Teach English history 'in French'

Languages would no longer be confined to the language lab under this idea.

Pupils should learn subjects like history and geography in French to stem the decline of modern foreign languages, school leaders have said.

The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) said pupils learned languages best in a bi-lingual setting.

It added that schools that teach aspects of mainstream subjects in foreign languages had good results.

The take-up of modern languages fell dramatically in England after 2004 when they were made optional at GCSE.

The number of entries in GCSE French and German has almost halved since 2002.

Thematic learning

The SSAT, which supports England's 5,400 specialist schools and Academies, argues teaching other subjects in a foreign language embeds that language in the core of the child's learning.

The SSAT gives the example of Tile Hill Wood School and Language College in Coventry which teaches first year pupils areas of their maths, science and music lessons in French.

At the end of that year, pupils of average and above average ability are still achieving in line with expectations, while lower-ability pupils are tending to exceed their predictions, the school said.

The idea chimes in with recommendations to teach in themes rather than subjects in primary schools and early in secondary school.

It is one of five tips produced by the SSAT aimed at boosting language take-up among teenagers.

Arabic and Mandarin

Other ideas include using employers with overseas businesses to help develop applied language learning, working closely with local primary schools to engage pupils in languages early on and encouraging bright students on the Gifted and Talented programme to act as mentors.

It also suggests introducing a broader range of languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese or Arabic.

This is particularly successful when tied in with learning about the people and places from which the languages derive.

One school, Pilton Community College in Barnstable, kick-started Arabic teaching with a trip to Alexandria in Egypt.

Language college director John Davies said: "Of the six year 9 students who participated in the course, five were enthusiastic enough to continue Arabic as a second foreign language in our option programme."