Reason: 4
The person who relies on others to speak his or her language is in a psychologically weak position
Reference:
Plasberg, U. (1999) ‘Building bridges to Europe: languages for students of other disciplines’ in the Language Learning Journal, No. 20, pp. 51-58
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities)
Reason: 5
When a person is always the one who has to be spoken to in his own language, he becomes, however brilliant in his own sphere, the one who always has to be accommodated, and therefore ultimately irksome, or always humoured, and therefore eventually patronised
Reference:
Giovanazzi (1997: 46) cited in Plasberg, U. (1999) ‘Building bridges to Europe: languages for students of other disciplines’ in the Language Learning Journal, No. 20, pp. 51-58
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities)
Reason: 20
The ability to speak the language of another community provides an instrument which allows access to their culture; conversely, if other communities can speak your language, they have a powerful tool for accessing your community
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Culture, Equality (equal opportunities)
Reason: 21
Linguistic knowledge endows one section of the community with an advantage lacked by monolinguals in their midst
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Multilingualism
Reason: 24
The ultimate consequences for a monolingual England will be linguistic disenfranchisement, the nation being unable to initiate communication with non-English speakers.
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, UK
Reason: 26
England’s monolingualism symbolises an expectation that others reach out to the nation via the medium of English. This ultimately implies a difference in the relationship of power: it is perceived as a remnant of colonial attitudes
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, Multilingualism, Values
Reason: 27
Those who speak only English may, in the future, be unable to communicate with the newly empowered and potentially rising communities where English is not the mother tongue. This is politically disempowering to monolingual English speakers
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, Globalisation, Multilingualism
Reason: 28
Linguistic competence symbolises a willingness to adopt a different relationship with partners.
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), International relations, Networking
Reason: 29
British nationals' interaction can only be responsive: they cannot initiate communication on equal terms with other EU member states. In other words, they are less powerful than those who have greater linguistic skills
Reference:
Willis, J. (2003) Foreign Language Learning and Technology in England from the 17th to 21st Centuries (a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the examination for PhD in the Department of Education at the University of Surrey)
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities), European Union (EU), Language learning skills, UK
Reason: 90
By its nature, the study of languages frequently confronts learners with their own and others' attitudes to many issues to do with gender, race, nationality, religion or class
Reference:
The Department of Education and Science; Welsh Office (1990) Modern Foreign Languages for Ages 11 to 16 (London: HMSO)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Values
Reason: 133
Practical language skills and knowledge are crucial to participation in democratic practices
Reference:
Byram, M. (2003) ‘Teaching languages for democratic citizenship in Europe and beyond’ in Brown, K., Brown, M. (eds) Reflections on Citizenship in a Multilingual World (London: CILT), pp15-24
Related Keywords:
Democracy, Equality (equal opportunities), Knowledge, Language learning skills, Practical skills
Reason: 135
At A-level [in a foreign language], one important contribution to antiracism is the inclusion of vocabulary that helps learners to talk about cultural diversity
Reference:
Starkey, H., Osler, A. (2003) ‘Language teaching for cosmopolitan citizenship’ in Brown, K., Brown, M. (eds) Reflections on Citizenship in a Multilingual World (London: CILT), pp. 25-35
Related Keywords:
Culture, Diversity, Equality (equal opportunities), Qualifications, Secondary sector, Values
Reason: 137
The pedagogy of Communicative Language Teaching is based on the democratic principles of freedom of expression and equal opportunities for participation
Reference:
Starkey, H., Osler, A. (2003) ‘Language teaching for cosmopolitan citizenship’ in Brown, K., Brown, M. (eds) Reflections on Citizenship in a Multilingual World (London: CILT), pp. 25-35
Related Keywords:
Communication, Democracy, Equality (equal opportunities), Teaching, Values
Reason: 139
Community languages have important contributions to make both to issues of equality and diversity within British society and to understanding our roles and responsibilities within the global community
Reference:
Anderson, J., Chaudhuri, M. (2003) ‘Citizenship and community languages: a critical perspective’ in Brown, K., Brown, M. (eds) Reflections on Citizenship in a Multilingual World (London: CILT), pp. 53-65
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Globalisation, UK, UK Community Languages
Reason: 177
For the English-speaking countries themselves, the emergence of English as an international lingua franca is not an unmixed blessing. For Britain especially, it masks the effects of the loss of imperial dominance, encourages complacency and perpetuates a sense of superiority as a result of a position in unequal international communication based simply on linguistic advantage but no longer corresponding to the realities of political and economic relations
Reference:
Trim, J. (1999) ‘Language education policies for the twenty-first century’ in Tosi, A., Leung, C. (eds) Rethinking Language Education: From a Monolingual to a Multilingual Perspective (London: CILT)
Related Keywords:
Communication, Economic, social and political dimension, Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, International relations, Values
Reason: 178
There is little awareness among British or American people of the dangerous resentments which can be built up by unequal communication
Reference:
Trim, J. (1999) ‘Language education policies for the twenty-first century’ in Tosi, A., Leung, C. (eds) Rethinking Language Education: From a Monolingual to a Multilingual Perspective (London: CILT)
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, International relations, National security
Reason: 194
A unique contribution of foreign languages to emancipation lies in preventing the school community itself lapsing into parochialism
Reference:
Hawkins, E. (1981) Modern Languages in the Curriculum (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Secondary sector, Uniqueness, Values
Reason: 233
Language teaching is a vehicle for transmitting such knowledge and understanding of human rights and a policy instrument for promoting intercultural understanding in a spirit of human rights
Reference:
Starkey, H. (2002) 'Citizenship, human rights and intercultural education' in Swarbrick, A. (ed) Teaching Modern Foreign Languages in Secondary Schools (London: Routledge Falmer, The Open University), pp. 95-111
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Intercultural competence, Teaching, Values
Reason: 244
If languages are indeed inessential to the UK Government’s main educational agenda, and therefore to be left to choice, opportunity and clusters of local initiatives, we might do well to address the results of this policy with a detailed mapping of the foreign language take-up by social class. We may find that the ‘unlanguaged’ are increasingly located within the postcodes of social deprivation, those socio-economic categories IV and V that the Government has identified as its main targets for raising educational aspirations and widening university participation
Reference:
Footitt, H. (2003) ‘Hunting the snark: international perspectives on language policies’ in Head, D., Jones, E., Kelly, M., Tinsley, T. (eds) Setting the Agenda for Languages in Higher Education (London: CILT), pp. 75-88
Related Keywords:
Education Studies, Equality (equal opportunities), Inclusion
Reason: 275
A society in which young people are engaged in learning foreign languages is less likely to foster xenophobic attitudes
Reference:
Wicksteed, K. (2004) 'Languages and the Baccalaureate' in Languages, Mathematics and the Baccalaureate (London: The Nuffield Foundation), pp. 12-17
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Values
Reason: 300
Perhaps those who have such a [global] language at their disposal - and especially those who have it as a mother tongue - will be more able to think and work quickly in it, and to manipulate it to their own advantage, at the expense of those who do not have it, thus maintaining in a linguistic guise the chasm between rich and poor
Reference:
Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, Social cohesion, Values
Reason: 309
People have a natural wish to use their own mother-tongue, to see it survive and grow, and they do not take kindly when the language of another culture is imposed on them. Despite the acknowledged values which the language of that culture can bring, the fact remains that English has an unhappy colonial resonance in the minds of many, and a history where local languages could easily be treated with contempt
Reference:
Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Related Keywords:
Diversity, Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, Less Widely Used and Lesser Taught (LWULT) Languages, Values
Reason: 320
There is a real sense in which a monolingual person, with a monolingual temperament, is disadvantaged or deprived
Reference:
Crystal, D. (2000) Language Death (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Multilingualism
Reason: 321
There are good grounds for conceiving the natural condition of the human being to be multilingual. The human brain has the natural capacity to learn several languages and most members of the human race live in settings where they naturally and efficiently use their brains in precisely this way... People who belong to a predominantly monolingual culture are not used to seeing the world in this way, because their mindset has been established through centuries of being part of a dominant culture, in which other people learn your language and you do not learn theirs
Reference:
Crystal, D. (2000) Language Death (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Health, Multilingualism, Values
Reason: 337
Our relationship with Europe needs more than English. Europe is emerging not only as a single market but also as a social and political forum in which English serves as a second language. There is a danger that European monolinguals will find themselves marginalised - unable to take a full part in the new institutions and opportunities in the economic, cultural and educational fields. For English monolinguals there is no single other language which will suffice: we need to explore the means of creating diversity of provision and language expertise in both the major and minor European languages
Reference:
The Nuffield Languages Inquiry (2000) Languages: the next generation (London: The Nuffield Foundation)
Related Keywords:
Culture, Diversity, Economic, social and political dimension, Education Studies, Equality (equal opportunities), European Union (EU), Global English, Less Widely Used and Lesser Taught (LWULT) Languages, Multilingualism, UK
Reason: 389
A world-class education system preparing people for life in the 21st century must reflect the fact that the world we live in is multilingual. The UK cannot afford a system that reduces languages to an elite accomplishment, available principally to those educated in independent schools
Reference:
Response from the Steering Group of the Nuffield Languages Programme to the consultation document 14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards, 20 May 2002
Related Keywords:
Accessibility, Education Studies, Equality (equal opportunities), Multilingualism, UK
Reason: 394
If young people leave school in a state of entrenched monolingualism or faltering and apologetic bilingualism, they will not enjoy equality with their more 'mobile' peers elsewhere in Europe when it comes to opportunities for further study, training, work experience or employment
Reference:
Scottish Executive, Ministerial Action Group on Languages (2000) Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues (www.scotland.gov.uk-library3-education-mwki-07.asp)
Related Keywords:
Education Studies, Employability, Equality (equal opportunities), Mobility, Work experience
Reason: 395
It would be unacceptable if the opportunities arising from 'mobility' were to be available only to elite groups within the population. Advice received from the business community suggests that there are opportunities and needs for languages both here and abroad across a wide spectrum of achievement and activity: not only for the high-powered international manager, the MEP, the diplomat or the international news reporter but also for the lorry-driver, the secretary, the shop assistant, the receptionist and the taxi-driver
Reference:
Scottish Executive, Ministerial Action Group on Languages (2000) Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues (www.scotland.gov.uk-library3-education-mwki-07.asp)
Related Keywords:
Accessibility, Business, Employability, Equality (equal opportunities), Inclusion, Mobility
Reason: 397
Children from heritage and community language backgrounds going through school will in many cases bring aspects of their culture with them, including their language. For them a modern language such as French, German, Spanish or Italian may be their third or fourth language, and English not necessarily their first. In line with current policies favouring respect for ethnic diversity and social justice, it will be important to provide opportunities for linguistic development and accreditation for those who wish to continue to develop their skills in a heritage or community language or who wish to develop a language which is a significant part of their cultural identity, including British Sign Language
Reference:
Scottish Executive, Ministerial Action Group on Languages (2000) Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues (www.scotland.gov.uk-library3-education-mwki-07.asp)
Related Keywords:
Culture, Diversity, Equality (equal opportunities), Identity, Qualifications, Secondary sector, UK Community Languages
Reason: 398
Teaching a modern language then fits into a broader framework of 'languages and learning' at school. It has a central role to play in helping all students connect the notion of linguistic and cultural diversity here with the notion of linguistic and cultural diversity in the wider Europe where many millions of people speak a language (whether an indigenous language such as Breton, Catalan, Basque, Frisian, Friulian, Ladino, Sorbian or an indigenised language such as Turkish in Germany or Portuguese in Luxembourg) that is not the majority language of the country in which they live
Reference:
Scottish Executive, Ministerial Action Group on Languages (2000) Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues (www.scotland.gov.uk-library3-education-mwki-07.asp)
Related Keywords:
Diversity, Equality (equal opportunities), Intercultural competence, Less Widely Used and Lesser Taught (LWULT) Languages, Secondary sector, UK Community Languages
Reason: 401
Those who are monolingual in English may run the risk of being perceived by others as having a limited and possibly arrogant outlook on life
Reference:
Scottish Executive, Ministerial Action Group on Languages (2000) Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues (www.scotland.gov.uk-library3-education-mwki-07.asp)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, Multilingualism, Values
Reason: 403
Each country lives its national life through its national and in some cases regional languages. Foreign visitors or residents who know nothing of that language ..... are likely to find themselves marginalised, even isolated. They will have access only to that information which is directed to the outsider
Reference:
Trim, J. (1997: 7) cited in Scottish Executive, Ministerial Action Group on Languages (2000) Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues (www.scotland.gov.uk-library3-education-mwki-07.asp)
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities), Inclusion, Mobility
Reason: 437
There are socio-political arguments for language study which are concerned with helping students to understand issues of power, domination, and subordination related to language, language use, language status and language attitudes
Reference:
Reagan, T. (2004) 'Don't know much about the French I took' in Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, Volume 3 (2), pp. 229-239
Related Keywords:
Economic, social and political dimension, Equality (equal opportunities), Values
Reason: 438
In any communicative interaction where one person is speaking his or her native language, and the other is using that language as a second or additional language (fairly typical of the linguistic encounters of native speakers of English with speakers of other languages), the former have a huge advantage over the latter. This fundamental inequity in the linguistic interactions between native speakers and non-native speakers is both powerful and problematic..this type of linguistic inequity is by no means eliminated by language study, but the process of language study may at least make the former speaker more aware of and sensitive to his or her dominance of the communicative interaction
Reference:
Reagan, T. (2004) 'Don't know much about the French I took' in Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, Volume 3 (2), pp. 229-239
Related Keywords:
Communication, Equality (equal opportunities), Global English, Values
Reason: 625
If you go to do a job with someone who speaks another language and they have to speak in English because you can't understand their language and culture, then you would be at a disadvantage. You wouldn't know the customs and the codes you are supposed to go through. Whereas if you know the language and culture, you can communicate with them better and it should be beneficial for both sides
Reference:
language undergraduate
Related Keywords:
Communication, Employability, Equality (equal opportunities), Intercultural competence, Understanding
Reason: 710
Language learning promotes equal opportunities
Reference:
language undergraduate
Related Keywords:
Equality (equal opportunities)
Reason: 723
There is an acute shortage of interpreters in all public services
Reference:
Higher Education Advisory Panel
Related Keywords:
Careers, Employability, Equality (equal opportunities), Health, Law, Translating

700 Reasons to study languages...