Embedding transnationalism in Modern Languages pedagogy: A UK perspective

Abstract

This is not an easy time for the disciplinary area of Modern Languages at least as it is understood and practised in the UK. To begin with, as is well known, there has been a decline in applications for university degrees in the subject over the last decades. There are many reasons for this decline but one of them certainly concerns the widespread (mis)perception that in a world where English functions as the lingua franca in so many sectors of international activity there is a diminishing need for graduates to attain a high level of proficiency in two or more languages and related cultural study. Perhaps even more concerning has been the closure or threatened closure of language departments or Schools of Modern Languages over the recent past. Among the list of university departments that – despite the distinguished contributions that they have made over lengthy periods of time to the study of language and culture – have been significantly downsized are those of the universities of Aston and of Hull (Astbury, 2021). A further issue that is causing concern within the subject area (Cazzoli, 2022), specifically in England, is the imminent introduction of a reform to the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages in secondary schools up to the age of sixteen in which there is no formally assessed cultural element (O’Farrell, 2021). Each of the issues mentioned above brings with it a predictable series of consequences. Though it is true that the take up of language courses is complex and includes certain areas of growth, it is nevertheless the case that if the general decline of recruitment continues, then it is likely that there will be more closures of departments. This leads to a situation in which there may be scarce provision in the subject across whole parts of the country. If the number of centres for the study of language and culture is retracting, then inevitably there are fewer opportunities for