The lesson that must be learned about languages

In the Eighties, the Bradford Education Authority decided to introduce the community languages Urdu, Gujerati, Bengali and Punjabi into a number of its inner-city schools. There were numerous reasons for this move.

Firstly, the authority was worried about the poor level of performance by some of its ethnic minority pupils, and felt it was important to cultivate confidence and self-respect in them by providing a more relaxed learning surrounding.

Secondly, the entry of Britain into the European Economic Community encouraged Bradford Metropolitan Council to reflect on its anti-racist policies, in contrast with France, where ethnic minorities were suffering at the hands of the crude and uncompromising French education system.

This perhaps paved the way for the penetration of more balanced ideas into the education system of the eighties. The visionary work was carried out by those who were at the forefront of creating a 'community of communities'.

They were seriously trying to increase language awareness in all their pupils and concurrently, overcome feelings of division and fear of the unknown. These educationalists passionately believed that language-learning fostered positive attitudes towards human beings. It also generated interest in other people's lifestyles - a very important aim of education which leads to a sense of togetherness.

With these sincere motives in mind, a group of forward-thinking people from top level to grass roots level in the education authority succeeded in launching these languages into a number of upper schools in Bradford, including Grange, Belle Vue and Carlton Bolling.

After nearly two decades of pioneering effort in Britain, a range of community languages has gained a recognised position in the education system of many schools: more than 6,000 candidates are entered annually for GCSE examinations in Urdu alone.

The architects of the National Curriculum, teachers' associations and community groups have never objected to the teaching of these languages, believing that it is the part of every pupil's entitlement to learn and develop their heritage.

I agree that the teaching of English is of paramount importance. But this surely should not preclude the teaching of Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi or Gujerati along with other European modern languages. I do not know why there is an anxiety that pupils of Asian origin who devote their time to learning their respective community languages are held back in their progress in English or other subjects. This fear does not appear to be well founded in my experience of teaching for more than 20 years.

I have seen candidates who have performed excellently in other disciplines because of, not in spite of, their ability to express themselves in their mother tongue. This has served to enhance their confidence, not hold them back. Because of their grades in Urdu, scores of past students have gone on to pursue successful careers in the police force, in the media, and in service industries. And one past pupil's grade in Urdu enabled him to take up a place at Cambridge University to study medicine.

Research reflects that students literate in their first language are more successful in the rest of the curriculum. The learning skills involved and the resulting esteem are significant in other areas of the curriculum. In my opinion, as a loyal citizen of this country, it is important that the ethnic children born in this country or resident here from a young age to have first-language literacy so that they can maintain full and proper contact with the literature, history and general background of the country of origin of their parents.

A cohesive community is based on full understanding of the shared values that come through education.

The host community can show its respect and high valuation of another tradition by recognising its validity within the school system and its importance for individuals in the general community. The fact that this is not an ambition of the National Curriculum means that the LEA must accept the responsibility on behalf of all its citizens.

For a number of years Asian language teachers have had to put up with the indignity of threats to their jobs, due to the confusion and mistrust surrounding the funding of these languages, the future of which remains uncertain. Labour won the election with the slogan "Education, Education, Education" and instead is delivering an onslaught of "Cuts, Cuts, Cuts" which will affect the weakest members of the community.

Central Government must not ignore the importance of this issue: language learning must not be allowed to fall into the grave, therefore attention must be paid to it. There is nothing as rich and vibrant as a multi-cultural, multi-lingual society and we need to nurture the skills of our schoolchildren in order for them to feel as if they are contributing to it.

Nursery and primary schools must be encouraged to consider the language knowledge which children bring from their home and community. It would be a positively imaginative step if courses like Urdu for All were started at nursery and primary level and a sign of a forward-looking community into the next Millennium.

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