Languages are the ultimate job skill – so why are we ignoring them?

The death of language learning.

A death that harms students’ career prospects and the UK’s international standing - and one that can only be fixed by reframing language subjects not just as an interesting frivolity, but as a crucial tool for finding success in today’s increasingly connected and competitive world.

Although this decline has been a concern for some time, the scale of this crisis was laid bare following A-levels results day when research found that more A-level students are now taking physical education than French, German and classical languages.

The study by the Higher Education Policy Institute found that under 3% of A-levels taken this year were in modern or classical languages. To put this in stark terms: we’re producing fewer multilingual graduates than at any point in modern history, just as the world becomes more interconnected.

The knock-on effect of this trend is deeply concerning. Lower uptake at GCSE and A-level obviously translates to fewer students choosing to study modern languages at university. According to the HEPI study: ‘Since 2014, 17 post-1992 universities have lost their modern languages degrees, bringing the total closures to 28 and leaving modern languages in just 10.’

To see what needs to be done, two questions first must be answered: What is driving this decline? Why is it important that the trend is reversed?

The driving factors of the vertiginous decline of language learning are myriad. The most fixable and easily diagnosable is grading. In her statement following the results, Judith Rifeser, President of the Association of Language Learning, called for the exam regulator Ofqual to look into harsh grading of languages at GCSE to encourage more people to take the subject at A-level.

This would be a good start, but other reasons are more esoteric.

For starters, language learning is being hurt by the increasing sophistication and availability of translation tools like ChatGPT. Why learn a language when you have ‘good enough’ translation at your fingertips at all times? AI translation handles the words, but humans handle the wider context and connection with other humans and the culture behind the language.

Furthermore, necessity is a powerful motivator. English being the hegemonic lingua franca for a large part of the world means that a lot of young people in the UK can’t see why they should learn a language in the same way non-native English speakers do, instead seeing it as a purely academic exercise.

English is also currently the dominant international language of business and culture, a factor that is both a huge motivator and an invaluable aide to non-English speakers learning the language. It’s no wonder that the UK falls behind other European countries when it comes to language learning.

In Europe, close to 50% of the population is proficient in at least two languages, in specific countries that rises to 70, 80 or 90%. The UK is by far the least proficient, with just 34.6% being able to speak more than one language.

Critically, there is also pressure among young people to take more so-called ‘vocational’ subjects at school and university.

There is a strong link between a young person's economic situation (and indeed the economic situation of the country) and the subjects they choose. A study by the Nuffield foundation found that those from advantaged backgrounds are more likely to take a language, and those from poorer backgrounds are more likely to take subjects in health, hospitality and manufacturing.

This isn’t just about individual students missing out, we’re creating a two-tier society where language skills become a luxury only the privileged can afford.

Which begins to answer the second question: Why is it important that we reverse the trend?

Language at school is often viewed as an interesting curio: a party trick. Something you can bring out on holiday to more frictionlessly order tapas; but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The conversation needs to be reframed from language being a ‘nice to have’, to it being a ‘need to have’, a crucial tool for young people to secure the lives that they want in the future.

Language skills can have a profound impact on career and economic outcomes, especially in a cut-throat job market being transformed by AI. Studies illustrating this are not hard to find, but Babbel’s own data on this subject found that a quarter of employees have received financial compensation or benefits due to their language skills.

With bilingual workers earning on average 10-20% more than their monolingual peers, that’s not pocket change - particularly in a cost of living crisis.

And the demand is only increasing. Returning to Judith Rifeser’s statement as President of the Association of Language Learning, she warned that the drop in uptake raises concerns about the UK’s ability to produce enough qualified linguists for the country’s needs. If UK companies struggle to fill roles requiring language skills, they will turn to other markets to find the right candidates. That is literally exporting opportunities.

Speaking a language is in part about exploring other cultures and securing a better salary (it’s also linked with creativity and empathy), but on a national scale it’s also about how the country is viewed as a whole. The former schools minister Nick Gibb was right when he warned last week that Britain’s role as a ‘global player’ was damaged by this decline in language learning.

As a language teacher, I try to convey, as I have attempted to do here, both the beauty, joy, and creativity of language, but also its vast and obvious utility in an increasingly globalised and competitive world.

To save languages in the UK, we need children and parents of all backgrounds to see it not as a diversion or a frivolity but as a crucial part of education, a key aspect of turning a young person into a fully-rounded member of society.

We need to democratise language learning, making it as accessible as possible for everyone.

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Noël Wolf is a linguistic and cultural expert at language learning platform Babbel

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