This case study will describe and analyse how the experiences of online language teaching at the University of Cambridge gained during the first UK lockdown helped to inform planning for the next academic year. Emergency measures implemented for the third term of the academic year 2019/2020 were evaluated. A curriculum of blended teaching…

The School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University (OU) radically re-designed its modern languages curriculum in 2014, launching its first suite of new modules in 2017. The institution as a whole has since also developed a new employability framework. Our paper describes the principles underpinning the design of the new…

This paper considers the languages on offer in secondary schools in England and the possibility of enacting curriculum change with a view to reducing the dominance of French, Spanish and, to a lesser extent, German as a possible way to increase take-up of modern foreign languages post-14. Questionnaires were completed by 666 students aged 14-15,…

The statutory inclusion of modern foreign languages (MFL) into the Key Stage 2 curriculum in England in 2014 aimed to raise the language skills of younger learners in preparation for their secondary education. This change to the curriculum has occurred at a time in which the linguistic diversity within primary schools across the country has been…

This article explores the extent to which task-based language teaching (TBLT) as an emerging but increasingly popular language teaching approach can be used successfully for teaching te reo Maori as a minority and endangered language in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The article presents the experiences and perspectives of one beginning teacher of te reo…

Change and innovation in education require carefully thought-through procedures as well as time, and benefit both from exchanges of expertise between contexts and from quality assurance (QA) processes. A key document that stimulates change in planning, teaching, and assessment is the Council of Europe's (2001) Common European Framework of…

Whereas major research universities may accommodate programs of study in Arabic, Chinese, or Persian, regional universities and liberal arts colleges have struggled to adapt to a wider and more complex array of world languages and literatures in the 21st century. Many have been forced to choose between radically restructuring or closing programs…

This article presents the preliminary results of an enquiry on the work experience of Colombian language teachers who have entered the workforce in foreign countries. The study aims at unveiling aspects of the personal and professional experience of those graduates that might be relevant for pre-service teachers in local degree programs ahead of…

This article presents a descriptive analysis of the evolution of the world language Advanced Placement (AP) exam candidates' ethno-racial background, their heritage learner status, and language dominance, with particular emphasis on the two Spanish exams. The data come from aggregated national totals prepared by the College Board that include…

The trend towards the development of intercultural communicative competences of students, the use of interactive teaching methods, the changing role of a teacher to a consultant in the teaching process necessitates highlighting the level of perception, knowledge and views of teachers on the intercultural approach in teaching. Based on the study of…

This article considers the provision of modern foreign languages (MFL) in England since the 1970s in the context of wider curricular change and also taking into account Europe-wide developments in MFL. It charts the changes implemented over almost three decades to England's National Curriculum for MFL at secondary level (from ages 11 to 16) and…

The faculty and administration at Drake University made the decision in 2001 to alter radically how language instruction was delivered and received, beginning by disbanding the long-standing Modern Language Department. The dissolution of the department and the new pedagogy caused ripples of concern and shock among language instructors and…

There have been widespread concerns over the decline of modern languages and waning interest in learning languages other than English (LOTEs) around the world, thought to be partly due to recent political events including Brexit and Trump's aggressive isolationism in the United States. By contrast, governments in Greater China have energetically…

At a time when language programs around the United States are in crisis--the University of Rhode Island's Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures is realigning its curriculum to emphasize proficiency and intercultural competence within a strong liberal arts context. The result of the department's recent initiatives? More than…

Modern languages have always been about transition -- as practitioners, we challenge our students constantly to move between their own cultural and linguistic reference points and those of others. Our dynamic, interactive teaching methodologies have had to adapt to the pandemic context, necessitating the interrogation of past practice and…