The 1+2 Approach to languages: looking back, moving forwards

Description

I was part of the organising committee for the three part series of cross-sector events to take stock of successes and challenges in the implementation of ‘Language learning in Scotland: A 1+2 approach’.

The first event in September 2016 was well-received and included the opportunity for participants to take part in a cross-sector debate to establish further action in moving forward. At the event, UCMLS published '1+2: Looking back and moving forward – survey results' which highlighted the following as some of the key challenges:

improve language competence of current teachers in primary school
create better transition arrangements for languages between primary and secondary school
hold more promotional events in schools highlighting the value and benefits of language learning
students on primary ITE programmes need to reach B1 level of proficiency
need for further training and on-going support
clearer information on how to implement 1+2 in classes with significant proportion of EAL learners
clearer guidelines on workable implementation models for L3
Further challenges, as well as successes across sectors, can be read in the survey results.

Do Coyle from the University of Aberdeen continued discussions on the theme and put the results of the survey in the context of ITE and Higher Education. Discussion was then enhanced by keynote speakers from business, a local authority and SALT, all contributing to the subject of ‘looking back and moving forward’. Presentations can be downloaded from the SALT website.

Another national cross-sector event was held on 29 November 2016 in collaboration with SCILT and Education Scotland, in the form of a video conference with Associate Professor Angela Scarino on the curriculum models derived from Australia’s national language policy.

The third and final national cross-sector conference was held on 10 March 2017 where we launched a cross-sector action plan in support of 1+2

Period	9 Sept 2016 → 10 Mar 2017
Event type	Conference
Location	Glasgow, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National