Research project
Linguistics in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)
- Start date: 2017
- End date: Ongoing
- Funder: Various (including the AHC OWRI initiative “Language Acts and Worldmaking”, the Philological Society, the University Council For Languages, an Impact Accelerator Grant from the University of Bristol and a Research Start-up Grant from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Newcastle University)
- Primary investigator: Professor Sascha Stollhans
- Co-investigators: Prof. Michelle Sheehan (PI, Newcastle University), Dr Alice Corr (University of Birmingham), Dr Anna Havinga (University of Bristol), Dr Jonathan Kasstan (University of Westminster), Dr Norma Schifano (University of Cambridge)
Description
The project makes the case for the inclusion of linguistics in school-based language teaching and learning. It engages students with linguistics, deepening their interests in language, including its historical, cultural and social dimensions. We are interested not only in how stimulating and relevant teachers and pupils find these topics, but also in what effect this exposure has on language attitudes and students’ confidence levels when using another language. We ran a successful scoping study in 2017-2019 involving over 300 A-level pupils in French, German and Spanish. In a follow-on study, linguistics materials that we co-created with experienced A-level teachers and which were designed to be integrated into current A-level syllabi, were tested in classrooms. You can read about the results in our recent article published in the British Educational Research Journal.
We have also developed research-informed materials for teacher training and have run CPD for both experienced and trainee teachers.
Impact
In 2025, the project won a Newcastle University Engagement and Place Awards in the “Inclusive Education, Life Long Learning and CPD” category.
Materials co-created by teachers and academics during the project have been published on Kerboodle, an online learning platform hosted by Oxford University Press.
Publications and outputs
Sheehan, M.; Corr, A.; Havinga, A. D.; Kasstan, J. R.; Schifano, N. & Stollhans, S. Forthcoming. Language teaching needs language science: A manifesto for linguistics and language teaching in the United Kingdom. In Humanities Forward: Opportunity, Innovation, Policy in the 21st Century, ed. by Stephan Nitu and Arlene Holmes-Henderson (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press).
Havinga, A. D., Stollhans, S., Corr, A., Kasstan, J. R., Schifano, N. & Sheehan, M. 2024. Addressing the UK's 'languages crisis': moving beyond skills-based language teaching through the inclusion of linguistics in secondary education. Languages, Society and Policy.
Sheehan, M., Havinga, A. D., Kasstan, J. R., Stollhans, S., Corr, A. & Gillman, P. 2024. Teacher perspectives on the introduction of linguistics in the languages classroom: Evidence from a co-creation project on French, German and Spanish. British Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4009
- Open Accessible Summary of the article “Including linguistics in A-level language classes is easy and effective according to teachers”
Sheehan, M., Corr, A., Having, A., Kasstan, J., Schifano, N. & Stollhans, S. 2023. A manifesto for linguistics in language teaching in the UK context.
Sheehan, M., Corr, A., Havinga, A., Kasstan, J., Schifano, N. & Stollhans, S. 2021. The DfE/Ofqual consultation on revised GCSE qualifications in Modern Foreign Languages – a view from linguistics. Languages, Society and Policy.
Stollhans, S. 2020. Linguistic variation in language learning classrooms: considering the role of regional variation and ‘non-standard’ varieties. Languages, Society and Policy. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.62274
Video presentation of the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9RPoPNv7g
Article in The Conversation “Learning German has many benefits for young people – and it’s not as hard as its reputation suggests”: https://theconversation.com/learning-german-has-many-benefits-for-young-people-and-its-not-as-hard-as-its-reputation-suggests-253263
Article in The Conversation “Linguistics could make language learning more relevant – and attractive – for school pupils”: https://theconversation.com/linguistics-could-make-language-learning-more-relevant-and-attractive-for-school-pupils-255068
Submission to the Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review Call for Evidence 2024: https://linguisticsinmfl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Linguistics-in-MFL-response-to-DfE-Curriculum-and-Assessment-Review-Nov-2024.pdf