Discussions of student transition from the study of languages in UK high schools to the study of languages at university usually focus on the vertical transition, comparing the differences in curricula and approach to languages taken in each sector. Whilst acknowledging that this aspect of the student transition is important, this article explores the transition in a broader disciplinary context by raising questions about how other subjects students have studied before entering higher education may help or hinder the transition. As (...) well as drawing on relevant literature in the Arts and Humanities field, we also discuss the findings of a case study, which investigated the views of students and teachers in one English university and one English high school. (shrink)

This article profiles Modern Language studies in United Kingdom universities in a sometimes polemical way, drawing on the author’s experiences, insights and reflections as well as on published sources. It portrays the unique features of Modern Languages as a university discipline, and how curricula and their delivery have evolved. As national and international higher education contexts change more fundamentally and more rapidly than ever before, it seeks to draw on recent and current data to describe the impact of student choice (...) and to identify trends, particularly with regard to the place of literature. (shrink)