Report2018

Thecontentsof this reportare the intellectualpropertyof theauthors.Nopart of this reportmaybe circulatedor reproducedwithout explicitpermissionfromtheauthors,orfromtheSchoolofArts,LanguagesandCulturesattheUniversityofManchester,OxfordRoad,ManchesterM139PL,UnitedKingdom.

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HowtheBrexitDebateAffectsLanguageLearningChoicesforUKUndergraduateStudents

KirkJoelWilliamDusting

NingjingLiuJielingShi

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1Introduction,ResearchQuestionsandMethodology

The Brexit referendum caused massive controversy over the future of the UK. In 2017,BritishCouncil(2017a)publishedthereportLanguagesfortheFuture,highlightingthefivemost important languages British people should learn, sparking debates over whetherBritish people should learn more foreign languages in the post-Brexit era, and whichlanguagesthoseshouldbe.

Focusingonthesedebates,weaimtoassesshowBrexitinfluencesUKundergraduatestudents’attitudesto language learning,andhowthis relates togovernmentalandmediarhetoric following the referendum. Our research question consists of two parts: firstly,whether there is a general change in interest in languages, and secondly, if there is anincrease in interest, whether EU or non-EU languages are preferred. Our hypothesispostulatesachangeinUKstudents’rateoflanguagelearningsincethereferendum.

We initiated the study by examining sources such as media debates, academicpublications and official government reports, which revealed a disparity in governmentpolicies, media rhetoric and the public’s expectation: the media mostly favour non-EUlanguages such as Chinese and Arabic, while the public prefers EU languages; thegovernmentstrivestodevelopalanguagepolicythatbalancesEUandnon-EUlanguages1.

Current literature on Brexit gives a thorough analysis of the causes and effects ofmonolingualism (Morphet, 2017; Koglbauer, 2018; Kelly, 2018; Holmes, 2018), theimportance and benefits of multilingualism (Mackey, 2014; Hogan-Bran, 2018; Bradley,2008),andcurrentlanguagepoliciesandpublicresponse(Koglbauer,2018;Wyburd,2018).However,fewdirectlycompareofficialrhetoricforthemultilingualfutureoftheUKandtheactualpublicresponseto language learning.Ourstudyaimstofill thisgapbyascertainingwhether the conflict exists and investigating the logic behind the divergence in languagechoices.

Our fieldwork is devised as a quantitative study – specifically, a questionnaire(AppendixA) surveyingundergraduates’ language experience, attitudes and awareness ofBrexit-relatedissues-andqualitativeresearchintheformofinterviews.Ourrespondentsare limited toUKundergraduate students,whoaremore likely tobe impactedbyBrexit-relatedissuessuchasfundingforstudyabroadandemploymentopportunities.

Forthequestionnaire,weencountereddifficultiesinobtainingalargesample,whichwas anticipated in our research plan. To garnermore responses, we distributed a paperversion of the survey across the campus, soliciting 62 responses by hand, and kept thesurvey online for an extra week. We acquired 135 respondents, however six had to bedeleted due to data irregularities. One row was removed, for example, because the

1Forexample,newsarticlesemphasisednon-EUlanguagesinheadings:“WhyyourchildwillneedtolearnMandarinandArabicafterBrexit” (Kershaw,2017),“BritishCouncil:Arabicmustbetaught inschools” (Staufenberg,2017).Thepublic,however picked EU languages as the most desirable languages to learn in an online poll (British Council, 2017b). Thegovernment, on the other hand, increased funding in programmes boost both EU languages learning (UK-GermanConnectionprogramme),andnon-EUlanguageslearning(MandarinExcellenceProgramme).

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respondentwasfromIndia,outsideourscope.Finally,wehad129validrowsinthedataset,achievinga7.24%marginoferrorata90%confidencelevel.

WeanalysedthedatawiththeprogramSPSS.Firstly,weproducedfrequencytablestoexaminetheoveralldistributionofeachdependentvariableanddisplayedtheresultsaspiecharts. Following this, we performed multiple logistic regressions to investigate thecorrelationbetweendependent and independent variables; basedondata type,weusedeitheralinearormultinomialregression.TheRprogramminglanguagewasusedtoproducethe regression tables (AppendixC).Weused cross-tabulations toexplore themultivariatefrequencydistributionofthevariables,representedinstackedbarcharts.

Intervieweeswereselectedfromsurveyparticipants,p4rioritizedbasedonawarenessandexperiencescore.Theywereinformedofthestudy’spurpose,andwereaskedtosignaconsent form and verbally agree to have their responses recorded. These were thenparaphrasedforevaluation(AppendicesD,E,F,G).

2Findings

Quantitative

Inaccordancewithourhypothesis,wedefinedthreedependentvariables:howmuchBrexitinfluencedtheparticipant’scoursedecision,thedifferenceintheimportanceoflanguageforemploymentbeforeandafterBrexit,andwhichlanguagegroupwasfavouredasmoresignificantafterBrexit.ThelatterwascalculatedbycomparingwhichlanguagegrouptheybelievedhadbeenreportedtobemostimportantcurrentlyandwhichtheyestimatewillbemostimportantafterBrexit,outof:mixed,correct,EU,non-EU.Ifaparticipant’sresponseforafterBrexitchangedtoagroupwithmoreEUlanguages(e.g.mixedtoEU),thenitwaslabelledasfavouring‘EU’languages;thesamemethodappliesforthenon-EUgroup.Anyothercombinationswerelabelled‘other’(e.g.correcttocorrect).

We defined five independent variables: firstly, an ‘experience score’ relating to theparticipants’ language experience by summing values recoded from survey questionsrecoded intoscales, includingstudyexperience, travelexperience,nativebilingualismandwhether their degree program contains a study abroad period. Then, we produced eachparticipant’s ‘awareness score’ by recoding the variables ‘news experience’, ‘EU teacher

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statistic’ and ‘languageprograms they know’ (AppendixB). The restwere gender, region,andpoliticalstance-inferredbasedonparticipant’spreferenceofnewspaper.

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We started by looking at the overall distribution of each dependent variable. The Brexitdoesnotaffectmuchoncoursedecision,as96.9% reported littleor slight impact (Figure1.1). Almost half of the respondents disagreed that the importance of languages foremploymentwill changeafterBrexit (Figure1.2),andmore than two-thirds reported thatthemostimportantlanguagegroupwouldremainthesamebeforeandafterBrexit(Figure1.3).

Logistic regression models were applied to further understand each dependentvariable.Accordingtoamultiplelinearregressionanalysis,thePRof‘Brexitcoursedecision’and ‘importancedifference’areexpressedrespectivelyas ‘experienceoverall’, ‘awarenessoverall’,politicalstance,gender,subregionandpoliticalstance,asseenbelow:

According to multinomial logistic regression analysis, the PR of ‘change favour’ is

expressedaspresented:

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We firstly examined the influence of Brexit debates to course decision. Table 1

indicates that awareness score has a strong correlation with it. Meanwhile, though the‘other’groupinsub-regionshowsacorrelation,itssampleistoosmalltobeconsidered.

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Toexplorethecorrelationofawarenessandcoursedecision,werecodedawareness

scores0–3into‘lowawareness’and4–6into‘highawareness’.Coursedecisionvariablesranging from ‘not at all’ to‘moderately’were recoded ‘little influence’,while ‘verymuch’remained the same. Figure 2 illustrates that approximately 70% of respondents whoreportedlowinfluencewereoflowawareness,while100%ofparticipantswhothinkBrexitinfluencedtheircoursedecisionshowedahighawarenessscore.ThehigherawarenessofBrexit,themoreinfluentialBrexitistoone’scoursechoice.

The second dependent variable we analysed was ‘importance difference’, which isstronglyaffectedbyexperiencescore(Table1).Thesamplesofthe‘other’groupingenderandlanguageimportancedifferencearetoosmalltohaveaninfluence.

Therelationshipbetween‘experiencescore’and‘importanceoflanguageforwork’isalso explored. ‘Importance difference’ values below, equal and above 0 were recoded‘down’, ‘same’,and‘up’respectively,whichmeansweighinglanguagelearningasless,thesameormoreimportant.Asfigure3presents,theexperiencescoreisnegativelycorrelatedwithimportancedifference.

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Finallywe looked into factorsaffecting ‘change favour’, finding thatonlyawarenessscoreinfluencespreferencefornon-EUlanguagesafterBrexit(Table2).

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Furtheranalysingthiscorrelation,figure4wasmadetodemonstratethatmorethan

60%whofavourEUareofhighawarenessscore,incontrasttoover60%whofavournon-EUof low awareness score. The gap becomes more salient in ‘other’: over 70% are of lowawareness and under 30% are of high awareness. In summary, a positive correlation isfoundbetweenawarenessscoreand‘changefavour’.

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Qualitative

StudentAStudent A studied Latin with French, and emphasised the importance of interest whenchoosingalanguage.Heconsideredlanguageshelpfulforjobprospectsinawiderangeofcompanies:languagelearningprovidesessentialskillsoutsideoflinguisticones,butmodernlanguagesaremorepracticallyuseful.

He believed that Brexit makes language learning more important yet discouragesstudents from studying languages; he said the study of EU languages is becoming lesscommonduetoanti-EUsentimentinthemedia.Hethoughttheyearabroadwas“crucial”to undergraduate language learning attitudes, given Brexit uncertainties such as thecontinuationofErasmusfunding.

He commented that themediamistakenly prioritises non-EU languages because ofanti-EU rhetoric,but that “EU languageswill alwaysbe themost important”due to tradeandproximity.HesaidBrexitrepresents“isolation”,soweneedmorestudentsandteachersofEUlanguages.

StudentBStudentBstudiedbothanEU(Spanish)andnon-EU(Japanese)languageatA-level.Thisledher to take both at university, which she began in September 2017, a year after thereferendum. The Brexit result concerned her, particularly regarding Erasmus funding andfutureworkopportunities.

Sheconsidered language learninghighly importantoverall,andemphasised that the“worldisbecomingsmaller”;shehighlysupportedcross-culturalengagement.Shesaidthatlanguage importance is mainly related to the number of speakers because of economicopportunities and globalisation, so she predicted a large increase in the importance ofMandarinChinese,andasizeableincreaseinArabic.

Shesaidsheavoidednewsbecauseitmight“confuse”her,howevershethoughtanti-EUrhetoricwoulddiscouragestudents,especiallyyoungerones,fromlearningEUlanguages.

StudentCStudent C studied French at A-level, and continues to study French in a joint-honoursundergraduate degree. The referendum result did not necessarily change her coursedecision,yetmotivatedherdoalanguagecoursemorebecauseofemploymentprospects,fearingitwouldbecomemoredifficulttofindworkinEuropeinfuture.

Sheconsideredit“urgent”tostudylanguagestomaintainarelationshipwithEuropeand the wider world. She supposed more students would study non-EU languages afterBrexitbecauseofthehugepopulationbaseandmarketpotentialofcountriesoutsidetheEU.However,shestatedthatcurrentlymostpeoplestudyEUlanguagesbecausethoseareofferedinschoolsandcolleges.

She said shewas influenced by “the discussion on the news about the relationship[between theUK and the EU]” yet still felt unclear about howBrexit could influence hercourse.

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StudentDStudentDhadanexperiencescoreof0,andwasnotinterestedinor“goodat”languages,whichiswhyBrexithadnoimpactonhercourse.ShebelievedtheEUgrouptobethemostimportantbecauseofitsprominenceatsecondaryschool,andgeographicalproximity.Shesupposedthat language learningoutsidetheEUwillbemore important infuturetomake“deals”withothernations.

ShesaiditistoosoontodeducewhetherBrexitwillaffectlanguagelearning,andwasdoubtful, suggesting people study languages because of interest, so changes in practicalapplicationareirrelevant.Whenprompted,shesuggestedalackofErasmusfundingmightdiscouragelanguagelearning.

3DiscussionsThequantitativeanalysis revealedthat theBrexitdebateshardlyaffectUKundergraduatestudents’ language learning choices. This contradicts our hypothesis that there will be achangeinattitudetowardslanguagelearningamongUKundergraduatestudents.

We identify four possible reasons regardingwhy there is not a significant statisticalcorrelation:Firstly,therespondentshavearelativelylowexperienceandawarenessscore,withamedianof2(outof7)and3(outof6)respectively,indicatingthattheyareneitherinterested in language learning nor aware of Brexit’s influence discussed in the debates.Secondly, while Brexit debates mostly centre on its political or economic impact, themajority of respondents study languages primarily out of interest, and thus are lessinfluencedbypracticalreasons:69.3%ofpeoplechose“learninglanguageisinteresting”astheirmotivationfor language learning. Intervieweesalsosuggestedthatpoliticsandtradearenotthemostimportantfactorsinlanguagelearningchoices.Thirdly,itmaybetoosoontoseetheimpactofBrexit.Forexample,ourrespondentsincludeaconsiderablenumberofsecondandthird-yearstudents,whostarteduniversitylessthanthreemonthsafterorevenbefore the referendum, thus theyarebarely affectedbyBrexitdebates. In the interview,when askedwhether Brexit debateswould influencehis course decision if itwere a yearearlier,StudentAfromsecondyearstatedthathewouldreconsidertakingFrenchaspartofhis degree. Furthermore, all respondents suggested that the ambiguities plaguing thereferendum process make it even harder to assess the exact scale of influence. Finally,somequestionsinthesurveymayhavebeenmisleading.Forexample,duringtheinterview,StudentAcontradictedhissurveyresponsefor‘mostimportantlanguagegroupafterBrexit’,and clarified that he had misunderstood this to mean ‘which language group has beenreportedasexpectedtobethemostimportantgroupafterBrexit’;thismayhaveaffectedresults.

Although statistics such as experience and awareness did not show a significantinfluence on language learning attitudes, this does notmean that Brexit debates had noimpact at all. For example, respondents who had a higher awareness score reported ahigher impact of the referendumon their course decision (Table 1), indicating that news

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reports indeed influence attitudes. Student A gave an anecdotal example of a GCSEclassroomwherestudentsdislikedstudyingFrench,duetotheanti-EUmediarhetoricwhichhad influenced their parents’ views. StudentB expressed concernovernews reports thatuniversitieswereimposingredundanciesonlanguagestaff,manyofwhomareEUcitizens.Shesaid that thenewsmightcauseyoungerpeople tounderestimate thebenefitsofandultimatelyforegoEUlanguages.Additionally,whilethemajoritythoughtthemostimportantlanguage groupwould not change before and after Brexit, among thosewho did changeattitude,therewasapreferenceofnon-EUlanguagesoverEUlanguages(24.8%V.S.10.1%),which isalsoconsistentwithnewsreports.Thesefactshighlightthepotential influenceofBrexit debates on UK undergraduates’ language learning attitudes, suggesting that Brexitwilldiscouragestudentsfromlearninglanguages,especiallyEUlanguages,inthefuture.

Notably,whilethemediashowsabiastowardsnon-EUlanguagesasmentionedinourliterature review, students who show more awareness of news in media prioritise EUlanguages: awareness score demonstrated a significant positive correlationwith selectingEUlanguagesasmostimportanttolearnafterBrexit.Thismightbebecauseyoungpeoplearemore likelytohaveapositiveattitudetowardstheEU.AsstatedbyStudentA,youngpeople voted “overwhelmingly” to remain; 73% of 18-24 year-olds who voted in thereferendumsupportedremain (Becker,S.O.O.,Fetzer,T.&Novy,D.,2017),which impliespositiveattitudesamongyoungpeopletowardstheEU.

However,thisatleastpartlyrevealsthatstudentsexpectthecountrytoprioritisetherelationshipwiththeEUafterBrexitandthatBrexitdebatesinfluenceattitudestolanguagelearning inawaythat theanti-EUrhetoricwould in factmakeEU languagesappearmoreimportant. Student C mentioned the importance of “protecting” and “maintaining” therelationshipwithEUsincethesituationis“moreprecariousthanever”afterBrexit.StudentAthinkthatmediaandpoliticiansareinaccuratelyspreadtheviewthatnon-EUlanguagesaremore important, leadingtoadeficit inthe“multilingualworkforce” intheUK.HealsospokeofanincreasednecessityfordiplomaticandculturalexchangewiththeEUfollowingBrexit.

Moreover, although it is also reported that the government intends to develop abalanced language policy, given that the policies are poorly publicised, the governmentalrhetoric hardly influences students’ attitude. The UK-German Connection Programme, asreferencedinourliteraturereview,ispoorlypublicised,appearingsolelyonthegovernmentwebsite (GOV.UK, 2017) and its own site. The same is true for theMandarin ExcellenceProgram(BritishCouncil,2016),andonlyfiveofourrespondentsindicatedhavingheardofit. Intervieweesalsoreportedtoberelianton lowereducation for information,whichhasbiastendencies:studentDexplainedthatsheselectedtheEUgroupof languagesasmostimportantbecauseatsecondaryschooltheoptionsaretypicallyFrench,GermanorSpanish;studentCalsosaidthatEUlanguageswere“theonlyoptions”.

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4CritiquesFlaws in the research process may have affected our results. For example, issues withquestionsinthesurvey,suchastheoneStudentAmisunderstood,couldhavecontributedtoalackofsignificantdata.Similarly,theanalysisofparticipants’politicalleaninginvolvedheavy assumptions,whichmight not have accurately reflected their views. Itwould havebeen percipient to conduct other methods to analyse political leaning, for example,explicitlyaskingwhethertheysupportremainingorleavingtheEU.

IfweweretorepeatthisstudyaftertheBrexitdealwasconcluded,wewouldexpectto see significant results inmore factors,however currently there is stillmuchambiguity.Moreover,studentsmayseeBrexitasadistantandpoliticallyuncertainevent,plaguedwithambiguity and yet to have tangible repercussions. Hence, the issue most likely to haveaffected our results was the fact thatmost respondents were second or third years; weshould have recorded the start date of a participant’s course and attempted to get theresponsesoffirst-yearstudents.

5ConclusionsIn conclusion,while issueswithourmethodmayhave contributed toa lackof significantdata,ourinterviewsrevealthatdespitethelimitsofourstatisticalanalysis,Brexitdebatesmaystillaffectundergraduates’attitudestolanguagelearning.Themediapromotesananti-EU rhetoric, which either discourages some from learning EU languages, or converselypromotesarenewedimportanceinlanguagelearningasadiplomatictool.

It isalsoreflectedintheresearchthatsecondaryschools languageeducationsuffersfrombothadeficitinlanguageteachers,coincidingwithKoglbauer’sresearch(2018),andascarcityofnon-EUlanguagesoffered.Moreover,universitiesshouldbeinastrongpositionto provide students with language skills, as Wyburd (2018) suggests, however they areaccusedofdiscouragingstudentsfromlearninglanguagesthroughacademicredundancies,insinuating a “drawing back from the EU” (Student B). News reports on this can greatlyinfluencestudents’attitudestolanguagelearning.

Therefore,westronglyrecommendthegovernmentanduniversitiesworktogethertopromote this essential skill;more non-EU languages courses should be provided, and theimportance of language learning should be emphasised at lower stages of school. Also,regardingtheflaws inourmethod,werecommendasimilarstudybeconducted infuturewhentheconsequencesofthereferendumaremoreconcrete.

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6ReferencesBecker,S.O.O.,Fetzer,T.&Novy,D.,2017.WhovotedforBrexit?Acomprehensivedistrict-

levelanalysis.EconomicPolicy,32(92),pp.601–650.Bradley,S.(2008).LanguagesGenerateOneTenthofSwissGDP.Swissinfo.RetrievedMarch

4,2018,fromhttp://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/languages-generate-one-tenthof-swiss-gdp/7050488

BritishCouncil.(2016,September7).PupilsacrossEnglandstartintensivelessonsinMandarin.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/press/top-languages-uk-needs-most-post-brexit

BritishCouncil.(2017a,November13).ThetoplanguagestheUKneedsmostpost-Brexit.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/press/top-languages-uk-needs-most-post-brexit

BritishCouncil.(2017b,December29).AfifthofBritonsplantolearnalanguagein2018.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/press/fifth-britons-plan-learn-language-2018

GOV.UK.(2017,July19).YoungBritstomakeGermanconnections.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/press/top-languages-uk-needs-most-post-brexit

Hogan-Brun,G.(2018).ThisPost-BrexitLinguanomics.In:M.Kelly(Ed.),LanguagesafterBrexit(pp.49-60).London:PalgraveMacmillan.

Holmes,B.(2018).SpeakingtoaGlobalFuture:TheIncreasingValueofLanguageandCulturetoBritishBusinessPost-Brexit.InM.Kelly(Ed.),LanguagesafterBrexit(pp.61-74).London:PalgraveMacmillan.

Kelly,M.(2018).WhyAreManyPeopleResistanttoOtherLanguages.In:M.Kelly(Ed.),LanguagesafterBrexit(pp.13-24).London:PalgraveMacmillan.

Kershaw,A.(2017,November14).WhyyourchildwillneedtolearnMandarinandArabicafterBrexit.TheChronicleLive.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/your-child-need-learn-mandarin-13898994

Koglbauer,R.(2018).LanguageTeacherSupply:TheViciousCycle,theEffectsoftheEUReferendumandAttemptstoSolveSupplyShortage.(Ed.),LanguagesafterBrexit(pp.219-227).London:PalgraveMacmillan.

Mackey,A.(2014).WhatHappensintheBrainWhenYouLearnaLanguage?TheGuardian.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/04/what-happens-to-the-brain-language-learning

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Morphet,J.(2017).BeyondBrexit?:HowtoAssesstheUK'sFuture.Bristol:PolicyPress.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/manchester/detail.action?docID=4804487#

Staufenberg,Jess.(2017,November19).BritishCouncil:Arabicmustbetaughtinschools.SchoolsWeek.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://schoolsweek.co.uk/british-council-arabic-must-be-taught-in-schools/

Tinsley,T.&Board,K.(2017).LanguagesfortheFuture.RetrievedMarch4,2018,fromhttps://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/languages_for_the_future_2017.pdf

Wyburd,J.(2018).BuildingCapacityinUKHigherEducation.In:M.Kelly(Ed.),LanguagesafterBrexit(pp.173-183).London:PalgraveMacmillan.

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AppendixA

Questionnaire-AttitudestoLanguageLearning1.AreyouanundergraduatestudentandUKnational?*Yes/NoExperience2.Whatisyourdegree?*3.Haveyouordoyoustudyaforeignlanguageoutsideofschool?*Yes,nativebilingual/Yes,outofinterest/No4.Ifyoutypicallyreadorwatchthenews,fromwhich(ifany)ofthefollowingpublications?*Tickallthatapply.BBCNewsTheGuardianTheTelegraphTheDailyMirrorTheIndependentSocialmedia,nonpoliticalSocialmedia,politicalnewsOtherAttitudes5.Doyoustudyaforeignlanguagewithinyourdegree(includingindividualunits)?*Yes,IamorhavestudiedanEUlanguageYes,anon-EUlanguageNo6.Pleasetickthestatementsthatmostaffectyourmotivationwithregardstolanguagelearning*Tickallthatapply.LanguagelearningisanessentialpracticalskillformyfuturecareerItisnotusefultolearnlanguagesLanguagelearningisinterestingI'mnotinterestedinlearninglanguagesLanguagelearningletsmelearnaboutotherculturesMostpeoplespeakEnglishLearningalanguageisagoodwaytosocialiseIt'stoodifficulttolearnalanguage7.HaveyouevervisitedacountryoutsideoftheUK?*Tickallthatapply.Onholiday/Tostudy/Towork8.Haveyouordoyouexpecttoundertakeastudyabroadperiodaspartofyourdegree?*NoYes,atleastpartofwhichwillbeintheEUbefore2020

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Yes,atleastpartofwhichwillbeintheEUafter2020Yes,noneofwhichwillbeintheEU9.DidtheBrexitreferendumaffectyourcoursedecision?*1(Notatall)/2/3/4/5(Verymuch)10.Howimportantdoyouthinklanguagelearningisforgettingwork?*1(Notatallimportant)/2/3/4/5(Veryimportant)11.HowimportantdoyouthinklanguagelearningwillbeforworkafterBrexit?*1(Notatallimportant)/2/3/4/5(Veryimportant)Awareness12.Areyouawareofthefollowingprogrammesintermsofwhattheyoffer?Tickallthatapply.ErasmusRoutesIntoLanguageIWLPMandarinExcellenceProgrammeUoMLEAP13.HowmanyUKteacherswouldyouestimateareEUnationals?*50500050,00014.Whichlanguagesdoyouthinkhavebeenreportedasthemostimportanttolearningeneral?*ChineseMandarin,Japanese,Arabic,Hindi,RussianFrench,Spanish,Italian,German,PortugueseFrench,Japanese,Hindi,Spanish,RussianSpanish,ChineseMandarin,French,Arabic,German15.WhichlanguagesdoyouthinkwillbethemostimportanttolearnafterBrexit?*ChineseMandarin,Japanese,Arabic,Hindi,RussianFrench,Spanish,Italian,German,PortugueseFrench,Japanese,Hindi,Spanish,RussianSpanish,ChineseMandarin,French,Arabic,GermanBackground16.Howdoyouidentifyintermsofgender?*MaleFemalePrefernottosayOther17.WhichUKregiondoyoucomefrom?*SouthEastEnglandLondonNorthWestEngland

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EastofEnglandWestMidlandsSouthWestEnglandYorkshireandtheHumberEastMidlandsNorthEastEnglandScotlandIrelandWales18.Wearelookingtofollowupourresearchwithinterviewsabouttheseattitudesatalaterstage.Ifyouwouldbewillingtobecontactedaboutthepossibilityofholdinganinterview,pleaseleaveyouremailaddressbelow:

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AppendixB

ScoreCalculationandLabellingGuidelines

Wesummedthesevaluestocalculatetheparticipant's“overallexperiencescore”inrelationtolanguagelearning:1. Degreelanguagescore:0=nolanguagerelation,1=linguisticsandEnglishlanguage,

2=withforeignlanguage,3=foreignlanguageasmain,4=morethanoneforeignlanguageWeresearchedthemodulesindifferentdegreestogetanideaofhowtheyshouldbescored,e.g.AmericanStudiesandDramahadnolinguisticelementdespitehavingliterature,andSpeechandLanguageTherapybeingrelatedtolinguistics

2. “DoyouspeakanylanguagesotherthanEnglish”score:0=no,1=selectedoneresponse,2=selectedmultipleresponses

3. “Doyoustudyalanguagewithinyourdegree”score:1if"yes"anddegreewas0or1,0otherwiseinordernottorepeatthecountmadeinthefirstpartofthescore

4. “HaveyouevervisitedacountryoutsidetheUK”score:1=oneresponse,2=studyandwork,0=everythingelse

5. Studyabroadscore:1ifwillstudyabroadandnotdoingalanguagemajor(i.e.obligatoryplacement),0otherwise

Wesummedthesevaluestocalculatetheparticipant's“overallawarenessscore”inrelationtoawarenesstonews:1. Newsscore:0=haven’tchosenanynewspapersoronlychoosenon-politicalnewspapers

suchasBBC,1=selectedonepoliticalnewspapers,2=selectedmultiplepoliticalnewspapers

2. Awareofprogramsscore:0=knownoneoftheprogramme,1=knowoneoftheprogrammes,2=knowtwooftheprogrammes,3=knowmorethan2oftheprogrammes

3.“HowmanyEUteachersintheUK”score:1ifcorrect,0ifwrongOtherCalculationsandLabelling:1.“ImportanceDifference”=ratingofimportanceoflanguagetoworkafterBrexit–ratingoflanguagetoworkbeforeBrexit2.PoliticalStance:LforchoosingmoreleftistnewspaperssuchastheGuardian;RforchoosingmorerightistnewspapersuchastheDailyMirror;IfchooseBBCorchoosesamenumberofleftistandrightistnewspapers,thenneutral.3.“ChangeFavour”:Recategorisedquestionsonimportantlanguagegroupsinto"Correctanswer","mixed"(wrong),"EU","non-EU"andsameforafterBrexit;Ifaparticipant’sresponseforafterBrexitchangedtoagroupwithmoreEUlanguages(e.g.mixedtoEU,ornon-EUtomixed),thenitwaslabelledasfavouring“EU”languages;thesamemethodappliesforthenon-EUgroup.Anyothercombinationswerelabelledas“other”(e.g.correcttocorrect,ormixedtocorrect).

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AppendixC

OriginalProgrammingUsedtoProduceRegressionTablesProgramme1:How‘BrexitCourseDécision’correlateswithindependentvariables

Programme2:How‘importancedifference’correlateswiththeindependentvariable

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Programme3:How‘changefavour’correlateswithindependentvariables

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AppendixDInformationSheet

WearestudentsattheUniversityofManchesterwhoareinvestigatingattitudestolanguagelearningintheUKinrelationtoBrexitdebates.Followingourquestionnaire,inwhichyouwereaparticipant,weareholdinginterviewstogetadeeperunderstandingoftheseattitudes.

Interviewees’responseswillbeusedbystudentsenrolledinLELA20102attheUniversityofManchesteraspartofaclassresearchproject.Wewillrecordtheresponses,transcribethemandevaluatethemforourreport,inwhichtheywillbeusedanonymously.Oncetheprojectisover,therecordingwillbedestroyed.

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AppendixEConsentForm

Beforesigningtheconsentform,pleasemakesureyouarefamiliarwiththeparticipantinformationsheetanddonothesitatetoasktheresearcherifyouhaveanyquestionsorconcerns.Ifyouarewillingtoparticipateinthisstudy,pleasecompleteandsignthefollowingconsentform.

Pleasetickifagreed

IunderstandthatmyparticipationisentirelyvoluntaryandIamfreetowithdrawmyselfatanytimewithoutprovidingareason.

Iunderstandthatinterviewswillberecordedandtranscribed.

Iagreetotheanonymoususeofquotesorparaphrasesofmyresponses.

Iunderstandthatanydatacollectedwillbeanonymisedandagreethattheresultsofthisstudymaybepublishedandsharedwithotherresearchers.

Bysigning,youagreetoparticipateinthisproject:

Nameofparticipant Signature Date

Nameofresearcher Signature Date

AppendixFInterviewGuide

Onceyouhavebegunrecording,stateyournameandasktheparticipanttostatetheirnameandgiveverbalconsent:

Mynameis...andI’minterviewing...forSocietalMultilingualism.Doyougiveyourconsentforyouranswerstoberecorded?

Attheendoftheinterview,makesuretoincludeintherecording:Thisistheendoftheinterview.

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Trytolettherespondentengageinasmuchspontaneousspeechaspossiblesoasnottoaskleadingquestions.Thefollowingquestionsareaguideline.Somearebasedontheparticipant’sindividualanswers,whicharelistedbelow:

Student Degree/Units BrexitImpact

LLBefore/After LangsBefore

LangsAfter

A LatinwithFrench 1 5/5 Correct Non-EU

B Psychology 1 3/2 EU EU

C Spanish&Japanese 2 4/4 Correct Correct

D EnglishLit&French 3 4/4 Correct Correct

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LanguageGroups

Languages Label

ChineseMandarin,Japanese,Arabic,Hindi,Russian Non-EU

French,Spanish,Italian,German,Portuguese EU

French,Japanese,Hindi,Spanish,Russian Mixed

Spanish,ChineseMandarin,French,Arabic,German Correct

Questions1. Howdidyoudecidewhetherornottostudyalanguageatuniversity?

➢ WereyouawareofwhichlanguageshavebeenreportedasbeingthemostimportantforUKcitizenstolearn,anddidthishaveanyeffect?

2. CanyouexplainhowyouratedtheeffectofBrexitonyourcoursedecision?Werenewsreportsrelevant?

3. CanyouexplainhowyouratedtheimportanceoflanguagelearningbeforeandafterBrexit?Werenewsreportsrelevant?

4. HowdidyoudecidetoestimatethemostimportantlanguagegroupsbeforeandafterBrexit?Whywas/wasn’tthereachange?Werenewsreportsrelevant?

5. Doyouthinkthere’sarelationshipbetweenBrexitandthenumberofstudentslearninglanguages?

➢ Ifso,doesthisrelationshiprelatetoEUornon-EUlanguages?6. IftheBrexitreferendumhadhappenedayearearlier,wouldthishavechangedits

impactforyouonyourcoursechoice?

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AppendixGInterviewNotes

StudentACourseChoice

● HadaheadstartfromlearningFrenchfromage7,motherwasaFrenchteacher● Atsecondaryschool,theoptionswere:German,SpanishandLatin● Latinwasunusual,didn’twanttowastetheopportunity

o Frenchshouldn’tbeanunusualchoice,usedtobemorecommoninschool,butlanguagesatGCSEarebecomingmoreuncommon-toomuchwork/toodifficult

o Peopleinthelanguageprofessionsayit’shardertogetstudentstostudyFrenchatahigherlevel“anditshouldn’tbelikethat”[expressesconcern]

LanguageLearningImportance● Latinnotusefulbutenrichingintermsofwiderlanguagelearning● FrenchhelpfulforunderstandingFrenchculture,e.g.newsandliterature● Frenchcanbeusedinlotsofworkplacesastheprimarylanguage● Latinisusefulforacademiccareersbutlittleotherapplication,butskillslike

structureoflanguage,understandinggrammar,understandsEnglishmuchbetter;literaryanalysis,historicalanalysis

● FrenchwouldbeadvisableoverLatinbecauseofitspracticalapplicationandengagementinmedia-radio/TV/newspapers

● Latininterestingbutnotappealingforsecondaryschools● Excitedtouselanguageskillsabroad,butnativeFrenchspeakersusuallyspeak

English● LanguageshelpfulforjobprospectsbutsomeUKbusinesseshavenointernational● Theneedtobeabletospeakaforeignlanguageinbusinessisbecomingmore

important,andopportunitiesareopeningup

Cuts● Lackoflanguageteachersbecausewedon’thaveamultilingualworkforceandthere

isagap,higherdemand● Themethodofteachingoflanguages(seminars)meansalackofteachingstaffis

problematic● Weneedbiggerdepartmentsandmorestudents● Redundanciesdon’tnecessarilysendamessagetoEUcitizensasawhole,butthe

redundanciesandcutsareaffectingEUcitizensmostbecausemanytutorsintheschoolofartsarenotUKcitizens

● Brexitrepresentsisolation,soweneedskilledlanguagespeakerstobridgethatgap

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● EUlanguageswillalwaysbethemostimportant-simplygeographically,largesttradingpartner

Mostimportantgroup● Mediaandpoliticiansarewrongthatnon-EUcountriesshouldbeourpriority● LearningEUlanguagesdoesn’tcreateabarrierwithothercountries;Englishisan

internationallanguage● Politicalbias[anti-EUrhetoricinthenews]meansthenon-EUlanguagegroupwillbe

consideredmostimportant,inaccurately● English(culture)areinternationalandcommoninothercountries,butthesameisn’t

truetheotherwayround,sotheincentivetolearnlanguagesishigherfornon-UKcitizensbecauseourculture(e.g.USA)isinEnglish

● Westartlanguageteachingfartoolate;lotsofEUkidslearnaroundtheageof7● Englishteacherswhodon’thavetheskillsinlanguagesareteachingyoungerkids

inadequately

YearAbroad● CrucialpartofchoosinghiscourseisdoingayearabroadintheEUwithErasmus

funding;wouldbemuchlessattractivewithoutthatfunding,buthissubjectisideal● FuturestudentsmaybeputoffbyalackofErasmusfunding-“scary”forthem,

ambiguityaboutrightsandfundingo Freedomofmovemento Workpermito Funding

● Howcanpeoplemakeadecisionwhentherearestilllotsofambiguities● Brexitmeansweshouldbemoredeterminedtoconnectinternationally(business,

politics,publiclife,EUsponsoredprojects)becausewe’renolongerinanorganisationthatdoesthatforus;becauseofthis,morepeoplethanevershouldstudylanguages,butthewayBrexitisconductedwilldiscouragepeople,especiallybeforetheoutcomeisclear,andmentionstheyearabroad

● Youngpeopleoverwhelminglyvotedtoremain,butthinksyoungpeople’sattitudeshave“slowlyshifted”tomakethemlessmilitantaboutremain-more“reservedinrejectionstoBrexit”

Anti-EUrhetoric● SomeonedoingworkexperienceinasecondaryschoolFrenchclasssaidkidsweren’t

interestedinFrenchbecauseitwas“EU”andtheirparentshadtoldthem“EUwasbad”

● Politicalinstitutionsandfiguresreflectthelanguageofthecountrytheyrepresent;somuchfocusofEuropeinBritishmedia,whichiswhypeoplearemixingFrenchlanguageandculturewithmodernpolitics;allpeopleareseeingisthepoliticsofmodernFrance,forexamplenewsreportssuggestingFranceisbeingdifficultin

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BrexitnegotiationswillmakepeopledisliketheFrenchlanguageandtheworldwidefrancophoneculture

ImportanceAgain● Whenthegovernmentencouragedsciencelearningwithcampaigns,thenumberof

artsdropped● It’simportantwebehonestwithpeopleaboutwhichlanguageswillbeusefulinthe

post-Brexitworld,butneedstobeobjective● “Muchmoreimportant”thattheystudywhattheyenjoyratherthanwhattheywill

beuseful● Withalanguagesdegree,youcanworkinanysortofcompany;transferableskills,

anycompanyneedsthat(HR,management,civilservices)-equipspeople“roundedly”

● Languagelearningopensdoors● EvenwithoutFrench,hisdegreewouldn’tlimithisopportunities;whilespeakinga

modernlanguageisuseful,languagelearningteachesotherskills,e.g.Latinleadstophilosophyandhistoryanddebating,inlanguagedegrees,onestudiescultureandhistoryevenasidefromthelanguage

o Languagelearninggivecultural,historicalandphilosophicalknowledgeaboutthatlanguage

● Brexitmeanslanguagelearningismoreimportant,howeveriscurrentlyandwillmakefewerpeoplewanttolearntheselanguages(becauseofnegativeattitudesfromparents,newsreports)

● IfBrexitwerecalledoff,thiswouldrenewinterestintheEU,linguistically,culturallyandinbusiness-wouldchangepublicattitude

● Believesthereisa“hugeamountofanxiety”overBrexitinthepublic,thatpeoplewouldberelievedifitwerecalledoff(andhewouldberelieved)

● BrexitbenefitisthatithasforcedpeopletolookbeyondtheEUandthinkabouttheEU,sopeoplewillrealisethattheUKisnotbigandimportant-andpartlybecausetheEnglishlanguageissodominant,butnowpeoplewillrealiseBritain/Englisharen’tsoimportant,sotheywillneedtomakemoreeffortwithothercountries

● EnglishisacommonlanguageacrossEurope● Considersthat“mixed”groupwillbethemostimportant,butwedon’thavemuch

tradewithRussiasotheirlanguageisnotimportant;butdoesn’tthinkwehaveamajoramountoftradewithItaly,sonottheEUgroup

● Practicalapplication/politics/tradearenotthemostimportantfactorsinchoosingalanguagetolearn;interestiskey,andculture/mediawillencouragepeople;toencouragepeopletolearnlanguages,emphasisetheimportanceofpracticalapplication-althoughthisshouldn’tbewhy

● Languagelearningalwayshasandalwayswillbeimportant,becausetheUKcannotbecomecomplacentinexpectingotherstolearnEnglish

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● Youngpeopledon’tthinktheyneedtolearnlanguagesbecauseeveryonespeaksEnglish

StudentBCourseChoice

● Interestedinlanguages;didbothatA-level● Worldisbecomingmoreglobalisedsolearninglanguagesisimportantandbeing

open-minded● Asafirstyear,madecoursedecisionafterthereferendum● HadconsideredworkingintheEUinthefuture,butthereferendummadeherworry

aboutheroptions-causeduncertainty,butintheendstuckwithchoice● Brexitwon’taffectherifshegoestoLatinAmerica,butmentionsconcernof

ErasmusfundingifgoestosomewherelikeSpain

Languagelearningimportance● Languagelearningimportantregardlessofreferendum;‘worldisbecomingsmaller’,

moreimportantwecommunicatethroughlanguagelearning● Skillsinlanguagesreallyhelpfulforjobprospects,e.g.internationalcompany-more

valuableemployee● Agreeswithoriginalchoiceonlanguagegroups-nochange(correct)● Decidedcourseearlieron,beforereferendum● ChineseeconomyisgrowingandChinesepeoplearemovingtoothercountries,so

Mandarinismoreimportantasabusinesslanguageandgenerallyforcommunication(suchalargepopulation)

● ReckonsArabicwillbecomeaveryimportantlanguage;theother(EU)languagesinthegrouparen’tgoingtobeasimportantasMandarinandArabic,butarestillquitebig

● Wouldpreferalanguageshe’sinterestedin,butMandarinwouldbemorepracticallyusefulthanSpanishbecauseit’ssuchabigmarket

News● Wantedtoavoidlisteningtothenews,didn’twantittoconfuseherthought,but

thinksit’llhaveabigeffectforlearningofEUlanguages-especiallyforpeoplewhoareyounger,whethertheycanstudyEUlanguagesandwhethertheywillbenefitthem(Brexit/anti-EUrhetoric)

Cuts● Beforecomingtouni,hadheardaboutbigcutsatUoM,especiallyinhumanities

departments,wasworried“quiteabit”,butcameanyway● Spanishclasshasabout20to30people

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● Onintakeoffewerlanguagesstudents:perhapsmoreimportanttostudylanguagesnowbecausewe’releavinganinternationalmarket;it’s“sad”,isolateusmore

● MakingEUprofessorsredundantsendsthemessagethatthey’renotneeded/wanted,thatwe’redrawingbackfromtheEU

Importanceoflearning/EnglishintheEU● Languagelearninghasalwaysbeenreallyimportant,“justasimportantifnotmore,

butBrexitshinesalightonhowimportantitis”andhownotmanyUKcitizenscanspeakaforeignlanguage

● Englishwillbeusedallacrosstheworldandisabiglanguage,butiftheEUdecidetoremoveEnglishasanofficiallanguage,itmayinfactencouragemoreanglophonestolearnotherlanguages

● ThinksthatifEnglishisremovedasanofficialEUlanguage,moreyoungpeoplemaydecidetopickupalanguageinordertonotfeelisolated,butasacountrywe’rebecomingmoreisolated

● WouldhavechosenSpanishoverJapanesebecauseofitswidebase(AmericaandEurope)-Japanesewould‘limitoptions’

StudentCCourseChoice

● Alwaysinterestedinlanguagelearning;languagedegreeopenupmoreopportunitiesforemploymentbothinsideandoutsidetheUK

● ChoosingFrenchbecauseitistheonlylanguageshehaslearnedbeforeuniversity● Brexitdidn’t“changehercoursedecision”,butinfluenceherinawaythatshewould

“wanttodolanguagecoursemore”;shethinkslearningaEUlanguagecanhelpmaintaintherelationshipwithEU.

● Givereasonswhyshedidn’tchooseanon-EUlanguage:Ifshewantstodoanon-EUlanguage,shewillhavetodoabeginnercourselikeFrenchandChinese.Shedoesnotwantto“limitherselftolanguages”becauseshehasnointerestintranslationwhilelearningEnglishliteratureasajointhonoursdegreewithFrenchprovidesmorejobopportunities.

● StillfeelsunclearabouthowBrexitcouldinfluencehercourse.“Peopledidn'tknowhowitwouldchange”;doesn’tthinkErasmuswouldchangebecauseitisbeneficialforboththeUKandtheEU.[Expressworries]

Languagelearningimportance/RelationshipwiththeEU● Brexitwouldn’tchangethe“necessityoflearninglanguages”;TheUKalwayshasto

“maintaintherelationship”withEUcountries,andallothercountriesintheworld

● RelationshipwiththeEU“moreprecariousnowthanever”;definitelyneedto“protect”therelationship

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● Suggeststhatmorepeoplewouldchooselanguageaspartofajointshonoursdegreeoraminortoscience

Mostimportantgroup● ChooseEUlanguagesbecauseoftheimportanceoftheEU

● Choosenon-EUlanguagesbecausethehugepopulationbase

● TalksabouthearingnewsoftherebeingmoreapplicantsforFrenchstudiesthaneverinuniversity

● Thinksmostpeoplewouldprefertodonon-EUlanguages;Thedecisionsarebasedonworkchoices

● AlotofpeoplearestilldoingEUlanguagesbecausefewschoolsandcollegesonlyoffernon-EUlanguages

News

● Newsreportswouldinfluencepeople’sdecision,especiallythediscussionaboutthefutureofBrexitanditspossibleinfluence

● MentioneddiscussionsamongstudentsthatbeforeBrexititwouldbeeasierforUKnationalstofindajobintheEuropethanothercountries,howeverBrexitmakeseverythingeven.[expressworriesofbeingmoredifficulttofindajob]

● LanguagestudentsingeneralbynaturewanttohavearelationshipwithEUcountriesandothercountries

● Emphasizedtheroleofsocialmedia

StudentDCourseChoice

● Notinterestedinorgoodatlanguages● Believesshewastoldatschoolthatthemostimportantlanguagestolearnare

French,GermanandSpanish● Brexithadnoimpactonhercoursebecauseshedoesn’tstudyalanguage

Languagelearningimportance● OriginallyratedlanguagelearningimportanceasgoingdownafterBrexitbecauseof

agrowingindependencefromtheEU,butnowthinkslanguagelearningmightbemoreimportantinordertomake“deals”withothernations

● EUlanguagegroupmostimportantbecauseofgeographicalproximity,andagain,schoolwouldinfluencethisattitude

● ToosoontotellwhetherBrexithasaneffectonlanguagelearning,sincetheprocessisstillgoingon

● Peoplewhostudylanguageswouldchooseitbecausetheyfinditinteresting,especiallyforyoungerstudents,ratherthanpracticalapplications

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● Doesn’tthinkmanystudentschooselanguagesbecauseoftheEU● LackofErasmusfundingmightputpeopleoff(oncepromptedabouttheyear

abroad)