Over the past twenty years, the pattern of modern language degree courses has changed considerably. In 1980, the great majority of language departments offered monolithic honours courses in one language or two with an alternative option of joint honours in a language combined with another humanities discipline, e.g. English Literature, History, Philosophy. In many cases, the discipline at the heart of the language course was the study of literature, though a proportion of post-1960 HEIs created degrees around area studies based on a range of social science disciplines. The study of a language as a major element in a degree in business studies or similar subjects was still very much the exception. Course structures, curricula and methods of assessment varied considerably from one institution to another, but the requirement that students spend a year abroad in the country of the language being studied was universal, in practice if not by statute.

During the 1980s, the rapid expansion of the HE sector brought with it a concomitant increase in the number of students enrolling on language degrees. Between 1985 and 1990, on the UFC side of the binary line, new entrants increased by 28%, exceeding the average increase for all subjects by 7%; on the PCFC side, the number of language degree students increased by 13% as opposed to 26% overall.

At the same time, however, a number of fundamental changes were taking place in HE which were to bring about a rethinking of many aspects of the traditional language degree-course.

• Far fewer language graduates were opting for school-teaching as a career, raising the question of whether a literature-based curriculum was necessarily appropriate to all language degree-courses, particularly in view of the changes being made to the A-level curriculum.
• Evidence was emerging that the level of linguistic attainment certificated by a pass at A-level was falling significantly (arguably a more serious problem in languages than in other disciplines since the ability to use a foreign language is measured against an absolute standard, that of the native speaker).
• Student demand was increasingly for degrees with a practical or professional orientation, such as business studies or law, which were perceived to lead more directly to well-paid employment and a career.
• The publicity surrounding the inauguration of the European Single Market on 1st January 1993 brought about an increase in the number of Institution-Wide Language Programmes (IWLPs) or Languages for All Programmes offered in HEIs, making it possible for students to acquire a working knowledge of a foreign language without being attached in any way to a language degree-course.
• The modularisation of course provision across entire institutions rapidly became the norm, accompanied in most cases by semesterisation. This allowed students greater freedom to choose a proportion of their programme from outside the central discipline of their degree, offering a further alternative to those who wished to develop their knowledge of a foreign language without enrolling on a language degree-course.

All these factors played their part in modifying the provision and the content of courses, so that, by the end of the 1990s, the picture was very different.

• The number of applicants to language degrees nationally has been falling, leading in some HEIs to the closing of courses and the absorption of language departments into Schools of Humanities or Business Studies.
• The demand within the spectrum of languages has been changing. In particular, German and Russian have been declining, Spanish has been increasing. There has been an increased interest in 'new' languages, such as Japanese.
• The range of degree subjects on offer is now vastly more complex than it was twenty years ago. Students who in 1980 would have chosen a mainstream language degree are now as likely to opt for Computer Science, Media Studies or International Marketing, with or without a language as a central element.
• Recently, financial changes with a direct impact on students' pockets - the abolition of grants, the introduction of loans, the payment of fees - have led applicants to look more critically at the investment value of their degree. This puts a premium on the question of employability and militates against four-year as opposed to three-year courses. It is, however, too early to assess the full impact of these changes.

As a result of the changes in higher education, language departments have had to go through a process of rethinking what they offer. The curriculum has been modified, literature-based courses moving towards cultural, film and media studies, area-studies tending to concentrate on a specific discipline such as politics; there has been an increase in broader courses such as European Studies and European Culture. Language departments have taken the lead in setting up joint courses with other subject-areas (Business, Management, Computing, Media Studies, etc.), taking advantage in many cases of the modularisation of course structures. The language elements of courses have taken account of these developments by the inclusion of a wider range of linguistic skills and registers.

So much rethinking, yet it is curious that the period of residence abroad which forms an essential element in all mainstream language degrees has been subjected to far less critical scrutiny than other aspects of the curriculum.

In 1980, residence abroad took the form of a single academic year, almost invariably intercalated between the second and third years at the home institution. Students were usually required to take up a post as an English-language assistant in a school or to enrol for suitable courses at a university in an appropriate country. The academic work undertaken during the year abroad was very rarely taken into account in the award of the degree, except that a dissertation, for which the preliminary information-gathering or reading had been carried out during the residence abroad, might contribute a small percentage towards the final result.

How had things changed by 1998? The NRAD survey showed that, on 84% of courses for which the study of a language was obligatory, a period of residence abroad was compulsory. Of the students who went abroad, 93% went for the entire third year of their course. Just under half enrolled at a university and the principal academic activities required of students were attending courses at a host institution, reading for the rest of the course and gathering information for a dissertation.

The main structures underpinning residence abroad have therefore changed remarkably little. That is not to say that there has been no movement. The QA reports reveal that many HEIs have developed effective preparation and support programmes. Initiatives such as the ERASMUS programme and credit accumulation systems have been taken up and used constructively for the benefit of students. None the less, the comments made in the QA overview reports are unequivocal and arise out of very specific criticisms of individual departments, e.g.

"the lack of set aims and objectives for the year abroad makes it difficult to assess the extent to which it achieves its purposes."

"A more clearly specified set of objectives should be produced to justify the award of 120 credits for the year abroad, along with methods of evaluating whether these objectives have been successfully achieved."

"The Department should clarify its objectives for the year abroad and its monitoring of the students' progress."

"Since academic credits are awarded for the year abroad, aims and objectives for this element need to be established and their achievement monitored."

What seems to have happened is that many language departments have remained tied to assumptions about residence abroad that emerged many years ago and which, having been unquestioned, are now out of touch with the realities of higher education. Effort has certainly been put into improving the practical aspects of the students' experience, but it is evident that the relationship between the period of residence abroad and the rest of the course is still largely a neglected area.

LARA's consultation of those dealing with residence abroad in the HE sector (through the NRAD survey, the RAM workshops, its own focus-groups and email-lists, and individual contacts) has revealed a widespread perception that the whole question of residence abroad has reached a plateau, i.e. the principles and mechanisms applied to it work adequately in the great majority of cases but it will need a renewed effort to reach the point at which the period abroad can be said to make a full and integrated contribution to the degree-course of which it is a part.