An Attempt to Change Language Policy

Often a government in power feels pressure from the electorate to be seen taking action to limit and/or control immigration numbers. The latest case of this was with the previous government’s language tests for those entering the county, i.e. it would be a requirement for those entering the country to be able to speak English. The new coalition government has now called for a review into this after a question was asked in the commons by the Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, Conor Burns.

His argument is that it is a ridiculous requirement to expect someone to learn the language before they are given a visa. After all, that is one of the fundamental uses of a language school. Mr Burns said "I want to go back to where we were before, where English schools can do what they were set up to do - to teach foreign students English.

"It just seems to me incredible that the last government introduced rules which means people have to be GCSE-equivalent competent before they can come to Britain to learn it. "It is painfully, painfully ridiculous."

Mr Burns has raised this argument as the Bournemouth and Poole region has one of the largest numbers of language schools in the country, and the current regulations severely harm the local economy. He said: "Students will need to brush up their English in their own country and bypass language schools, or choose another destination.

"This is exactly what we're finding, students aren't coming to the UK any more - they're going to other countries."

“English is the language of world commerce and if we shut off the ability of those schools to thrive, to welcome people to our shores and enable them to immerse themselves in our language, our culture and our values, in time we will look back and realise that we made a very fundamental mistake.”

He does have a point; immersion in a language is one of the best ways to learn a new language. This can especially be the case with English, which dominates the world, global economy and commerce, even given the fact that it is not the most spoken language in the world. On this basis, restricting someone from entry to the country because they don’t speak the language, when entry to the country is the best way to learn the language, seems counter intuitive.