1. A professional body for linguistics: the Linguistics Strategy Group
Paul Rowlett (Salford)

2. Linguistics Strategy Group
Origins
Activities to date
Future

3. Origins Jun 04: PhilSoc Council meeting: concern
Sep 04: SOAS meeting: Footit enquiry into MFL in HE: should something be done for linguistics?
Feb 05: CILT meeting: HESA data considered; historical data needed
May, Oct 05, Feb, May 06 meetings
Next meeting Oct 06

4. Activities to date Statistical monitoring
Promote status of linguistics
Encourage student take-up

5. Statistical monitoring
Strategic aim: ensure we ‘know’ linguistics in terms of:
student numbers,
staff numbers,
research activity

6. HESA student enrolment statistics
02-03 statistics considered in Feb 05: n = 6180; no comparison or trends analysis
98-99—01-02 statistics bought and analysed with funds from associations and societies
Linguistics: -1% overall (all HE: +13%)
Massive variation across institutions
Concerns regarding data reliability

7. Sample survey
‘UG intake has held up well in recent years’, ‘a record intake in year 1 of the current year (05-06)’
‘fall between 2001–02 and 2002– coincides with a bottoming out of our UG recruitment, persisting into 2003– reversed in the last couple of years’
‘our target in 96–97 was 12 (which we easily recruited); for 05–06 it was 24, and it’s been increased because of buoyant demand’, ‘linguistics is very healthy indeed’, ‘it is in this context that we have just raised our standard UCAS offer to BBB’
‘the growth in our student numbers for linguistics is more apparent than real’, ‘the number of linguistics students recorded in the HESA return ought to stabilize from now on’
‘the numbers are rising slightly’, ‘so linguistics and linguistics-related degrees here are quite healthy’

8. Linguistics and the RAE
2001 results: 54% of linguistics submissions awarded 4, 5, 5* (cf. 74% of submissions in English, MFL, classics, anthropology, archaeology)

9. Promoting the status of linguistics
Strategic aim: ensure the value of linguistics is communicated to all relevant agencies, especially:
HEFCE,
DfES,
QCA

10. Promoting the status of linguistics
Highlight relevance of linguistics to:
language learning and teaching
literacy
speech and language therapy
citizenship and equality
lexicology and lexicography
forensic linguistics
developmental psychology

11. Encouraging student take-up
Strategic aim: ensure potential interest in HE linguistic study is maximally converted into registrations
A-level linguistics
cross-sector collaboration
National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth
‘Why study linguistics?’

12. Future Initial informal meeting
After Feb 05: societies/associations asked to sign up to Linguistics Strategy Group
Run on a shoestring as a LLAS SIG
Next step?

13. Philological Society
LLAS Subject Centre
University Council of Modern Languages
Linguistics Association of Great Britain
British Association for Applied Linguistics
British Association of Academic Phoneticians
Association of French Language Studies
Henry Sweet Society