ABSTRACT
For decades, access to Latin in British classrooms was restricted to those whose intellectual capacity was considered sufficient to cope with the demands of the language. Pupils who excelled in English or in modern languages were ‘allowed’ to learn Latin as a means to stretch and deepen their literacy skills. Access to Ancient Greek was even more limited. Those who excelled at Latin were permitted to learn Ancient Greek. My research indicates that this rationale has prioritised the wrong learners for access to Latin and Greek. Over five years, and in partnership with Classics education charities, my study has gathered quantitative and qualitative data from more than 2000 pupils and teachers which indicates that Latin unlocks the most significant gains for pupils who are performing below age-related literacy expectations. In many cases, these are young people who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL), have Special Educational Needs (SEN) or who come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and are eligible for free school meals (FSM): learners who may have been excluded from learning Latin in the past. Findings suggest that learning Latin has a positive influence on student understanding of English etymology, morphology and semantics. There are improvements across reading and writing assessments for participants in the study. Although many fewer students learned Greek than Latin during the project, encouraging findings also emerge for literacy development in young children who study Ancient Greek.
