22 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCH www.iol.org.ukFEATURESUniversities across the UK are coordinating annuallanguage festivals to highlight the importance andvalue of language learning, says Jessica Moore"The dream is to have a UK-wide universitylanguage festival", says Nick Byrne, Director ofthe Language Centre at the London School ofEconomics (LSE). "Last year, we gave it a go,and we decided to tie it in with Mardi Gras.Even though that means the date changesevery year, if it's Mardi Gras it will always be aTuesday, it will always be in the spring term,and universities can tack it on to the carnivalatmosphere. It can be a light-hearted thingwith serious things happening within it."In 2011, a number of universities agreedthat this sounded like a lot of fun, as well as aproductive use of time and resources. Byrne'scarnival dream was embraced by theAssociation of University Language Centres(AULC). Language festivals last year wereheld at Anglia Ruskin University, LSE, Exeter,Newcastle, Plymouth, Reading and Sussex.The universities of Leeds and LeedsMetropolitan staged a joint event. "We wantmore to participate in 2012," Byrne says,"and for it to then become an annual event."The idea, which is growing in popularity andreach, is that universities throughout the UKhold their own language festival at the sametime of year. While the scale, structure andeven purpose of these festivals may differ frominstitution to institution, together they mark aconcerted effort to bring languages to the fore. "Our festival was held at Leeds Met,"explains Peter Howarth, Chair of AULC andDeputy Director of the University of Leeds'Language Centre. Although it was principallyrun by academic staff, Howarth says thefestival benefited from "brilliant support" fromStudent Ambassadors, who were languagestudents from both universities. "I'd like tothink these types of language festival willbecome increasingly important in future", he says. "They're part of a national drive topromote languages in any way possible."As Caroline Campbell, Director of theuniversity's Foreign Language Teaching Unit,explains, the festival presents an opportunityto engage the prospective undergraduates oftomorrow. "In 2011, we held a one-day festivalfor any student who was either studying alanguage or interested in languages. Theycould already be at university, " she says, "butmainly it was for Year 10 students at six localschools who wanted to get a taster of what itmight be like to study languages at university." The Leeds event combined practicalworkshops with informative lectures andopportunities for students to exploreuniversity-level language learning. Campbellsays: "We got Nick Gibb [the Minister forSchools] to say a few words, and he was veryencouraging about the use of languages. Wehad someone from thebigword, which is atranslation agency, talking about careers. Wehad taster sessions for six differentlanguages. We had stands about studyabroad options and other stands looking atdifferent cultures. We offered a range ofthings to open students' eyes and put themin touch with the right people to talk to."The aim was to raise awareness and dosomething enjoyable", she adds. "Onestudent was interested in doing Arabic buthadn't had the opportunity to study it atschool, so we ran a taster session. We hadThai too. We wanted to introduce children notjust to French, German and Spanish, which arecommonly available in schools, but also toother languages, and show them the benefitsof studying those in terms of employabilityand their own cultural awareness." Variety of eventsOther language festivals have different aims.At some universities, including LSE, they targetexisting rather than prospective students. Atthe University of Sussex, the Language Centrecollaborated with the art department. Localartists were invited to display work on thetheme 'Root and Branch', while the LanguageCentre ran a show called 'Spoken Here',projecting footage of trees, with voiceovers ina number of languages talking about natureand woodland. This created a walk-throughcinema of woodland visuals and voices. The university language festivals aresupported by Speak to the Future, theA time for celebrationThe number who saidthey would definitelycontinue with alanguage rose by 31%following the event

Vol/51 No/1 2012FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist23FEATURESthat learning a language is an investmentworth making", says Byrne. "We're particularlyworried about the courses we run for peoplewho take a language on top of their non-language degree. If they're paying £9,000 ayear for their degree, as they will be fromSeptember, will they want to pay extra forthat language programme?" He's hoping thefestival will convince students to do just that.Campbell sees other reasons for thelanguage festival phenomenon. "We're notvery good as a country at supportinglanguages and holding them in high esteem.We saw that in Michael Worton's report."Commissioned by the Higher EducationFunding Council for England (Hefce), the2009 report raised concerns about the healthof modern foreign languages in highereducation. "What grew from there was quiteserious concern", says Campbell. "Thatgalvanised action. At the same time, universitylanguage departments have been closing.We've really had to fight to keep languagesgoing in higher education. But now, with theSpeak to the Future campaign, there's somemomentum to change that, and the languagefestivals seem a helpful response."The language festivals seem to be rootingthemselves in the university calendar -although they are nothing new. In theNortheast, the Festival of InternationalCulture takes place over three days in March."Last year, we ran half-day events - one atNewcastle University, one at Durham and oneat Teesside", says Nicholas Johnston, chieforganiser of the festival and North East ProjectManager for the Hefce-funded Routes intoLanguages programme. "We did Persiancalligraphy, Bollywood dancing and capoeira." The event is part of Routes' ongoing workto encourage children to study languagesthroughout the curriculum. "It's based aroundStudent Ambassadors, so we recruit languagestudents from each of our universities and wesend them into schools to give presentations."Johnston is hoping to build on pastsuccesses this year. "We do evaluations at theevent, asking students what they thoughtbefore and after coming to our festival." In2011, the number who said they woulddefinitely continue with a language rose by 31 percent following the event, and thenumber who said they didn't want to study alanguage decreased by 70 percent. "That canbe a bit skewed", he admits. "Because we'retalking to them on the day, they're caught upin the moment. So this year we're going totrack them a few months down the line."For Byrne, the festivals are an opportunityfor universities to generate excitement aboutlanguages - and any event, no matter howsmall, is well worth the effort. "It doesn't haveto be a big thing", he says. "You can organisea round-table debate or you can just ask thecanteen to serve international cuisine for theday. The important thing is to unite to get themessage out that languages are important".'It's going to be a kitschspectacular! We wantthat mix -somethingthat will be a laughand something serious'INSPIRING LEARNERSFor the 2011 Festival of InternationalCulture, students were taught theBrazilian martial art capoeira at TeessideUniversity (left), and origami andJapanese language at Durham (far left)campaign for languages, which was launchedin 2011. "We don't play a direct role inrunning the events", explains ProjectManager Dominic Luddy. "Our aim is to drawattention to all the good things that arehappening to do with languages andencourage more people to get involved. It'sfantastic that these festivals have come aboutand that universities throughout the UK aretaking a more joined-up approach." He adds: "The Speak to the FutureLinkedIn group has gone further: we'verecently been discussing the idea of having alanguages week, rather than just a day. Tyingeverything in to one time of year - whetherthat's Mardi Gras in early spring, the EuropeanDay of Languages in late September, or anyother time - gives us something to rallyaround in raising awareness about theimportance of languages and can make abigger impact on public consciousness."Grand plansSome of the AULC universities have grandplans for 2012. "At LSE, this year's festival willinclude a round-table discussion on the idea ofthe multilingual city and changing identities",says Byrne. "That's our 'hard core' event, butwe're also showing international movies andwe're going to have 'languages speed dating'.All the language societies will be producing anevent too, with the students staging thataspect. They're also putting on a party, with aEuropean DJ and international karaoke. It'sgoing to be a kitsch spectacular! We want thatkind of mix - something that will be a laughand something to take more seriously." All of which sounds like a jolly good,thought-provoking, educational fiesta. Butwhy now? "We're hoping to show people