The case for learning modern languages

It is widely accepted that modern language learning in the UK, including in Scotland, has been unsatisfactory for several years,  if not decades, with significant social and economic impacts.

It has been estimated that the UK’s general lack of language skills costs at least 3.5% of GDP per annum. Such a lack has attested effects in terms of social inclusion and what has been called ‘cultural agility’, which is crucial in an increasingly interconnected world where monolingualism has been described as ‘the illiteracy of the 21st century’ (Roberts, Lesli, and Wade 2018). Researchers have shown the very considerable cognitive as well as socio-economic benefits of being able to speak more than one language.

They enhance employability, enabling people to navigate multicultural environments and to be sensitive to cultural difference and better at conceiving events from multiple points of view’.

The Scottish Government is aware of these issues, and as part of the implementation of its Curriculum for Excellence, developed a ‘1+2’ policy introduced in 2013, ‘to create the conditions to provide all children and young people with an entitlement to learn additional languages – starting early in P1 until the end of S3, providing all learners with a 10-year language learning experience’.

One language that could be taught to the level of a National Qualification, viz. French, Spanish, German, Italian, Gaelic (Learners), Urdu, Mandarin, and Cantonese, was to be offered to children from the start of P1–S3; and any second language, ‘including British Sign Language (BSL), Latin, Scots and community languages’, was to be offered from P5–P7. Although, there was no compulsion to stick to that language throughout those years. In secondary school, this further language ‘should be taught at some point during the Broad General Education (BGE)’.

In 2023, the Scottish Government reported that there had been positive progress, but that ‘there will be variations in the methods and standards used to deliver language learning.’ Schools, we are told, ‘have now transitioned to a consolidation phase. We will focus on reaffirming the goals of the policy, having a common understanding of what a full implementation means and how to address the remaining barriers to this implementation and ensuring that all pupils have an equal opportunity to benefit from language learning.’

Despite such broadly upbeat comments (which do not seem to be based on a formal evaluation), it remains the case that many challenges remain. The British Council’s Language Trends Scotland 2024/25, while reporting in measured terms that there were positive developments, nevertheless identified that ‘[s]hared concerns across local authority and independent schools include links between primary and secondary levels, and on the perceptions of relevance and careers advice for young people when making informed subject choices.’

In a recent paper for TES, Professor Lorna Milne FRSE, President of the Franco-Scottish Society, claimed that ‘[t]he number of young Scots leaving school with a basic level of competence in a foreign language is plummeting.’ She noted that in the decade 2015-2024, the ‘implementation’ period for ‘1+2’ – Higher exam presentations for French and German dropped by 50 and 51 per cent respectively, ‘while a 26 per cent increase in Spanish signally failed to return the overall numbers for the three languages to their position of 10 years before.’

There is an obvious knock-in effect on university entry to study these subjects, ‘narrowing the pipeline of future language teachers’, and universities, hard-pressed often because of developments outwith their control and looking for savings, have consequently sought to cut provision. Milne identified three possible reasons for this decline: first, a lack of suitably qualified (and thus confident) teachers, 40% of whom are in primary schools, according to the British Council survey, have no language qualification of any kind; second, a lack of continuity in delivery of particular languages, and lastly, a lack of time in a crowded curriculum.

It could also be argued that the previous UK Government’s ‘hard’ implementation of Brexit, which has inter alia included withdrawal from the Erasmus scheme and caused difficulties in the recruitment of native-language assistants, has exacerbated these pressures.

We think this issue deserves to be much more prominent in public discourse, and therefore, as part of its 2026 RSE Investigates… Language series, we are currently adding our voices to make the case for learning modern languages. Following on from a scoping seminar held at the end of 2024, and a further preparatory meeting in November 2025, we will be holding an open public discussion event at the RSE in April 2026, in the run-up to the Holyrood elections the following month.

Jeremy Smith FRSE, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow, English Language and Linguistics, University of Glasgow

The RSE’s blog series offers personal views on a variety of issues. These views are not those of the RSE and are intended to offer different perspectives on a range of current issues.

[1] https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1814-1.html

[2] https://www.bilingualism-matters.org/

[3] https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications/the-importance-of-languages-in-global-context-an-international-call-to-action/

[4] https://www.gov.scot/publications/12-languages-policy-findings-2023-survey-local-authorities/. ‘1+2’ = ‘English plus two other languages.’

[5] https://www.gov.scot/publications/12-languages-policy-findings-2023-survey-local-authorities/pages/8/

[6] https://scotland.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/language_trends_2024_scotland_report.pdf

[7] https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/general/why-languages-provision-scottish-schools-needs-urgent-review