About

Language-Driven Pedagogy

The Language-Driven Pedagogy (LDP) initiative involves university researchers, teacher educators, and expert practitioners in England, with the aim of better understanding, supporting, and improving curriculum design and pedagogy for learning second ('foreign') languages in this context. We have developed illustrative language-led and practice-based curricula, in which three core strands of language knowledge (phonics, vocabulary, and grammar) are carefully woven together to underpin the development of confident communication, cultural understanding, and creative use of language. Our fully editable resources and Professional Development courses particularly support teaching that aligns with subject content for GCSE in England in French, German, and Spanish. 

Our work draws on strong, dynamic partnerships between teaching practice and academic research, and is led by an active collaboration between The University of York and The Cam Academy Trust. 

Professional development courses

Working with a network of language education researchers and expert teachers and teacher trainers, we deliver a substantial programme of practitioner-led sessions.  Our courses have foundations in compelling evidence and are of interest to anyone involved in modern languages education, particularly in contexts where there is limited exposure to the target language. Please visit the University of York LDP Professional Development page to find out more.

Resources

LDP has produced extensive suites of freely available and fully editable resources in the form of sample activities, schemes of work, complete lesson resources, listening materials, homework activities, and assessments for French, German and Spanish at Key Stages 3 and 4.  These include two versions of "week-by-week" full lesson resources:

·         Original v1, NCELP resources

·         v2, LDP resources

The v2 LDP resources for key stage 3 are revised versions of those created by the original NCELP team between 2018 and 2023. The purpose of these revisions is three-fold: first, to respond to further teacher feedback (from teachers with extensive and more recent experience of using the resources); second, to carry out proposed changes identified by the original resource creators themselves; and third, to undertake revisions that support alignment with the recently established new GCSE Subject Content (finalised in 2022) and approved specifications and word lists (approved in 2023). More information about the revisions is available here.

Oak National Academy resources

Primary and secondary resources that align with and illustrate LDP's work have been produced by Oak National Academy. That work is ongoing and will be completed for Key Stages 2, 3, and 4 in September 2025. The Oak materials are created by Dr Rachel Hawkes at Cam Academy Trust and her team of teachers and resource developers. The materials, extending the work done by NCELP until 2023 and then by LDP, draw on research-informed principles about curriculum design, pedagogy, assessment, and language development among classroom learners in limited exposure contexts.

Background: The National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy (NCELP, 2018-2023)

NCELP was set up in December 2018, partly in response to calls to support specific recommendations about pedagogy and curriculum design within the MFL Pedagogy Review (2016) The Centre was funded until March 2023 by the Department for Education (DfE)—totalling £5.4million across four contracts over the period—to support research-informed teaching and professional development. For the first three years, this was focused in a network of DfE-selected network of 45 schools, and then in Autumn 2021, it opened up to all schools across England. It was directed by Emma Marsden at The University of York in very close collaboration with co-director Dr Rachel Hawkes from The Cam Academy Trust, marking the beginning of a fruitful and unique collaboration. Working in partnership with university researchers, teacher educators, resource developers, and expert practitioners, with nine 'Lead Schools' leading Hubs of five schools, the centre aimed to understand and improve language curriculum design and pedagogy, with the longer term aim of promoting higher take-up and greater success at GCSE. When DfE funding for NCELP and school network ceased, the initiative "Language-Driven Pedagogy" continued, to reflect on, revisit, develop, and extend the work begun during that time.