theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 April 2014 10.35 BST
The numbers of students studying languages degrees is at its lowest in a decade – universities must make their academic study more pertinent, argues Professor Katrin Kohl, vice-chair of the Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Oxford.
• UK students taking languages degrees at record low
The contrast between the plummeting number of undergraduates in modern foreign language (MFL) courses and the soaring number of students in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects gives an insight into the power of policy-makers to influence the fate of academic subjects. While the government has been pumping funding into Stem subjects, modern languages have suffered under successive governments from underfunding and a lack of joined-up policies.