Dear Colleague,
As you may know, one of the achievements in this country's language education over the last decade has been the creation of a system, called 'Asset languages', which allows children to get credit for varying amounts of knowledge (typically below GCSE standard) in a wide range of languages. (The system is based on the 'grade exams' in music.) This system is now under threat, so a petition has been launched by Terry Lamb, a long-serving and much-admired member of the Committee for Linguistics in Education. The following is a message of explanation that he has just circulated. I urge all LAGB members to consider signing the petition.
Dick Hudson
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Dear Colleagues,
You may have heard that OCR is planning to drop Asset languages accreditation for 20 of its 25 languages. This is a massive blow for the recognition of achievement in these languages, which was hard fought for. For many of them it is the only form of recognition, and this is significant for the communities themselves but also for the country's ability to benefit from this valuable resource.
On behalf of Speak to the Future, the campaign for languages, I have started an e-petition. You will be able to see more information about the implications of this move as well as a letter I sent to OCR.
I would be grateful if you could sign the petition - it only takes a minute - and circulate it amongst your networks.
See links below to the petition and a news item on the Speak to the Future website. The news item also contains a link to my letter to OCR.
Many many thanks!
Terry
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Dr Terry LAMB
Senior Lecturer in Education
Director of Learning and Teaching
Director, MA in Applied Professional Studies in Education
University of Sheffield
President, FIPLV (Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues
Vivantes)
Chief Editor, International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning and
Teaching
School of Education
The Education Building
388 Glossop Road
Sheffield
S10 2JA
Tel: (+)44 (0)114 222 8118
Fax: (+)44 (0)114 279 8631
http://www.shef.ac.uk/education/staff/academic/lambt.html
