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GCSE
passes
In 1998/9
GCSE Modern Language passes numbered 23,061 at grades A* to C, in
French, German and Spanish; languages accounted for 8.9 per cent
of GCSE passes at grades A*-C in the region.
Specialist
language schools
There
are eight specialist language schools in the region, including one
in Sheffield. These schools have secured government sponsorship
to raise the standards of achievement in modern foreign languages
for all students across the ability range and to enable young people
to progress into employment, further training or higher education.
Western European languages (French, German, Italian and Spanish)
account for two-thirds of languages taught, with Japanese, Mandarin,
Urdu, Swedish, Greek and Polish comprising the remaining third.
The
Sheffield Multilingual City Project (MCP)
In 1996
Sheffield Local Education Authority launched the MCP, to work towards
building on the diverse language base of the multi-ethnic community
in Sheffield; there are over 60 langauges spoken in the city, and
about eight per cent of the school population is bilingual.
Communities are encouraged to form language schools; in 2001 there
were 20 different language schools, with between ten and 500 children
participating in each. The ten largest are:
| Language |
Est.
no of children
|
| Urdu |
500
|
| Arabic
(Arabic) |
300
|
| Bengali |
250
|
| Cantonese |
150
|
| Somali |
150
|
| Hebrew |
150
|
| Malayan |
100
|
| Mandarin |
50
|
| Turkish |
50
|
| Arabic
(Saudi) |
50
|
Source:
Adapted from 'Yorkshire Forward Language Skills Capacity Audit 2001'
As
the age at which language classes begin falls in the region, the
MCP has initiated projects to teach Italian and French in primary
schools, and French, Spanish and community languages for under-5s
and their carers. Over 50 per cent of the nurseries in Sheffield
now provide a language programme.
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