French and German in British schools (1850-1945)
This article outlines the status of French and German in British education from the 1850s, when they were introduced as subjects in public examinations, to the 1930s, with a few remarks on the period thereafter, with reference to contemporary reports as well as to textbooks used in the period. It to...
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| Wydane w: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/dhfles, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
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Documents pour l’histoire du français langue étrangère ou seconde
2017
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| Hasła przedmiotowe: | |
| Dostęp online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Streszczenie: | This article outlines the status of French and German in British education from the 1850s, when they were introduced as subjects in public examinations, to the 1930s, with a few remarks on the period thereafter, with reference to contemporary reports as well as to textbooks used in the period. It touches on differences in the status of French and German in the education of boys and girls in the 19th century, and on the question of who taught French and German in these early decades. Throughout the period, French was the first foreign language, with German a clear second, and German came under particular pressure in the early decades of the 20th century as even proponents of Modern Languages argued that most pupils needed only to learn one language; World War I also had a negative impact. Concerted efforts were made from about 1912 onwards to stress that French should not always be the first language taught, and these began to have some effect in the second half of the 20th century, but German always remained a clear second (and has now been overtaken by Spanish as second foreign language in the 21st century). |
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