European and External Relations Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, September 19, 2013

Official Report 482KB pdf

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Foreign Language Learning in Primary Schools Inquiry

Welcome back, committee. We move on swiftly—we have quite a full agenda from now on—to agenda item 3, which relates to our very successful inquiry into foreign language learning in primary schools. We have received a response from the Scottish Government, which I think we should note. I refer members to paper 3.

Do members have any comments or questions about the Scottish Government’s response?

I think that it is a good idea that the Scottish Government will update our committee. It is also a good idea that the Scottish Government’s response should be forwarded to those who engaged in the inquiry to keep them up to date.

I think so, too. Given that British Sign Language became such a relevant topic at our conference, I think that we should also forward the British Deaf Association submission to the Scottish Government. We can ask stakeholders to come back to us with their comments on the Government’s response to our report.

The Scottish Government’s languages model breaks new ground, so it is important to check whether it is working. Whatever is happening should be monitored.

I welcome the Government’s comprehensive response to our report. The Education and Culture Committee—of which I am also a member—is taking an interest in the funding for the language learning programme, so I am glad that the Scottish Government has responded on how it is working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on that issue.

My only concern relates to Scotland’s underperformance in the Erasmus and Comenius programmes, which the cabinet secretary’s response also highlights. Could the committee perhaps do more to investigate how Erasmus and Comenius have been promoted in Scotland?

For me, too, the main point is the need to raise awareness. The schools that we visited seemed to be pretty switched on to what is available, but some others are not. Perhaps we could use the report of the committee’s inquiry to disseminate information about those programmes, either through COSLA or through contacting the schools in the local authority areas that we visited. As well as ensuring that all those schools receive a copy of the report, we could perhaps draw their attention to the Comenius and Erasmus programmes. That might be one way to raise awareness.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s extensive response. As members will recall, the committee put a large amount of effort into what was a substantial piece of work, so I am pleased with the amount of detail in the Government’s response.

As usual, I want to pick out just one item, which is mentioned on page 7 of the Government’s response. During the inquiry, I raised a question about the use of the glow IT resource, which I know can also be used in other areas of the curriculum. I note that the Government’s response states that Education Scotland is considering “updating” the service. I am not sure whether that relates to the content or just to the need for a software refresh, but I think that the response is encouraging. I take it that, as part of that update, Education Scotland will revisit the content to improve glow for future years. Glow could play a crucial part both in the modern languages initiative and in other initiatives. I would welcome the committee keeping a watching eye on how that develops.

Do members have any other comments?

I want to make two comments. [Interruption.] Sorry—I beg your pardon. Does Roderick Campbell want to respond first?

Hanzala Malik has started, so he might as well continue.

Thank you very much.

First, I am very keen to see how things progress with e-twinning between schools. That seems a cost-effective way of communicating with people and of making friends. When there is a face on screen in front of you, you do not just talk to that person, but develop a relationship with them. I think that e-twinning could be a very valuable asset.

Secondly, another common language throughout most of Europe is—believe it or not—Arabic, but there is not much uptake of that. Again, e-twinning could provide a solution. Perhaps we could ask schools how they get on with that process.

We had a bit of discussion about the reasons for the decline in the number of foreign language assistants. I note that the Scottish Government’s response states:

“The decision to take an FLA rests with LAs ... Anecdotal evidence suggests that recent reductions are linked to Local Authority budget decisions.”

I highlight that point because it will be important to increase the number of foreign language assistants if we are to get the project moving in an effective way.

Okay. I want to make a couple more points. First, we saw some real benefits from social media, in that our language inquiry triggered a good debate on the Scottish Parliament’s Facebook page. That discussion received many hits, and I think that we may have had a record number of people contributing to the conversation. In further conversation with Sally Coyne from our media team, we might see whether there is a way of uploading the report—or providing a link to it—on that Facebook page so that the people who joined in the social media conversation can also read the report. We could get feedback from that point of view.

Sorry, convener—are you proposing that we put up a link to the Government’s response as well?

10:15

Yes, that would be excellent. The report has been published pretty widely anyway, but we can also include the Government’s response.

A number of questions have been asked on which further clarification is needed. We can ask the Scottish Government to respond to those in its first update, because it said that it would update us on progress.

Is the committee content to forward the Scottish Government’s response to all those who engaged in the inquiry and to pursue some of the ideas that we have come up with today? Do members agree to consider the Scottish Government’s regular updates at future meetings and ask for an update on the specific questions that have been raised today, as well as forwarding the response to the British Deaf Association for comment?

Members indicated agreement.

Convener, will we write to COSLA on the issue?

Yes—we should write to COSLA specifically to draw attention to the Comenius and Erasmus programmes. Are members content with that?

Members indicated agreement.