useful skill to have.”

“Learning languages can help with lots of other subjects. Knowing another language is a useful skill in any job.”

Parents/Carers

• The majority of parents/carers who responded (94%) thought that it was important for young people to learn languages at school.
• However, fewer than half of the parents/carers who took part had the impression that their children enjoyed learning languages. They felt that they did not always see the relevance of it for themselves and/or found it difficult.
• Many parents/carers suggested that showing young people examples of a range of careers which use languages would help to engage them.
• Curricular constraints were highlighted by a considerable number of parents/carers as a reason why their children did not opt to continue with learning languages once they had the choice.
• Of the parents/carers who responded, around 80% had some knowledge, even at a basic level, of another language. Some are still continuing to develop their own language skills and to learn new languages.

“Languages in a practical sense make it easier to succeed in future employment but also introduce them to different cultures, broaden horizons and break down barriers.”

“Children learning an additional language are more creative, better at solving complex problems and usually score higher on other tests. Once children know a second language, it is easier for them to understand further languages structures, which is why experts say that every new language learnt is easier than the one before.”

Languages Teachers

• The majority of teachers who responded (75%) saw uptake in languages in the Senior Phase as a current concern for them.
• Again, curricular constraints were highlighted as a significant factor in the number of learners who continue with languages post-BGE.
• Some teachers also picked up on learner and parental perception that languages are difficult.
• Teachers note that having a range of languages and curricular pathways on offer is motivating and engaging for learners.
• Most teachers who took part identified the need to use real-life contexts and examples from the world of work in languages classes.

“Languages, like no other subject, develop literacy and communication skills. They give pupils confidence.”

“We should always 'make space' for languages on the curriculum.”