§ 1 and 2. Mr. Tilneyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) to what extent the British Council has made use of teaching the English language through the medium of the initial teaching alphabet; and to what extent the Council has co-operated with the Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation;
(2) in how many libraries of the British Council books in the initial teaching alphabet are available.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Evan Luard)The British Council does not itself use the initial teaching alphabet at present for teaching English and has no books in this alphabet in its libraries. The Council is represented on the Advisory Committee of the Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation and has co-operated in launching two experimental projects overseas.
§ Mr. TilneyFirst, I should like to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his new appointment. Will he look at the experiment in the Gambia? Does he not regard it as of great importance that people who learn English as a second language should only have to learn by this system 40 signs as against 2,000 ordinary characters?
§ Mr. LuardThe British Council has been co-operating in the experiment in the Gambia which the hon. Gentleman 820 mentions, but he will realise that the problem of teaching English to a foreigner is quite different from teaching it to English children for the first time, and the initial teaching alphabet is much less relevant to foreigners than it is to British children.