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Linguistics in practice. Levelling-up the modern languages curriculum

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 Swainston, J. & J. R. Kasstan (2023). ‘Linguistics in practice: Levelling-up the modern-
languages curriculum through Linguistics in the classroom’. In: A. Corr and A. Pineda
(eds.), Theoretical Linguistics in the Pre-University classroom. Proceedings of the British
Academy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Ch6

Chapter title Linguistics in practice. Levelling-up the modern languages curriculum

Chapter abstract
One paragraph, 3–5 sentences,
around 120 words and no more
than 200 words
Chapter keywords
through Linguistics in a UK classroom
This chapter has two aims: (a) it offers an overview of a pilot project that
was designed to introduce linguistics into the ‘Modern Foreign Languages’
(MFL) provision in a sample of UK schools, and (b) it reports on one
teacher’s own experiences, observations and conclusions after having
delivered on the project for two successive academic years. The pilot -
‘Linguistics in MFL Project’ - is a cross-Higher-Education initiative led by
academic linguists who designed a four-session mini-course in Romance
and Germanic linguistics for A-level students (16-18 years) in the UK. The
course covers foundations of linguistics (phonetics, phonology,
morphology, syntax, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics), providing
content in English, and activities in the target language. The first author –
in their capacity as a an MFL teacher and project participant – reports on
the benefits, as they see it, offered by a linguistic-theoretic approach to the
teaching and learning of additional languages within the UK-curriculum
context, before concluding with how their own teaching ethos and practices
have evolved over the course of the pilot. The chapter concludes by
highlighting some limitations in the existing curriculum for the delivery of
languages provision, and offers some recommendations for change.
second language acquisition
linguistics
language teaching
language proficiency
French
German
Spanish

1. Introduction

While there is a long-standing tradition of languages teaching in the UK, today it is

uncontroversial to claim that a languages crisis is well -underway. UK language skills in the

general population are reported to be among the worst in Europe (Lanvers & Coleman 2017:

3), and candidate numbers in – what are termed in the sector – Modern Foreign Languages

(MFLs)1 across educational levels have been in decline for some time now (cf. Dobson

2018:76, Poliska 2018a: 1-2; 2018b: 1). While the reasons for this decline are the subject of a

1
It should be stressed that there is significant opposition to this label, not least because these languages are not
‘foreign’ for many UK MFL candidates, who are also heritage speakers of these languages. We use the label here
absent consensus on a widely-adopted alternative.

1
now expansive literature, it is the existing curriculum that has been the focus of significant

attention (for recent overviews, see Corr et al. 2019, Pountain 2019). Among the more

prominent criticisms levelled at the curriculum is the positioning of languages study simply as

the acquisition of practical competence in a foreign language. This is particularly true of the

A-level (or ‘Advanced level’, post-16 school-leaving qualification) curriculum (the focus of

the present chapter), which, in the UK, prioritises the acquisition and competence in the

standard target language, at the expense of awareness of (a) the language’s underlying

linguistic structure, in relation to other languages in the candidate’s repertoire, and (b) the

socio-historical reflexes that have given rise to this structure. It is perhaps for this reason

(among others) that the curriculum as it stands has been described as ‘dull and uninspiring’

(Pountain 2019: 246). What is becoming increasingly clear, too, is that, where candidates are

bi/multilingual, their linguistic repertoires are ‘not drawn upon as a potentially facilitative tool’

(Costley et al. 2018: 1) in the acquisition process. It is against this necessarily brief backdrop

that we introduce below the ‘Linguistics in MFL Project’: a cross-Higher Education initiative

to address these shortcomings. In the sections that follow, the first author then offers their own

reflections on the pilot, having participated in this research over two academic years, before

concluding with how their own teaching ethos and practices have evolved over the course of

the pilot. We end the chapter by highlighting some limitations in the MFL curriculum for the

delivery of languages provision, and we offer some recommendations for how these limitations

might be addressed by policy directors.

2. Curriculum snapshot and the ‘Linguistics in MFL Project’

Recent criticisms of both the UK Department for Education (DfE)’s (2015) subject content

document (and the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance’s implementation of the

2
curriculum) have highlighted several concerns (for a more detailed overview, see Corr et al.

2019). For example, language provision in the UK is currently highly skills-focused, and,

despite the DfE’s description of the A-level as ‘an integrated study with a focus on language

and culture and society’ (2015: 4), there is little to no language-related content topics on the

A-level MFL syllabus, certainly none related to linguistics, in contrast to, say, literature and

film, both well-represented. This differs markedly from the A-level English Language

provision, which successfully introduces students to varied fields of modern linguistics (see

DfE 2014). As Corr et al. (2019) argue, this division between language skills and content topics

in the A-level (and the discipline of MFL more generally) represents both an artificial

distinction and a missed opportunity to situate language as an object of intellectual study in its

own right. The inclusion of linguistics as part of provision in French, German and Spanish (in

addition to many other so-called ‘community’ or ‘heritage’ languages), would bring numerous

benefits, from bridging the content/skills divide - in turn allowing the potential reinforcement

of core language skills - through to changing students’ own attitudes towards language itself,

by encouraging critical reflection on e.g. standard-language ideologies and linguistic variation

(a current of research that is now being targeted for inclusion in the English Language A-level,

see e.g. Cushing 2019). By introducing such research-led teaching in linguistics into MFL

provision, students will be better prepared for authentic interactions in the target language that

differ from existing textbook norms.

These shortcomings in MFL curriculum design have motivated the aims and objectives

of the ‘Linguistics in MFL Project’ (www.linguisticsinmfl.co.uk), an ongoing collaboration

between the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Westminster and Anglia Ruskin University

which began in 2017 with the principal aim of investigating the viability of introducing

linguistic theory as a conduit through which to offer language provision in the UK curriculum.

To achieve this, a team of academic linguists designed an introductory mini-course in Romance

3
and Germanic linguistics, which covers topics in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,

historical linguistics and sociolinguistics, and which is targeted at A-level pupils in French,

German, and Spanish. The pilot’s research design revolves around the gathering of attitudinal

data from research participants (both teachers and pupils) in response to the material designed

by the team, and taught by A-level teachers themselves who have some background in

linguistics. The pilot has run so far through 2017-19, and has engaged with over 300 pupils

taking French, German or Spanish A-levels in UK comprehensive, public and private schools

(project results can be consulted in Sheehan et al. 2021).

In what follows, the first author – a teacher currently delivering provision in a UK

school – reports on their own observations and insights after having participated in the pilot for

two successive academic years. Observations are drawn from classes with < 5 pupils, which is

not uncommon for MFL provision in the UK Further Education context.2

3. An emic perspective

I work as the Head of Department in MFL at Longsands Academy and I have sixteen years of

teaching experience in the UK (Secondary and Further) Education system (for students aged

11-18). During my time in teaching I have seen two major changes to the GCSE (General

Certificate of Secondary Education) examination, which students in the UK sit at age 16, and

the A-level examination, which is taken at age 18. The changes to MFL study at GCSE and A-

level have seen a move to a linear qualification and an increase in the cultural content on the

course at A level. Longsands Academy is a fully inclusive secondary school in St Neots

(Cambridge) which is part of the Astrea Academy Trust.3 The trust employs the staff and has

trustees who are responsible for the performance of all the academies in the trust. In recent

2
For the interested reading looking for comparisons with students’ experiences elsewhere, please see e.g.
Loosen (2014).
3
In the English system, ‘Academies’ are state-funded schools that are independent of local government control;
they are self-governing not-for profit trusts.

4
years, the school has committed to increasing uptake of languages at GCSE by guiding a larger

proportion of its students to take the EBacc GCSE route4 in line with government expectations.

St Neots Sixth Form is on the same site and is an inclusive institution with over 450 students

on roll. Uptake for A-level languages has declined significantly over the last four years since

the introduction of Linear A-level exams and the narrowing of A-level options from four to

three in Year 12 (16-17 years). It is hoped that this decline will be reversed in the coming years

with increased numbers of students taking a language at GCSE.

3.1 Motivation for this initiative

I have a personal interest in the study of linguistics and how it links to second-language

acquisition, which stemmed from my own study of linguistics in Higher Education. Therefore,

when offered the opportunity to become involved in the ‘Linguistics in MFL Project’ in 2018,

I was keen to be a participant in order to explore how I might weave the study of linguistics

into my language teaching in a more explicit way. The use of a more descriptive approach to

language teaching interested me and I was curious to see what impact this would have on my

students. I also considered a mini-course in the study of French linguistics as a valuable

enrichment for my Year 12 students as they began to consider university options.

In the first year of the project, I was delivering provision to a cohort of two A-level

pupils, both of whom engaged positively with the pilot. Both students had an existing interest

in the study of language, as evidenced in their other A-level and GCSE choices (one had taken

Latin at GCSE and the other was taking English language at A-level). In the second year of the

pilot, following delivery of the mini-course to a second cohort of two students, one elected to

investigate (as part of an Independent Research Project) the role of the Académie française as

4
The EBaccalaureat (or ‘EBacc’) is a school performance measure (and thus pathway) that quantifies pass rates
in a set of key GCSE subjects (English language and literature, the sciences, geography or history, and
language).

5
the purported guardian of the French language, and whether it acts as an external force on

linguistic change in French. The other student was inspired to write a poem about linguistic

discrimination in France, which was entered into a local poetry competition. The first year that

I delivered the mini-course, I viewed it very much as an ‘add-on’ or an enrichment to the A

level-course. What began to strike me in the second year of delivery was the potential for

aspects of linguistics to be built into the body of the A-level course itself.

3.2 How I delivered the course

As a class, we looked first at phonetics and phonology using a descriptive approach. We

discussed the fact that French is much like English in that there is a poor match between

spelling and pronunciation (there is no one-to-one correspondence), and the extent to which

French orthography is now very far removed from standard spoken French. We explored third-

person plural verb endings in particular as this is typically an aspect of French pronunciation

students find difficult. By taking a more descriptive approach and in explaining the reasons

behind different aspects of French phonology, I observed a discernible impact on their

pronunciation, with a greater appreciation of homophones in French. The students said that

understanding the reasons behind it led to a better appreciation of why certain words are

pronounced the way they are. To consolidate their understanding, we examined an oft-cited

poem – Les bizarreries de la langue française’ (‘The Peculiarities of the French Language’)

(anonymous, cited in e.g. Arcand 2017: 75) – which illustrated the extent of the sound-spelling

mismatch with regard to verb endings in French (as shown in Table 1). By taking a more

descriptive approach to the variability in phonology and morphology, and by examining how

the grammatical function of a word also has a bearing on pronunciation, the students paid more

attention to the pronunciation of the verb endings.

6
 Turning our attention to morphology, we looked at grammatical gender and the role of

suffixation by exploring the difference between a derivational and inflectional morphology. By

describing to students how the written language carries grammatical information in the suffix

of the verb whereas the spoken language tends to carry this information preverbally (in the

form of subject pronouns), it reinforced the work covered on phonology and deepened pupils’

understanding of the extent to which (and the implications associated with) the sound-spelling

mismatch in French. We also spent time exploring parts of speech (i.e. nouns, verbs,

adjectives) and how we can identify spelling patterns, e.g. with –uire verb forms, as in (a) and

(b), below:

a) produire; production; producteur; productif

(to produce; production; producer; productive)

b) construire; construction; constructeur; constructif

(to construct; construction; builder; constructive)

This work has had a positive impact in several respects. First, the students have

developed greater proficiency in decoding language and have enlarged their vocabulary base.

Secondly, it has improved their ability to paraphrase and manipulate sentences through

transposition which is an important skill needed for success at A-level. Students were

particularly interested in the study of linguistic variation in its different forms: social, regional

and stylistic. We discussed how attitudes towards linguistic variation are often negative;

particularly the further one’s accent is seen to differ from the standard language. Through

exploring the social repercussions of linguistic discrimination, I was able to make links to a

range of A-level topics including cultural heritage, marginalization and social exclusion. We

watched a short France 24 documentary on the phenomenon of glottophobie (‘linguistic

7
discrimination’)5 in France and how discrimination impacts on social mobility. The

documentary looked first at how the French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon had publicly

mocked a French journalist’s southern French accent, and we then went onto explore regional

accents in France, and how linguistic repertoires form part of a person’s regional identity and

cultural heritage. Finally, the power of the Parisian accent in the workplace was considered:

we problematised societal power asymmetries by focusing on the role of standard-language

ideology with reference to the fact that a speaker with a Parisian accent will in all likelihood

have greater power and legitimacy in the workplace. Students were interested to listen to the

range of different regional accents and to learn about the relationship between language and

power. This sequence of lessons made me realise the potential for integrating the study of

sociolinguistics into some of the A-level topics of study. I was also able to refer to linguistic

variation when considering the sociolinguistic aspects of the set film we were studying (La

Haine) where we examined the uses of verlan6 as a vehicle to express social identity. We

studied one scene of the film in particular in this regard, where we looked at why the three

main characters spoke a more standard French when they were in the centre of Paris as opposed

to their home surroundings of the banlieue. I am sure that there is scope for similar dialogue-

oriented exercises with other A-level set-texts or films.

4. Reflections

In summary, the content of the ‘Linguistics in MFL Project’ supported and extended A-level

content well, by deepening students’ understanding of the phonology and morphology of

French and by exploring linguistic variation, which added a further dimension to the study of

cultural heritage and marginalization that students had not hitherto considered. The study of

5
Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1UHlZzvawM.
6
Verlan (the opposite of l’envers, or ‘backwards’) is a label referring to an in-group (stereotypically youth) code
that involves reversing the order of phonemes or entire syllables under certain conditions (see e.g. Di Vito
2010).

8
linguistic variation can also be considered as an inherent part of the examination of film, music

and literary texts.

4.1 Impact on my teaching

I consider my involvement in this project to have been hugely beneficial to my own teaching

practice and to that of my colleagues. I have seen benefits both with my sixth form teaching

and younger students. Having presented the project materials in Year 12, I am now able to use

linguistic terminology with my Year 13 students to introduce and explain linguistic structure.

I routinely present exercises on morphology in addition to comprehension when doing longer

reading tasks, and I refer to phonetics when students practice pronunciation. I am also more

aware of the potential links between A-level content topics and the study of linguistics at A-

level. With younger year groups it has pushed me to reflect on the way in which I teach listening

skills in order to ensure that students appreciate the poor sound-to-spelling match from the start

of their secondary school studies. I use more dictation and transcription so that students are

trained more effectively to look out for homophones and to make the link between sounds and

spelling patterns. Doing this also allows me to see where misconceptions are occurring and I

can then adjust my teaching accordingly. As a result of my participation on this project, I have

developed some linguistics starter-activities which I have shared with colleagues. The aim of

these tasks is to enable students to become more proficient at identifying morphemes and

spelling patterns in French, which correspond to similar patterns in English. By doing this,

students can use powers of deduction to unlock the meaning of completely new lexical items,

and also attempt to work out basic structures for new words in French. This is a different

approach to the traditional method of introducing students to lists of new vocabulary, and, in

my view is more empowering for students as they are more involved in working something out

for themselves (see examples in Figure 1).

9
 [FIGURE 1 HERE]

This task was designed to get students thinking about spelling patterns for French

adjectives. They first had to work out how to pair up the adjectives, and I would give an

example to start them off if they needed prompting, e.g. créatif and sportif (‘creative’ and

‘sporty’). Next, they were asked to see if they could think of other French adjectives that they

could add to each pair, and, finally, based on the patterns they had identified, they were asked

if they could work out how to spell other adjectives in French, e.g. expressif (‘expressive’). I

would say that I also spend more time routinely raising students’ awareness of the difference

between written and spoken French by devoting more time to explaining the reasons for the

differences, rather than just asking them to accept that “it’s just the way it is”, e.g. with regard

to NE-deletion in negative clauses in spoken French. I would argue that this has had a positive

effect, because, in my personal experience, if students understand why something is different

from a teacher’s anecdote, then they are more likely to remember it.

4.2 Observations in the classroom

In spite of the small sample size, my own observations of, and discussions with my students

who participated in the project suggest that they found the materials engaging, particularly the

components relating to historical linguistics and language change. This is reflected in some of

the subsequent work produced by the students, as well as their own evaluations of their

performance. For example, during lessons, two students, who had previously reported

struggling with certain aspects of French pronunciation, later commented that the project

materials related to French phonology and morphology had helped them to improve their

pronunciation of third-person verbal morphology, having considered the disparities between

written and spoken French.

10
5. The wider picture

A major benefit of taking part in the project is that it has opened the door to greater

collaboration and dialogue with university academics, publishers and researchers. I was

fortunate enough to be invited to present my experience of the project at the ‘Linguistics in

MFL Conference’, held at Anglia Ruskin University in May 2019. This event brought together

leading figures in the development of Modern Language pedagogy, including university

professors, researchers, teachers, publishers, and examination-board representatives, to discuss

how linguistics might be better integrated into MFL. I am now involved in the planning of

further A-level resources with the second author, along with Prof. Michelle Sheehan (Anglia

Ruskin) and Mrs. Claire Robinson (Suffolk One). This work is enriching, and building such

links between secondary and tertiary education is an excellent model for continuing

professional development. Planning the new A-level resources has been particularly beneficial

as it is collaborative work which means that I have a better understanding of the sort of work

students may go onto study at university. It has also made me (a) examine the A-level course

closely and (b) realise how many aspects of linguistics can be incorporated into A-level study

in a more explicit way, thereby enriching the topic content and raising the profile of linguistics

as a discipline in schools. Continuing to develop one’s own subject knowledge as a teacher is

also extremely important in order to deliver a knowledge-rich curriculum to our students, and

classroom-research innovation like this is therefore very beneficial.

Participation in this project has also caused me to reflect on current MFL pedagogy and

the way in which we teach languages, which is still predicated on a largely topic-based

approach at all stages of secondary education (age 11-18). In my view this approach can lead

to a somewhat narrow and compartmentalised outcome, with students often failing to make

links between topics, so if they learn the verb avoir (‘to have’) when covering the topic of

family relationships this is where it remains in their mind, even though we revisit this verb in

11
other topics. I would argue that it is also the case that organising vocabulary and grammar by

topic limits the scope for looking at spelling patterns, which is itself a clue to underlying

linguistic structure. It would be more enriching for students if we were to consider developing

a language course which had a narrative running through it, e.g. the trials and tribulations of a

typical French family, with a new ‘episode’ each week. This would undoubtedly allow course

designers to introduce a richer vocabulary range, which would make the content more engaging

for students.

Finally, involvement in this project has also led to cross-curricular collaboration

between MFL and English in our school. We recently had our first joint department training

where Prof. Sheehan delivered a workshop exploring expression of politeness in French and

English. This led to discussion across the two departments and an appreciation of the

similarities and differences between French and English in this regard. In particular, we looked

at how, historically, there were two forms of second-person subject pronoun ‘you’ (you and

thou) in English, and why the more familiar form of thou was ultimately levelled out.

Subsequently I have been able to draw on this when explaining why there are two forms in

French.

6. Recommendations

As an MFL practitioner, my involvement in this project, combined with my knowledge gained

from recent developments in MFL teaching, as outlined in the 2016 MFL Pedagogy review

(Bauckham 2016), has led me to reflect on my own teaching practice and to adjust the way that

I teach. Looking ahead, I would make the following recommendations to improve the quality

of published teaching materials available to MFL Teachers:

12
 1) There are many opportunities for the discipline of linguistics to be introduced into MFL

A-levels more explicitly. For example, aspects of sociolinguistics could be introduced

into the A-level topics of cultural heritage and marginalization;

2) In the early years of secondary education ( age 11-14) we should move away from

topic-based teaching to a more narrative style of teaching, featuring, for example, the

daily life and adventures of a French family. This would stimulate interest, enhance

cultural content and enrich vocabulary use.

3) We should include more opportunities to work on language patterns which will allow

students to predict new words, and to establish morphological patterns in French,

particularly in relation to other languages in students’ repertoires;

4) There should be more focus on the sound to spelling relationship from early on through

routine dictation and reading out loud.

References

Arcand, R. (2017), Jeux verbaux et créations verbales: Fonctionnement et illustrations.

(Malakoff, Armand Colin).

Bauckham, I. (2016), ‘Modern Foreign Languages pedagogy review. Teaching Schools

Council’, accessed 18 May 2020,

https://pure.york.ac.uk/portal/files/54043904/MFL_Pedagogy_Review_Report_TSC_P

UBLISHED_VERSION_Nov_2016_1_.pdf.

Corr, A., Kasstan, J. R. & Sheehan, M. (2019), ‘A place for linguistics in Key Stage 5

Modern Foreign Languages’, Language, Society & Policy, accessed 19 May 2020,

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.40156.

Costly, T., Gkonou, C., Myles, F., Roehr-Brackin, K. & Tellier, A. (2018), ‘Multilingual and

monolingual children in the primary-level language classroom: individual differences

13
 and perceptions of foreign language learning’, The Language Learning Journal.

OnlineFirst. DOI 10.1080/09571736.2018.1471616.

Di Vito, N. (2010), ‘Sociolinguistics in France’, in M. J. Ball (ed.), The Routledge Handbook

of Sociolinguistics Around the World (London, Routledge), 310-326.

Dobson, A. (2018), ‘Towards ‘MFL for all’ in England: a historical perspective’, The

Language Learning Journal, 46, 71-85. DOI 10.1080/09571736.2017.1382058.

Lanvers, U. & Coleman, J. A. (2017), ‘The UK language learning crisis in the public media: a

critical analysis’, The Language Learning Journal, 45, 3-25. DOI

10.1080/09571736.2013.830639.

Loosen, S. (2014), ‘High school linguistics: A secondary school elective course’, Language,

90, e258-e273.

Poliska, E. (2018a), ‘GCSE modern languages results 2018’, accessed 18 May 2020,

https://university-council-modern-languages.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/514bb-

gcse-modern-languages-results-2018.pdf.

Poliska, E. (2018b), ‘A and AS level trends in Modern Languages 2002-2018’, accessed 18

May 2020, https://university-council-modern-languages.org/wp-

content/uploads/2020/05/7cd69-a-and-as-level-trends-in-modern-languages-2002-2018-

1.pdf.

Pountain, C. (2019), Modern Languages as an academic discipline: the linguistic component.

Language, Culture and Curriculum, 32, 244-260. DOI

10.1080/07908318.2019.1661153.

Sheehan, M, Corr, A., Havinga, A. & Schifano, N. (2021), ‘Rethinking the UK languages

curriculum: Arguments for the inclusion of Linguistics’, Modern Languages Open, 1-24.

DOI 10.3828/mlo.v0i0.368.

14
 Table 1. Examples taken from Les bizarreries de la langue française

French extract English gloss

Nous portions /pɔʁˈtjɔ/̃ des portions /pɔʁˈsjɔ/̃ We used to carry some portions

Les poules du couvent /kuˈvɑ̃/ couvent /kuv/ The convent hens brood

Mes fils /fis/ ont cassé mes fils /fil/ My sons have broken my wires

Il est /e/ de l’Est /ɛst/ He is from the East

Je vis /vi/ ces vis /vis/ I saw these screws

Cet homme est fier /fjɛʁ/, peut-on s’y fier /fje/ ? This man is proud, can one trust him?

Nous éditions /ediˈtɔ̃/ de belles éditions /ediˈsjɔ̃/ We edited some beautiful editions

15

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