Andy Threadgould, Deputy Master Academic of Dulwich College, on the intrinsic value of learning Modern Foreign Languages, and its work to support MFL teaching

With Artificial Intelligence now commonplace and accessible to anyone with a smartphone, Large Language Models such as ChatGTP can quickly scrape data from the internet and process text in order to provide suggestions for everyone – from head teachers seeking inspiration for assemblies to teenagers looking for shortcuts to more traditional research when writing essays. 

It may be tempting, given the direction and magnitude of these radical technological developments, to regard mathematics, physics and computer science as the subjects which best prepare today’s students for further study and the world of work, since they train students in analytical and practical thinking grounded in STEM.

However, it can also be argued that modern and classical languages provide just as important and stimulating a challenge to the intellectually curious, requiring logical thinking, the identification of patterns and anomalies, an appreciation of context and nuance, and no little creativity and imagination. Learning languages also provides the benefit of unlocking a sense of culture, history and identity, informing disciplines as diverse as psychology, politics and economics. 

“MFL are beneficial to understanding our own language – helping build a linguistic framework against which to weigh the power of words”

Understanding ‘other’ languages is also hugely beneficial, of course, to understanding our own language, aiding communication and helping build a linguistic framework against which to weigh the power of words – whether used well, or misused – and in today’s world nothing could be more important than finding clarity, truth and meaning in our own thoughts, and in our relationships with others.

At Dulwich College we are committed to the importance of language learning, with one fifth of the curriculum in Year 7 split across French or Spanish, Chinese and Latin. This gives our pupils a rigorous grounding in three very different languages in order to set them up for the study of at least one foreign language to GCSE and, for many, success in languages at A level and beyond.

Typically, 10 of our Year 13 leavers go on to study a degree in linguistics, languages, or with a language component or study abroad, with 2023 university destinations including Philosophy and Spanish, and Italian and Linguistics (both at Oxford), History and Spanish at Bristol, and French and Spanish at St Andrews.

Language learning, of course, requires excellent teachers. Dulwich College is committed to training the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) teachers of tomorrow and is the South East London hub for the National Modern Languages SCITT programme. In our six years as a hub, we have trained over 60 new teachers and helped to tackle the national shortage of MFL teachers.

This programme is fully supported by Dulwich College’s MFL Department who share their wealth of experience and passion for languages with the SCITT trainees. Through this programme, we have developed strong partnerships with around 50 state and independent schools in the local area where our trainees carry out their teaching placements. Many of our trainees are employed by their host schools, which value their strong language skills and the high calibre training that they receive.

In a globalised and increasing fragile geopolitical environment, young people who can forge genuine, human connections with others – without the barriers created by technology – will thrive to their own benefit. This same group will be well placed to find new solutions to the social and economic problems we will continue to face in the years ahead.

Dulwich College dulwich.org.uk

Further reading: Foreign languages – the state of play

dulwich college Feature Featured London MFL Modern foreign languages senior senior school Sixth Form