Sixteen percent of elementary school students in the UK speak English as a second language, a new report has revealed.
The figure for all state schools, including secondary, is 14 percent, making almost one million British school children who do not have English as their mother tongue.
The statistics come from an annual census of schools carried out by the Department of Education. The new figures show the number of children speaking a language other than English at home has risen by over 40,000 in one year.
While some areas in the UK, such as Knowsley and Halton, near Liverpool, have fewer than one percent of students with a foreign language as a first language, in some areas it is the majority.
In the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, for example, 78 percent of school children do not speak English at home.
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council told the East London Advertiser, "It's important to note that because a child speaks English as another language, it doesn't mean they do not speak English competently.
"They may well speak another language at home, but they also speak English and all lessons are conducted in English."
While some have said that the diversity of languages puts extra strain upon teachers, others have welcomed it.
John Dunford of the Association of School and College Leaders told the Telegraph (London), "Children who come to this country speaking English as a second language are an inspiration to native British children in the speed in which they learn the language and the hard work they put in to pass exams within just a few years."
16 May 2010
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