Choosing Language Options at Secondary School in England: Insights from Parents and Students

Abstract

This chapter reports on the uptake of language study in upper secondary schools (age 13/14) in England, when language study becomes optional. Against a backdrop of continuous decline of language study past the compulsory phase over the last three decades, many secondary schools in England face the problem that they would like to increase the uptake of language study at age 14+, but do not necessarily want to force students to do so. Across the United Kingdom, language study beyond the compulsory phase is marked by sharp socio-economic divide, in that students from more advantaged background are much more likely to study a language. Furthermore, some studies suggest that parental language skills, and parents’ attitude to language study, influence students’ choice for or against a language, but little is known about this precise interplay. In an unprecedented demarche, this chapter analyses two types of data to compare parental and student attitudes towards language study choices: parental and student online discussion forums (Mumsnet and Studentroom), and dyadic interviews with parent and child. Results reveal that, while parents are overall more critical towards schools’ provision of languages, their schools’ language pedagogy and policy, and so on, children tend to echo their parents’ opinions on the relative merit of language study. The chapter concludes that any attempts to seriously increase language study beyond the compulsory must address the repetition of such intergenerational patterns, and actively facilitate uptake in students from families where language uptake has hitherto not been part of their cultural or social capital.