ABSTRACT
Learning a foreign language in English secondary schools is adversely affected by two uncomfortable circumstances: the learners already speak the world’s lingua franca and there is a popular belief that a language can be learnt ‘without tears’. The former is demotivating; the latter is sustained by adverts promising that we can learn a new language in a matter of weeks and by the observation on visits abroad that quite ordinary people seem to have mastered English. Once the novelty has worn off, there is therefore disappointment on finding that language learning is demandingly complex and that there is a lot to learn given only four brief lessons a week with 30 pupils vying for practice opportunities, and little conviction that the effort leads to something that is needed. Painfully slow progress ensues with subject matter lagging well behind learners’ maturity and interests and they are inclined to capitulate. In spite of the dedicated efforts of teachers well aware of the value of learning another language, the comprehensive school with an entry of some 150 pupils at age 11 is left with only a handful still persevering at sixth-form level when the experience could start to have meaningful rewards.
