CILT recognises that the term ‘community languages’ is not a perfect one. Due to changing demography, use of the term in different contexts, and nuances afforded by different audiences, its meaning has more than one interpretation. See below for some considerations in using the term. Alternative terminology in use such as home, heritage, first, background or native language, or mother tongue, have similar drawbacks. Whilst terms such as ‘World languages’ and ‘Languages of the wider world’ are useful in addressing issues of low status, they run the risk of obscuring the distinct profile and needs of the community languages learner, and young speakers in particular.
Some community languages have been used for hundreds of years in Britain, others are of more recent origin. Equally, in some language communities there have been waves of immigration at a number of points over time. Some immigrant families remain in the UK and make it their permanent home; others may intend to return to a home country perhaps with children (re-)entering its education system. An individual’s practical motivations for learning, or sustaining and developing, a community language naturally differ.
It is important to stress that the term ‘community language’ does not refer to any particular language or group of languages per se, but to the context in which the language occurs. Languages can be both community languages and foreign languages in different contexts. Some languages traditionally thought of as community languages are also commonly taught as a foreign language to ‘non-heritage’ ab initio learners; Mandarin Chinese is an example, Arabic to a lesser extent. French is the eleventh most common ‘community’ language with 15,310 home speakers (DCSF, 2008). There are also examples of non-heritage ab initio learners studying a language to be able to work effectively within the local community in the UK; for example, Turkish for students on an early years Health and Social Care course at CONEL. British Sign Language is also a key community language, studied and used by both hearing impaired and hearing people.
In the field of teaching and learning, it is the profile of the learner which is the key factor and effective management of the existing knowledge, skills and motivations that the community language profile learner brings to the classroom demands specialised teacher skills. The range and extent of language and literacy skills can vary enormously depending on factors such as: the time spent by the family in the UK; balance of English and the community language spoken in the home; the level of education received in a home country (where relevant); the level of education and literacy of parents and family members; and, level of participation in supplementary or complementary language classes. Not to mention the age and cognitive ability of the learner and the community language itself (some languages or dialects do not have a written form, for example). Oracy and literacy may be developed to quite different levels. Consequently, the term ‘bilingual’ must also be used with care.
If a family lives in an area where few or no other families speak their language and are therefore not operating on a daily basis within a different language community, some would argue that their home language cannot be thought of as a ‘community’ language. It is also worth noting that a family may speak more than one community language at home. Where a language dialect or regional language is the spoken medium at home (e.g. Sylheti), there may be the desire for children to learn a formal language from the family’s cultural background (e.g. Bengali). Families who have settled in the UK, but have come here via residence in one or more other countries, may also have further language skills to build on (e.g. Dutch, German, Swedish).
References:DCSF (2008), Annual Schools Census: DCSF
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