ABSTRACT
At the time of writing this chapter a national inquiry by the Nuffield Foundation (2000) is under way to reassess our current provision for and performance in learning other languages and to identify ways forward. One of the main areas for consideration in the inquiry is which languages we should in fact be teaching in our schools taking into consideration our membership of the European Union, but also the impact of global trade and the fact that the United Kingdom itself is a multilingual, multicultural society. The tension and uncertainty which so evidently characterises the British outlook with regard to each of these factors should serve to remind us that choices made about language in education, whether it be about the teaching of English or about other languages, are made in a context which is anything but neutral or value free.
