Language Horizons Year 2 Evaluation Report.

Citation

Thomas L & Rushton E (2020) Language Horizons Year 2 Evaluation Report.. Language Horizons Project. Stirling. http://mflmentoring.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Final-report-LHY2-DEC2020.pdf

Abstract
Introduction: Language Horizons (LH) was an ambitious and innovative project that harnessed the power of mentoring to inspire curiosity for languages and cultures in pupils aged 12-14 (Year 8 and Year 9). The key aim was to translate that seed of curiosity and enthusiasm into a desire to take languages at GCSE. The idea for the project draws on the hugely successful MFL Student Mentoring Project (www.mflmentoring.co.uk) which has been running in Wales since 2015. Language Horizons itself began in 2018 in South Yorkshire working with ten local schools and two hundred pupils. It was led by Cardiff University and established partnership with The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. Of the 200 pupils that participated, all of these pupils had previously decided against languages but taking part in the mentoring sessions led to 53% of pupils changing their mind and opting for a language GCSE. The success of the pilot led to it being refunded by the Department for Education to expand its reach in South Yorkshire (SY) and to establish a new hub in the West Midlands (WM). This phase of Language Horizons was a partnership between five universities in England and led by Cardiff University, Wales. The project team at Cardiff University led the project in collaboration with The University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Warwick and Coventry University. In 2019-2020, a total of 70 mentors mentored in 38 schools across both hubs, with mentors recruited from all four partner universities.