Roundtable: Towards a Sustainable Future for Languages in UK Education

Today, Britain’s relationship with the rest of the world is more important than ever. If the UK is to ensure its future security and economic prosperity, we need to get serious about language learning. Linguistic and cultural diversity are a daily reality in the UK, where one in five school-aged children have a first language other than English. At this roundtable, a range of experts from school to higher education, government organisations, as well as the charitable and commercial sectors, will present their responses to the current crisis in language learning in the UK and discuss how to come together across our sectors to find sustainable solutions.

Chair: Prof Emma Cayley (Chair of the University Council For Languages and Head of School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds)

Speakers and participants:

Alex Sobel MP (MP for Leeds Central and Headingley)

Philip Harding-Esch (All Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages)

Vicky Gough (British Council)

Michael Slavinsky (Director of the Languages for All initiative, Reach Foundation)

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Emerita Prof Wendy Ayres-Bennett (Policy Advisor ILCS and UCFL; University of Cambridge)

Prof Charles Burdett (Director of the Institute for Languages, Cultures and Societies at the School for Advanced Study, London)

Prof Marcela Cazzoli (Vice-Chair, University Council For Languages, Durham University)

Dr Ed Griffith (Associate Dean of Psychology and Humanities, University of Lancashire)

Prof Nigel Harkness (DVC, Newcastle University)

Prof Mirjam Hauck (Professor of Critical Digital Pedagogies in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, Open University UK)

Prof René Koglbauer (Dean of Lifelong Learning, Newcastle University, and Association for Language Learning)

Prof Sascha Stollhans (Pro-Dean Student Education, University of Leeds)

Prof Jamie Taylor (Dean of Psychology and Humanities, University of Lancashire)

Emerita Prof Janet Watson FBA (University of Leeds)

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With special guests:

Michael Lynas, Director Duolingo UK

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