Are the British really bad at learning foreign languages?

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Abstract
This paper reports a pilot study which shows that British 14 year olds only have one third to one half of the foreign language vocabulary knowledge of equivalent Greek and German learners. British syllabus objectives and the hours available for formal study are commensurately smaller. It is questioned whether the British GCSE syllabus can meet its own objective to teach communicative ability in a foreign language. The syllabus appears to be particularly disadvantageous to the most and least able learners.