Blog

Our research proceeds from the premise that there’s more to languages than their practical benefits for communicative transactions.

This is not just about ‘added’ value. Languages are our key medium for self-expression, and as such they’re at the heart of individual and collective cultural identity. That gives them immense creative potential which is fundamental to our lives as human beings. While being inextricably connected with practical use, that creative potential is also an invaluable resource in its own right.

Our research programme was designed to develop a new paradigm for Modern Languages that is predicated on the intrinsic connection between multilingualism and creativity. This connection is embedded in our linguistic heritage, our linguistic development, and our communicative lives. It can give learners confidence in their innate ability as linguists, and it makes language learning lastingly rewarding. It also holds the key to establishing a common identity for the subject of Modern Languages across educational sectors.

In this section, we feature articles, videos and podcasts that give insights, snapshots and personal perspectives on the many ways in which languages and creativity interact and cross-fertilise each other.

DfE consultation on proposed new GCSE subject content for MFL (French, German, Spanish): Draft Response from Creative Multilingualism

We welcome the DfE’s attempts to address issues of uptake and attainment for GCSE in MFL. We acknowledge that giving learners a solid grounding in vocabulary, phonics and grammar is an important part of helping them achieve greater competence in a language. Nevertheless, we have considerable concerns about the proposed changes and believe that they will have the opposite effect from that which is intended.

Teacher survey on the DfE’s proposal for new GCSE content in Modern Foreign Languages

In November 2019, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the appointment of an independent panel of experts to review the subject content for GCSEs in modern foreign languages (MFL), in French, German and Spanish.

OWRI Student Language Ambassador Programme Evaluation Report

The OWRI Student Language Ambassador Programme was designed to increase the number of students progressing in the study of a language from GCSE to A level in four regions across the UK.

Pupils participated in either:

Award of Follow-on Funding from the AHRC for the Prismatic Jane Eyre project

Taking Multilingual Youth Theatre Online

Having worked with Daniel Tyler-McTighe on Creative Multilingualism projects at Hampstead Theatre with teenagers pre-Covid-19, I’ve now had the privilege to work alongside him facilitating the online Multilingual Youth Theatre Project as the partnership between HT and CML has found new ways to deliver sessions over the last few months.

Creative Multilingualism Goes Digital

Creative Multilingualism Goes Digital takes stock at the end of the momentous year 2020. It offers insights into the transformation processes and reflections on why the Creative Multilingualism team was well-positioned to undertake them.

Accessible Plurilingualism

Drawing on the creative and linguistic resources of secondary school students, our project is centred on a film competition for schools leading to a film festival taking place in Roehampton where the winner will be announced. Sixth form pupils in the South East of England will be invited to take part in a film competition involving languages other than English. The teams of students will be supported through all stages of film production. They will be instructed on how to script, shoot, edit and subtitle a film.

Ask the Teachers! GCSE curriculum and exam content survey (2020)

Modern Foreign Languages has long been subject to falling numbers at both GCSE and A level, with low motivation widely being perceived as a key factor. Researchers from the universities of Oxford and Reading have conducted a survey with over 600 teachers from some 470 schools across England to find out what they believe the curriculum and exam content should focus on.

(Re)creating Modern Languages: Toolkit

(Re)creating Modern Languages: Conversations about the Curriculum in UK Higher Education

Authority, Language Standards, and Literature

We like to think of ourselves as living in rather open-minded and inclusive times. And we are, in some ways; it seems that ‘minority’ cultures have never been so visible and their position in society such a popular topic of conversation. Debates surrounding cultural appropriation even regulate how we take an interest in these cultures. There is also an effort to maintain an inclusive view of the English language; we almost expect the news headlines to be read to us in a Welsh accent, or that we might be persuaded to switch banks in broad Brummie.

Multilingual Boliyan

‘Boliyan’ or bolis are couplets sung in the Punjabi language.

Winterreise – Songs and Creativity Before and After a Pandemic

About a year ago, I had a very interesting conversation with some teenagers about Johann Sebastian Bach. The teenagers were choristers in my college’s choir, and we were all preparing for the college’s annual Easter choral festival, culminating in a massive performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. My job was to supervise and help out the choristers, who had been practicing for months the excerpts from the Passion that they would be performing with the full college choir, soloists, and an orchestra.