Literature quality linked to foreign language ability in young people

Reading complex and engaging texts is key to inspiring young learners' interest in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) and potentially improving how the subject is taught in UK secondary schools, according to new Oxford University research. The study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and conducted by researchers at Oxford's Department of Education in collaboration with peers from the universities of Reading and Southampton, suggests that the current curriculum is too simplistic and 'dry' for some students. Teenagers were found to prefer and enjoy reading more complex and engaging material that challenged them. Based on these findings, the team feel that adding more varied texts into the school MFL curriculum could significantly improve the teaching of the subject, potentially motivating student interest in general. The research was motivated by a desire to address some of the persistent challenges facing MFL teaching in the UK, such as low student motivation, poor achievement and low uptake of the subject at GCSE level and beyond. This lack of interest is of particular concern in the context of Brexit, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that some students believe they no longer need to learn foreign languages 'because we are leaving the EU'. Dr Robert Woore, Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at Oxford's Department of Education, and lead author on the study, said: 'Our study shows that it is possible to raise expectations concerning the kinds of texts that beginner learners of French are able to access.