Vol/51 No/2 2012APRIL/MAYTheLinguist7FEATURESOur look at 50 years ofThe Linguistbegins withan overview of the first 10 years. By Tony BellIn 1961, the IoL Council decided its journal,theLinguists' Review,'could no longer meetadequately the challenge of the future orachieve the aims of the Institute'. TheIncorporated Linguist(TIL) was born. TheEditorial in issue 1, January 1962, declaredthat it was to be 'a more "outward looking"journal which, in catering for the needs of arapidly growing membership, will be alsoserving commerce and industry'. It would be'to a large extent the "official proceedings" ofthe Institute'; and it would devote more spaceto the interests of the teaching profession.The 1960s was a time of great social andtechnological change, and the journal reflectsthis in interesting ways. Edited by S C Cave(1962-65), B G Hulsen (1965-66), R A F Wallis(1967-1970) and Felix Liebesny (1970-1975), itwas optimistic about the place of languages -reflecting the optimism of the time, focusedon technological, economic and socialprogress. At the start of the decade,negotiations were under way for Britain's entryinto the Common Market. The Cold War wasa constant preoccupation, and the impact ofthe launch of Sputnik I in 1957 resonatedthroughout the 1960s in international political,scientific and industrial competition. This hada marked effect both on language teachingand on technical translation and abstracting,with Russian assuming a new prominence. In 'The Relative Importance of VariousLanguages in Scientific and TechnicalLiterature' (TIL 4,1, 1965), A Tybulewicz and F Liebesny referenced surveys that 'placeRussian quite clearly as the most importantlanguage after English'. The authors advisethat 'those authorities responsible for theprovision of linguists for industry andcommerce should re-examine the balance ofof institutions with the resources to run hugemainframes). See, for example, 'Problems inTyping Foreign-Language Material' (1965)and the intriguing 'Pocket-size SimultaneousInterpreting System produced by theNational Coal Board' (1964) - the NCB, alongwith the National Physical Laboratory, figuredregularly in the journal at this time.This was also an exciting time in linguistics,as theories of transformational-generativegrammar began to exercise their influence.Interestingly, however, the first academically-oriented paper in the journal ('Translation and Linguistics: A search for definitions' by J G Ebel) did not appear until vol 7 (1968)and, while briefly referencing Chomsky, drewmostly on Whorf and Sapir.In addition to articles about languagelaboratories and their use, pattern drills andadvice on buying a new system, the promiseof more space devoted to language teachingwas fulfilled in the book reviews, which oftentook up eight pages or more. Dictionariesand specialised glossaries, such as theDictionary of Metal-Cutting Machine Tools(1966), were frequently covered, reflectingthe growth in technical translation. Thejournal has often featured cultural or historical discussion, and the first decade sawarticles such as 'Regionalism in High German'(G D C Martin, 1964) and 'Language andNation-Building' (N Hartley, 1969).Largely, the journal achieved its aim to bemore 'outward looking'. At the same time, itis clearly talking to IoL members,professionally and (increasingly) institutionally,with the publication of remuneration surveys,the Diamond Jubilee Reception and, startingin July 1971, The Chairman's Page (the first ofwhich was actually a page and a third).50 years in printlanguage teaching and place greateremphasis on producing men and women withproficiency in Russian'. To some extent this wasalready happening, as the many articles onlanguage teaching in the journal demonstrate.An Editorial in 1962 announced aSymposium on 'Language Matters. Theimportance of languages in the Europeancontext', co-sponsored by the Institute andBritain in Europe, and noted 'the tremendousdemand in industry for language servicesgenerally, and for guidance on specificaspects'. A G Readett, Head of Translating andInterpreting at the National Coal Board and aformer IoL Chair of Council, commented,with apprehensive enthusiasm, that 'the rateof publication [of published specialistjournals] is rising at an amazing and indeedfrightening rate'. The growth in demand forspecialist technical translation is a recurringtheme throughout the period. Machine Translation (or, sometimes,'Mechanical Translation') was beginning toshow its potential and its challenges.Technical aids to translators and interpreterswere published, but the focus was thetypewriter (computers were still the domainTheLinguists' Reviewbegan in 1924 andran until the launch ofThe IncorporatedLinguistin 1962, when the format alsochanged. In 1986, the name changedagain, to The Linguist, and it has continuedto evolve under that banner to the presentday. For a more detailed history seeProfessionally Speaking: The CharteredInstitute of Linguists Centenary 1910-2010. THE BACK STORY

hat distinguishes human beingsfrom the rest of the animal worldis our linguistic ability. No matterwhere we migrate, whatever the complexityof the language of the community we join,our children grow up happily mastering thelanguage they need. We rarely questiontheir ability to do so, or the essential valueof this competence. Yet despite theubiquitous and overwhelming evidence ofglobalisation in almost every aspect of ourdaily lives, the British blindly continue tounderestimate the advantages of learning asecond language, not to mention thebenefits of multilingualism. there is acomplacent consensus that languages are'hard' and we are 'not much good at them'. For readers of this journal, it is scarcelynecessary to warn that the current UK deficitin language skills represents a major sourceof vulnerability as we navigate the economicdownturn. this argument is made persuasivelyin the recent education and employerstaskforce publication, 'the economic Casefor Language Learning and the role ofemployer engagement' (2011), whichsuggests that UK plc loses £7.3 billion a yearin a 'tax on trade' due to a lack of languageskills. indeed, as the report highlights, aplethora of reports over the last decade haveunderlined the urgent need to reverse thedecline in language learning: Languages:The next generation and A New Landscapefor Languages (Nuffield, 2002, 2003), theNational Languages strategy in Highereducation (Dfes, 2005), Dearing's Languagesreview (2007), the British academy's'Language matters' and 'Language mattersmore and more' (2009, 2011). Yet clearly themessage has not been conveyed sufficientlywidely or persuasively to halt the trend.those of us lobbying for language educationfind ourselves preaching to the converted.evidence of the lack of public awarenesscontinues to accumulate. Figures released atthe end of January by UCas (the Universitiesand Colleges admissions service) indicatethat, among the general decline inRegular updates on the campaign for languagesPam Mooresexplores thechallenge of switching students onto languages in higher educationHigher ambitions8 TheLinguistAPRIL/MAYwww.iol.org.ukSPEAK TO THE FUTURE Dominic Luddylooksat the work ahead inour new feature onSpeak to the future Launched in 2011 and funded by the Britishacademy, speak to the future wants to see astep-change in attitude and policy towardslanguages in all phases of education. thecampaign has rallied more than 20organisations and dozens of leading figuresin the languages field. they share a vision,described by the campaign's five objectives(see right). among them is the aimfor every UK graduate to be qualified in asecond language -this year, applications to european languages courses fell by 11.2 percent and to non-european languagesby a staggering 21.5 percent. a working group has been formed for eachobjective, to collate evidence, identify gaps,engage supporters and lobby governmentand policymakers, helping to achieve ourambitious goals. Businesses are also beingrecruited to the cause, able to demonstratethe strong and growing demand forlanguages in many industries, and thefrustration that employers find whenrecruiting for UK-educated linguists. the campaign is building a collaborativeaction programme, but equally wants toinspire supporters to do their bit forlanguages, and promote existing projects thatcan make a difference. For higher education,we have backed the excellent Year abroadGraduate Project led by the British academy,the University Council for modern Languagesand thirdYearabroad.com, which isshowcasing the value of time spent overseas,and we have been delighted to seeuniversities running language festivals aroundmardi Gras for two years consecutively, insupport of speak to the future. We want toignite the debate beyond the community ofdedicated linguists, present our case and showthe sceptics - government, media, parentsand students alike - that languages need tobe taken much more seriously in the UK.On thecampaign trailW© Dreamstime