Coventry Language Policy Framework Section 4: Areas of Language in Schools
Language in schools operates across 4 interconnected domains, each addressed by this policy.
English as the Language of Schooling (including EAL)
English is the main language of instruction, assessment, and participation in the education system in England, and proficiency in English is essential for accessing learning and wider opportunities.
Languages as Subjects
The teaching of languages as subjects provides opportunities for all learners to extend their linguistic repertoires and develop skills that are valuable for life, work, and citizenship.
Home and Community Languages
Home and community languages are central to learners' identity, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Recognising and building on these languages within school supports both academic development and positive learner identity.
Home and Community languages include languages that are national languages, indigenous languages (such as Welsh), oral languages, dialects, creoles and signed varieties of languages (such as British Sign Language), which are recognised as home/community languages, taught languages, or both, and schools should reflect this in their language profile and curriculum offer as appropriate.
Multilingualism, Language Awareness and Intercultural Understanding
Schools support the development of language awareness in all learners, and have a responsibility to ensure that all learners, whatever their linguistic background, benefit from opportunities to explore and expand their understanding of the world through languages.
Each of these domains is developed in practice through the areas of teaching, learning, assessment, staffing, leadership, and family engagement set out in the sections that follow.