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Students Study Foreign Languages in Europe but Perceptions of Skill

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Students Study Foreign Languages in Europe but Perceptions of Skill Population and social conditions Statistics in Focus 49/2010 Authors: Lene MEJER, Sadiq Kwesi BOATENG, Paolo TURCHETTI More students study foreign languages in Europe but perceptions of skill levels differ significantly Linguistic diversity in Europe: language learning at school and how adults perceive their foreign language skills At its meeting in Barcelona in 2002 the European Council set the target of ‘mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age’1. Since then, linguistic diversity has been encouraged throughout the EU, in the form of learning in schools, universities, adult education centres and enterprises. This issue of Statistics in Focus highlights the following findings: • Significantly more primary school pupils were • More than one-third of adults aged 25 to 64 learning a foreign language in 2008 than in 2000. perceive2 that they do not know any foreign This is also the case in lower secondary education language. A slightly smaller proportion say that they but there the progress was more modest. know one foreign language. • By contrast, no progress was made in the number of • The best known foreign language by far is perceived languages studied in upper secondary education to be English, followed by German, Russian, French from 2000 to 2008. and Spanish. • Students in upper secondary general education study • A higher proportion of the younger adult population more languages than students in the vocational claim to speak foreign languages than of the older stream at the same level. generations, except in some Eastern-European • English is by far the foreign language most studied Member States. at all levels of education, followed by French, • Likewise, a correlation was found between a high German, Russian, and, to a lesser extent, Spanish. level of education and a higher perceived proficiency in foreign languages. Figure 1: Average number of foreign languages studied, primary education*, 2000 and 2008 2.0 1.8 2000 1.6 2008 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 I Z K E IE R IT U U O SI K F IS O K BE BG C D D EE EL ES F CY LV LT L H NL PL R S SE UK N M EU27 Source: Eurostat, Education statistics, UOE data collection (educ_ilang) Notes: - MT, AT, PT missing, FR 2008 missing * primary education = ISCED level 1 - the average number of languages learned is calculated using the number of pupils learning languages divided by the number of pupils, in primary education. The starting age for learning languages as well as the number of languages learned explain the figures (see also methodological notes) Two data sources are used in this issue of Statistics in Second, data from the adult education survey module on Focus. First, the Eurostat data on foreign language self-perceived language skills of the population aged 25 learning (education statistics, UOE data collection) for to 64 years old are also used. The adult education survey the 2007/08 school year. All foreign languages was carried out between 2005 and 2008, with 2007 used (including all 23 official EU languages) that are taught as a common reference year. Further information on data as 'foreign languages' in schools are included. sources is given in the notes on 'Methodology'. More and more primary school pupils are learning a foreign language, less so in lower secondary education Figure 1 shows a marked upward trend in the average of primary education, lowering the average number of number of foreign languages studied by primary school languages studied (see the notes on ‘Methodology’4). pupils. Between 2000 and 2008 the average number of languages studied in the EU increased by roughly a third In lower secondary education (figure 2), learning at (from 0.6 to 0.8). There were significant increases in least one foreign language is compulsory in every some countries, such as Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, country. The number of languages studied averaged Italy and the United Kingdom, although the trend was 1.4 in 2008, up from 1.3 in 2000. In most EU also positive in most other countries. countries the average number of foreign languages studied per pupil ranges from 1.0 to 2.0. The trend These increases are basically due to the fact that, over between 2000 and 2008 differs significantly between the years, studying at least one foreign language at countries. In some, the average number of languages primary school level has become compulsory in every 5 3 studied increased (as in Belgium , Germany, Italy, European country with the sole exception of Ireland . However, the age at which a foreign language is taught Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and for the first time varies significantly from one country to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), another. whereas in others it decreased, as in Denmark, Greece, Spain, Poland, Finland, the UK, Iceland and Figure 1 illustrates the number of languages studied, Norway. taking into account the whole period of primary education. Therefore, in countries where all children One interpretation of this pattern could be that, are taught a foreign language as a compulsory subject whereas at primary level the starting age is getting from the first year of primary education onwards, on earlier, in secondary education the number of years average one language (or more) is studied. This is the for which foreign languages is a compulsory subject case for Italy, Luxembourg and Norway. On the other (and/or the number of languages studied) is hand, in several countries compulsory learning of a decreasing slightly. first foreign language begins some years after the start Figure 2: Average number of foreign languages studied in lower secondary education*, 2000 and 2008 2.6 2.4 2.2 2000 2.0 2008 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 E E IE S R IT U SI FI K IS O K B BG CZ DK D EE EL E F CY LV LT L HU NL PL RO SK SE U N M EU27 Source: Eurostat, Education statistics, UOE data collection (educ_ilang) Notes:- MT, AT, PT missing * lower secondary education = ISCED level 2 - the average number of languages learned is calculated using the number of pupils learning languages divided by the number of pupils, in lower secondary education. The starting and ending ages for learning languages as well as the number of languages learned explain the figures (see also methodological notes). 2 49/2010 — Statistics in Focus A high percentage of students at upper secondary education are learning two or more foreign languages. Table 1 shows that students continue studying but the proportion studying no, one or two or more languages after leaving compulsory education when foreign languages is also reported by programme they move on to upper secondary education (ISCED orientation. The aim is to classify each programme on level 3). Like the figures for primary and lower the basis of its content. ‘General orientation’ means secondary levels, the percentage of pupils in upper upper secondary type studies, whereas the vocational secondary education learning foreign languages is stream means education leading directly to a labour calculated as a proportion of all students in all years, market qualification. Table 1: Average number of foreign languages studied (2000 and 2008) and students by number of languages studied (%) at upper secondary level, 2008 general orientation vocational orientation*** country average number of Percentage of students by number of average number of Percentage of students by number languages languages studied languages of languages studied 2000 2008 none 1 2 or more 2000 2008 none 1 2 or more EU** 1.6 1.4 11.9 37.9 50.2 1.2 1.1 4.9 61.9 33.2 BE 2.2 2.2 1.2 10.9 87.9 : 1.3 24.9 25.6 49.5 BG 1.8 1.8 0.2 24.3 75.5 0.7 1.5 2.6 48.8 48.6 CZ 2.0 2.0 - - 100.0 1.1 1.3 2.0 66.1 31.8 DK 1.8* 1.6 - 38.9 61.1 0.9* 0.9 6.0 94.0 - DE 1.4 1.4 : : : 0.4 0.5 : : : EE 2.3 2.3 0.7 1.7 97.7 1.8 1.8 10.4 11.9 77.8 IE 0.9 0.9 19.0 72.7 8.4 1.0* 1.0 6.5 90.9 2.7 EL 1.1* 1.1 1.0 91.1 7.9 0.9* 0.8 20.8 78.3 0.9 ES 1.1 1.2 5.0 67.2 27.7 1.0 1.0 - 97.4 2.6 FR 1.9 2.0 - 9.8 90.2 1.0 1.1 1.9 88.2 9.9 IT 1.2 1.3 2.2 71.6 26.2 1.1 1.4 3.7 58.0 38.3 CY 2.0 1.8 - - 100.0 1.0 1.2 - - 100.0 LV 1.9 1.8 1.4 22.6 76.0 : : : : : LT 1.9 1.5 1.8 44.1 54.1 1.6 0.9 24.7 61.3 13.9 LU 3.0 3.0 - - 100.0 1.7 2.0 11.1 25.0 63.8 HU 1.2 1.4 1.7 55.2 43.1 1.2 0.8 21.7 77.6 0.7 NL 1.6* 2.6 - 0.2 99.8 : : : : : PL 1.9 1.5 : : : 1.1 1.6 : : : RO 1.9 2.0 - 6.7 93.3 1.0 1.6 - 36.1 63.9 SI 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.9 96.3 1.3 1.3 5.6 63.0 31.4 SK 2.0 2.0 - 0.7 99.3 1.3 1.4 0.2 62.7 37.1 FI 2.8 2.7 - 0.4 99.6 : : : : : SE 2.2 2.2 - 8.6 91.3 1.1 1.1 0.9 88.5 10.6 UK 0.8* 0.6 50.7 43.0 6.3 : : : : : IS 1.7 1.8 13.0 23.3 63.7 0.7 0.6 58.9 24.7 16.4 NO : 1.6 - - 100.0 : 0.6 37.0 63.0 - MK : : - 49.9 50.1 : : : : : Source: Eurostat, Education statistics, UOE data collection (educ_ilang) notes: *: DK: 2004 data; IE: 2005 data; EL: 2001 data; NL: 2001 data; UK: 2004 data.
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