ABSTRACT
In retrospect, the 1990s were a time of confusion and ‘mixed messages’ in the modern language teaching world. At the start of the decade there was an emphasis on the effective implementation of the National Curriculum. Building on communicative principles tried and tested in the 1980s, a steady rise in GCSE entries, a ‘languages for all’ policy firmly in place and a curriculum which emphasised target language use and explicit grammar teaching, it seemed as though the scene was set for a fruitful period in language learning in secondary schools. Not so! By the end of the decade, language teachers were once again fighting to maintain compulsory language learning to the age of 16, ‘A’ level entries had decreased and the shortage of modern language teachers had reached crisis level. The National Curriculum had not succeeded in fostering cohorts of motivated adolescent learners who would perceive language learning opportunities as providing them with skills essential to their future working lives. Moreover, against the backdrop of the Nuffield Inquiry into Modern Languages (October-December 1998) aimed at defining in more concrete terms the country’s language needs for the following twenty years, the message is clear: Britain’s linguistic capability lags behind other countries in Europe. The 1995 European White Paper, which has as one of its priority objectives proficiency in three European language for all its citizens, sits uneasily with national realities. Quite simply many learners are voting with their ‘disaffected’ feet.
