Education minister Huw Lewis aims to increase the number of learners studying modern foreign languages at GCSE, A level and university level, drive up attainment levels across the board, and improve the teaching and learning of modern foreign languages.
The plan, called Global Futures, also includes steps to introduce a modern foreign language at year 5.
Mr Lewis said his ambition was for Wales to become a “bilingual plus one” nation with the learning of an additional foreign language beginning at primary school. The Welsh government is investing nearly £500,000 in 2015/16 to help increase take up of modern foreign languages.
“Global Futures aims to dispel the myth that modern foreign languages are reserved for our more able and talented learners,” he said.
“Learners from all backgrounds and abilities can benefit from the skills that come with learning a language and should be encouraged and enabled to do so.
“We want to show the world that Wales is somewhere they can do business, we want international companies to feel they can invest here and we want our learners to be armed with the tools they need to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by a globalised economy.
“One of the important driving forces behind the new curriculum is a desire to equip our young people with the skills and knowledge they need to be citizens of Wales and the world. This means striving to become a bilingual plus one nation and I believe our Global Futures plan will help pupils in Wales to do just that.”
The minister launched the plan at Bryn Hafren School in Barry, which is the Centre of Excellence for Modern Foreign Language learning in the Central South Consortia. Bryn Hafren will be the lead school for language learning for teachers and pupils in Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr, Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Welsh government is working with a range of partners including area consortia, universities, BBC Wales, the Open University, and respected language institutes such as Goethe Institut and the Institut Français to increase take up of modern foreign languages. The partners will support teachers delivering the plan. School staff at each Centre for Excellence will also receive targeted CPD.
Karl Pfeiffer, from the Goethe Institut, welcomed the plan: “A strategy for languages for all is essential to ensure the futures of young people in a world of globalised business.
“This coincides well with the Goethe-Institut’s own initiatives for primary and secondary schools and its stated aim to promote knowledge of the German language abroad and foster international cultural cooperation.”