A language school is a

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

where one studies a

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, for example,

communicative competence The concept of communicative competence, as developed in linguistics, originated in response to perceived inadequacy of the notion of linguistic competence. That is, communicative competence encompasses a language user's grammatical knowledge of s ...

in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools typically supplements formal education or existing knowledge of a foreign language. Students vary widely by age, educational background, work experience. They usually have the possibility of selecting a specific course according to their language proficiency. According to the ''Common European Framework of Reference for Languages'' (

CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated in English as CEFR, CEF, or CEFRL, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingl ...

), there are six language levels that define student language proficiency based on their speaking, writing and reading skills.

Language courses

English

Globally,

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

schools have seen the greatest demand over schools for other languages. Over one billion people are said to be learning English in a

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

or foreign language context. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

alone, ESL learners make up over one-third of all adult, non-academic learners.

Accreditations for English Language Schools

In England, major accreditations include: *

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

: Accredits schools meeting high standards in education, teacher qualifications, and facilities. * English UK: Requires member schools to comply with strict quality standards. * RELSA: Accredits schools based on rigorous criteria in teaching and facilities. * Quality English: An international association ensuring top standards for independent schools. In Malta, accreditation is provided by: * FELTOM: Accredits schools that meet high-quality standards in teaching, qualifications, and facilities.

Arabic

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

has also grown in popularity in the last decade. Reasons include the continued growth of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

worldwide (the Koran holy book is in Arabic), as well as cultural, economic and political reasons.

Hindi

The

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

language along with the culture of the Indian subcontinent has started to become important due to recent foreign policies, global competitiveness, and emigration from the country. Hindi began to be introduced as a foreign language in some American schools in the 2000s. Instructors in the language were sought to teach from the kindergarten level right up to the university as part of the National Security Language Initiative.

References

External links

Council of Europe Language Policy Unit
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