Learners, Schools and Language Policy

Work Package 1 (WP1) explores young learners’ experiences and motivations within Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, looking both at formal school education and at non-formal language learning, such as complementary schools and independent technology-led learning. We are interested in the school, family and social factors that shape learners’ decisions about which languages to study, and for how long.

Our research combines analysis of existing administrative data, including exam entries, Census data and measures of deprivation ,with new surveys and qualitative fieldwork in schools across all four jurisdictions. This allows us to identify broad structural trends before exploring, through survey, interview and focus group, the discourses that shape how learners, families and schools talk about the value of language learning. In parallel, a comparative policy analysis examines how language education policy is framed and put into practice in each jurisdiction, from curriculum design to teacher education and assessment.

Research Questions

What are the pupil-, school- and area-level predictors of international, indigenous, and home, heritage and community language uptake, learning and progression, both formal and non-formal, across the four jurisdictions?

How do language education policies across the four jurisdictions conceptualise and approach cultures of language learning?

To what extent is there a gap between stated language education policies and their implementation, and which factors help explain this gap?

Sharing the Findings

Findings from WP1 will be brought together with British Council-convened events in each of the four jurisdictions, producing a comparative report for language-adjacent professionals.