In the high-stakes accountability English educational system, decisions made by government and agencies about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment drive school planning and actions. This paper analyses the drivers for the recent change to French German and Spanish GCSEs and highlights particular areas of the new specification which may damage the…

This study looks at the effectiveness of an intervention to improve student retention on a distance language course. Of the six beginners' language courses offered by the UK's Open University, the beginners' Welsh course has consistently had the lowest retention rates since it was first presented in 2008. In order to address this, a project was…

Studies variables affecting language achievement at school by examining attitudes of 273 non-language students toward language learning in terms of enjoyment, ease of vocabulary and grammar learning, and satisfaction with teachers. Although less than half the students enjoyed their school experience, many expressed a desire to learn a foreign…