Why

All children are citizens of a plurilingual world. All have a right, and perhaps a responsibility, to learn about other cultures and to sample other languages.
All children need to learn to accept and value people from backgrounds different from their own.
Learning another language helps children to become more aware of their own. This awareness can lead to improvements in literacy across the curriculum.
It's another way to revisit basic concepts and to learn social skills.
The experiences that accompany foreign language learning are life-enhancing, but the precise benefits for any specific child may be unpredictable. Who can say what benefits any child will gain from any particular experience? Who can deny any child the chance to enjoy those benefits, whatever they may be? (See Workshop 3.)
Experience has shown that all but a very few children can benefit from language learning, provided that the content offered and the methodologies employed are appropriate for their learning needs.


	MFL & INCLUSION

WHY ?

Learning and teaching

Linking Communities

Why teach foreign languages to children who are already struggling with their own language?

The bullet points on this page offer brief answers to this question. For more in-depth discussion, follow the links below.

Reproduced by kind permission of
PRIVATE EYE / Colin Wheeler


	DOWNLOADS


	Extracts from the 2005 EU report:

	Special Educational Needs in Europe: The Teaching and Learning of Languages: Insights and Innovation.


	A collection of 'snapshots' showing how the lives of children who might have been considered unsuited to language learning have been enhanced by effects which could not have been predicted. They are true stories. (See also: Workshop 3)


	Can all children benefit from foreign language learning?


	My own thoughts on these matters, as published in Support for Learning Volume 20. Number 3. August 2005 © 2005 NASEN. It asks what foreign language learning is really for and what it has to offer pupils whose level of skill acquisition is likely to be modest.

	Abstract

	Article: Foreign Language Learning and Inclusion: Who? Why? What? and How?


	Here's the text of the keynote speech I gave at a Council of Europe seminar in October 2004.

	Modern Languages for All?


	WEBLINKS


	12.1.09 Research Looking for research into the benefits of language learning? Here's a useful starting point: http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4524


	13.2.10 Languages smarten up your brain A study by David Marsh published by the European Commission in January 2010 reveals that learning an additional language such as English may bring benefits that go beyond the ability to use the language itself. The study has implications for why, when and how we teach and learn English as a second or foreign language. This article in the Guardian Weekly draws attention to the implications for learning English as a foreign language, but the research has implications for all foreign language learning. The specific cognitive advantages mentioned apply to all levels of ability. http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=1418&catID=18

'Given that all children of the European Union, regardless of their aptitudes and abilities, share the same fundamental right of citizenship, it follows that an inclusive approach to early language learning should be adopted.'

Foreign languages in Primary and Pre-School Education: Context and Outcomes (Section 5.3.4) (page 108)
Christiane Blondin et al. European Union 2007

http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/young_en.pdf


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