ABSTRACT
In the first thirty years after the Second World War, the teaching of Modern Languages in Britain was in danger of becoming something of a marginal activity. Marginal because of its traditionally exclusive position in the curriculum offered by selective schools and in the academic streams of wider ability schools. In a multi-cultural society such as that in the United Kingdom (UK), this has a crucial role, as yet hardly exploited, in meeting the kinds of challenge set out by Lynch's articulation of goals for education in culturally diverse societies. The growth of the Graded Objectives movement forced the pace of introducing greater negotiation between learner and teacher in agreeing and setting targets and determining standards of performance. Language learning has an essential role in the education of future citizens, and is the unique key to full appreciation that they are citizens not only of the UK but also of Europe and the rest of the world.
