Top tips on increasing student engagement with languages
Despite students’ desires to communicate and develop their language skills, the latest House of Commons Library Briefing revealed just 47% of pupils were studying GCSE languages - so still some way to go to meet the Government’s 2025 target of 90%. Language teacher (and lover of languages), Alicia Blanvillain, shares her top tips on ways to turn this around.
Language Knowledge in the UK
In November 2023, we asked 1,000 secondary learners across the country to share their perceptions, predictions and hopes around language learning in UK schools. The results were weighted to form a nationally representative picture of students and modern languages today.
In February 2023, we asked 2,000 adults across the UK for their thoughts and experiences of learning languages. The results were weighted to form a nationally-representative picture of people and modern languages today.
Steve Eadon: Making languages relevant
Hear from Steve Eadon, Founder of Mingalaba, on his story from disliking languages as a teenager to running Arsenal's Community Outreach Team for more than a decade.
Benefits of languages in the real world
We’ve been speaking to university students, language mentors, professionals, police forces and even international footballers who have experienced the transformative power of languages firsthand.
Breaking down the barriers
Languages can open up a world of possibilities for students, not just during their school journey, but in their future lives too – so how can educators improve accessibility to ensure every child experiences languages?
Brightening futures through language learning, a student perspective
Teachers highlight the real benefits of language learning
Esmeralda Salgado
Esmeralda is an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) and a former Head of MFL and Digital Lead. She has taught languages for over 20 years from KS2 to KS5 in different school settings. Esmeralda is passionate about the use of digital tools and collaborative projects among schools and has extensive experience in using eTwinning and Erasmus projects as tools to enhance the teaching and learning experience in the MFL classroom.
Read her piece on motivating students
Read her piece on physical exchanges
Read her piece on taking languages outside the classroom
Declan Baharini
Declan has been the Director of International Newcastle since 2018. She is passionate about internationalism and languages and has 30 years of experience in collaborative working, policy and partnership development, lobbying and advocacy at local, regional, national and European levels. The role of Director of International Newcastle combines all the things she is passionate about - internationalism, languages, communities, building networks, supporting international links and connecting young people to opportunities.
Dr. Liam Printer
Liam hosts The Motivated Classroom podcast and is the Leader of Pedagogical Innovation and Approaches to Learning at the International School of Lausanne in Switzerland where he also teaches Spanish in the middle and high school. His Doctorate in Education focused on motivation and teaching languages through storytelling and his research has been published in various peer reviewed journals.
Raul Ramirez
Raul is the Head of MFL at Castle View Academy in Portsmouth and is passionate about help young people realise the positive impact languages can have on their lives in the future.
Lucy Jenkins
Lucy is the Programme Manager at MFL Mentoring, an organisation that supports young people in exploring their world with free langauge mentoring and resources.
Resources and guidance
To support you in teaching the 2024 MFL GCSEs, we offer a variety of different resources and guidance to make the transition to the new qualification as smooth as possible.
Our qualification
Our 2024 MFL GCSEs not only combine real-world content with transparent and accessible assessments, but also include vocabulary and thematic contexts that reflect diverse student experiences.
Conversations with Eric Dier
We've teamed up with England and Tottenham footballer, Eric Dier, to showcase the benefits of language learning and the impact it can have on students' future lives.
Languages in life
Hear from a range of graduates and language enthusiasts on the countless benefits of language learning, including its influence on career development beyond the classroom.
Keen to find out more?
If you want to find out more about our Pearson Edexcel French, German and Spanish GCSEs, register your interest and we'll keep you up to date on the latest support, events, training and more.