Exploring the decline in uptake of modern foreign languages at GCSE in England through Positioning Theory: reflecting on the perspectives of pupils and teachers in secondary schools.

Sakhrani, Robert (2025) Exploring the decline in uptake of modern foreign languages at GCSE in England through Positioning Theory: reflecting on the perspectives of pupils and teachers in secondary schools. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This qualitative study explores the decline in language learning uptake in England through exploring the perspectives and experiences of MFL pupils and teachers in four secondary schools. Research indicates that over a third of secondary schools in England recognise negative effects of Brexit on their pupils’ motivation to continue studying modern foreign languages (MFL). The 2016 referendum brought opposition to languages other than English to the forefront of public debate and its discourses normalised a context in which foreign language proficiency and a desire to engage with other cultures came to be seen as contentious. The position and status of MFL in secondary schools remains precarious since the removal of language study from the compulsory GCSE curriculum in 2004.

Three focus group interviews and eight individual interviews were held with pupils across four different school types, and seven individual interviews with teachers and senior members of staff. The methodological approach adopts Positioning Theory which examines the momentary constructed positions and identities that learners assume in focus group discourse and narratives. Examining pupils’ positioning in conversation pays attention to the discursive processes through which learners actively and agentively position themselves and highlights the temporary and dynamic positions they assume relative to the languages-specific topics that are important to them.

Findings suggest the powerful role that family and parental influences play in the choice-making of pupils from certain backgrounds towards MFL - and how this is reflected in the language discourses that they engage with; both teachers and pupils place value on integrating the L2 community’s culture into their classrooms as a way of improving language motivation and forging tangible connections for pupils to improve their language skills through real-life experiences; negative pupil attitudes relating to Brexit are much less prevalent than suggested by previous research.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2025 09:58
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2025 09:58
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101410
DOI:

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