In reality, most of what we are offering pupils under the heading of communication is in fact just preparation for real communication… somewhere, some time. There is little real application; no actual message transfer; no purpose for language use except as practice – either for some future scenario, or for passing the exam. This is drill, no matter how much we focus it on real-life.
Time for Change
Without contact with native speakers or the imminent prospect of a visit to a target language country, we have to incorporate Ersatz meaning and purpose into the language activities to compensate for the artificiality of the classroom setting. Some of the articles you will find in this Web site explore how we can best do so.
This is easier to achieve in the Primary School settings. We are not yet bound by government-dictated schemes of work; there are no exam syllabuses to follow.
At Secondary level we desperately need to change things. We must start by shaking off underlying assumptions about language learning, deeply influenced (more than most realise) by 100’s of years of Latin teaching. If we believe in oral work, for example, shouldn’t we limit MFL class sizes to 15? Or is it acceptable that we offer exam success to pupils who may know nothing about the TL country, have never once been there, and have never even talked with a native speaker?
For most of our pupils, an exam award, under current circumstances, is going to be of little use. It is poor preparation in general for “the real thing” in later life. Freed from the straitjacket of exam specifications and government-dictated schemes of work we could offer a more flexible, natural and enjoyable language learning experience – and accredit it with standards provided by the Common European Framework.
There is an important minority of pupils for whom working with language in the traditional ways is suitable, even enjoyable. Many of these pupils will go on to specialise in language studies. For them, the academic route of exam success, prepared for by years of practice in laboratory-like conditions (dissecting and analysing), is fine. We should never neglect this group.
At large, though, we have a major crisis on our hands. We need to think radically. Some of the articles in this Web site provide further points for discussion as we seek to find a way forward.
