ABSTRACT
In the early 1980s, when the FL2 was perceived to be at great risk it was clear that the best way to consolidate its position nationally was for LEAs to develop plans locally that would ensure a range of provision. In October 1988 OXPROD contacted all LEAs in England and Wales not in receipt of the special Education Support Grant, and put two main questions to their modern languages advisers about diversification. In the developments which, post-Callaghan and pre-ERA, had begun to explore what was known about curricular provision locally, a DES Circular had caused considerable embarrassment in many LEAs, which had found themselves quite unable to answer some straightforward questions about the curricula of their schools. In many of the schools the decision to diversify had, in fact, come from within rather than as a result of any LEA policy.
