On opportunities to study historical linguistics in schools in the United Kingdom

Abstract This paper presents an overview of some of the opportunities available to children in the United Kingdom to study aspects of historical linguistics, both as part of the approved curricula and as additional learning opportunities. We present an overview of some of the arrangements in the public examinations in England and Wales in three subject areas: English Language; modern foreign languages; and classical languages. We observe that opportunities to study historical linguistics are limited in all of these areas, but there is at least some engagement with the subject. We then describe the United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad, in particular, some of the kinds of problems in historical linguistics that students are required to solve as part of the competition. Finally, we introduce Maths-Puzz-Ling, a project being developed at the University of Edinburgh as a result of collaboration between linguists and mathematicians, and show how particular problems can simultaneously be used to educate pupils about mathematical concepts and patterns in (historical) linguistics. The benefit of a modified problem-based learning approach to the teaching of historical linguistic concepts is also considered.