This seems strange for all of the languages but the withdrawal of Polish seems particularly surprising:
- as Polish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the UK after English.According to the ONS (2013), it is the most common "other" language in the UK.
- is a language spoken in an important EU partner
- is similar to many other languages in Eastern Europe
- is a contrasting language to English and students studying Polish can get a greater awareness of language features such as cases.
"Minority" languages
I have recently heard that several languages are being cut at A Level. Amongst the languages affected are Polish, Bengali, Modern Hebrew and Panjabi http://www.aqa.org.uk/supporting-education/policy/gcse-and-a-level-changes/structure-of-new-a-levels
This seems strange for all of the languages but the withdrawal of Polish seems particularly surprising:
- as Polish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the UK after English.According to the ONS (2013), it is the most common "other" language in the UK.
- is a language spoken in an important EU partner
- is similar to many other languages in Eastern Europe
- is a contrasting language to English and students studying Polish can get a greater awareness of language features such as cases.
A petition can be signed at:
https://www.change.org/p/andrew-hall-chief-executive-officer-aqa-aqa-keep-the-a-level-polish-exam-after-2018
Reference
ONS (2013) Language in England and Wales 2011 Available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/language-in-england-and-wales-2011/rpt---language-in-england-and-wales--2011.html [Accessed 23/03/2015]