ABSTRACT
During the post-Second World War period, when FLs became seen as a desirable pursuit for the most able learners, they were not generally regarded as an essential part of every child’s educational experience. Indeed, until the introduction of comprehensive education in the early 1970s, FL learning was very much the preserve of the educational elites who either went to a selective or independent school. Even within the comprehensive system, some pupils were often ‘selected out’ on the basis that it was considered that they were better off improving their English. Nevertheless, there has always been a fairly strong ‘languages for all’ lobby that has promoted the wider benefits of FL learning for all pupils. The introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 bestowed on FLs an apparently secure place within the school curriculum to the extent that the subject area enjoyed compulsory status at Key Stages Three and Four for a relatively short period in the late 1990s. For a brief period, knowing a FL was seen as part of what it means to be educated, and an experience that every secondary school child should have. This elevated status of the subject area was short-lived, however, and it was soon to be relegated to optional status at Key Stage Four (KS4) following the publication of the National Framework for Languages in 2002, which provided for the gradual introduction of FL learning in the primary school.
