Eurydice Report: Teaching languages at school in Europe, 2017 Edition

The following text presents the Main Findings of the recent Eurydice Report on languages at school level across Europe. It was produced in close cooperation with the European Commission. The references to particular figures and tables have been retained, and can be consulted in the full report, which is available online.¹

Main findings

The 2017 edition of Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe covers a very wide range of subjects in relation to the teaching and learning of foreign languages. These are addressed in five chapters: Context, Organisation, Participation, Teachers, and Teaching Processes. The "main findings" bring together the key points from each of these chapters with particular emphasis on the following issues:

• • the provision of foreign languages in the curriculum, with a focus on the first and second foreign languages as compulsory subjects;

• • the range of languages studied;

• • Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL);

• • the expected levels of attainment for the first and second foreign languages;

• • foreign language teacher profiles and qualifications;

• • transnational mobility of foreign language teachers;

• • language support for newly arrived migrant students.

Data from three sources are referred to in the "main findings", the principal source being the Eurydice network, which has provided information on foreign language teaching policies in European countries. Eurostat has provided complementary statistical data on student participation rates in language learning, while TALIS (OECD) has supplied contextual data on teachers' transnational mobility.

Compared with a decade ago, students in primary education are learning a foreign language from a younger age

In 2002, the Barcelona European Council invited EU countries to take actions to "improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age". In 2014, at EU level, 83.8% of all students attending primary education studied at least one foreign language. This is a substantial increase (16.5 percentage points) compared to 2005 where the percentage stood at 67.3% (see Figure C2). This is not surprising, given the reforms to lower the starting age for compulsory foreign language learning in some countries. In the majority of countries, this obligation now starts between the ages of 6 and 8 (see Figure B1).

However, this European trend hides great differences between countries. In 2014, in 12 countries, nearly all students in primary education studied at least one foreign language (Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Poland, Liechtenstein, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Norway). In contrast, in Belgium (Flemish Community), Portugal and Slovenia, more than half of primary students were not learning any foreign languages (see Figure C1a). These differences in proportions can be largely explained by the variation in the ages at which learning a foreign language becomes compulsory.

... however, the amount of instruction time, while increasing, remains modest

In 2016, the share of instruction time dedicated to foreign languages compared to total instruction time for the entire primary curriculum is still modest: in the majority of countries, this ranges between 5 and 10%. It is slightly higher in Belgium (German-speaking Community – 11.9%), Greece (the Unified Revised Curriculum – 11.4%), Spain (10.8%), Croatia (11.1%), Latvia (10.1%), Malta (14.9%), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (10.4%) and much higher in Luxembourg (44.0%) (see Figure E5).

Nevertheless, between 2011 and 2016, a few countries substantially increased the instruction time for foreign language teaching in primary education: Denmark, Spain, Cyprus and Slovakia (see Figure E2).

More lower secondary students are now learning two foreign languages compared with 10 years ago

At EU level, 59.7% of all students enrolled in lower secondary education were learning two foreign languages or more in 2014. This is a substantial increase compared to 2005 when it was only 46.7% (see Figure C4). This reflects a policy change in several countries, which aimed to increase the number of students learning a second language as well as lower the starting age. Indeed, unlike in 2003, learning a second foreign language is now compulsory for all students from the later years of primary education in Denmark, Greece and Iceland...