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Vive la Différence? Some Problems in Investigating Diversification of First Foreign Language Provision in Schools
Author(s) -
Phillips David,
FilmerSankey Caroline
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/0141192890150307
Subject(s) - foreign language , diversification (marketing strategy) , language education , pedagogy , government (linguistics) , mathematics education , work (physics) , sociology , political science , linguistics , psychology , business , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , marketing
For as long as modern foreign languages have been taught in British schools, French has predominated. This has remained the case despite initiatives to promote the teaching of other languages. Now, however, it is government policy to encourage diversification of first foreign language teaching, so that there will be a substantial increase in the teaching of languages other than French as first foreign languages. This paper describes the work of the Oxford Project on Diversification of First Foreign Language Teaching (OXPROD), and in particular the difficulties of setting up an investigation which takes account of pupils' language aptitude and attitude in a sample of schools. The project methodology and instruments are described, and solutions to some preliminary problems are discussed. The future development of the project is outlined.