The number of pupils learning languages has fallen sharply, according to official figures.

This summer, only 21,072 pupils sat A level French - a drop of more than a quarter from five years ago when 28,942 pupils were entered the exam.

The number of candidates studying German has also decreased. While the number of pupils entered for Spanish A level has risen slightly from five years ago, the combined total number of entries for Spanish and German this summer was just 15,333.

The figures, from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, show that language A levels make up just a small percentage of the total number of exams taken - which this year was nearly 800,000.

And they have prompted warnings that British business could suffer, because of employees' lack of ability to communicate in other languages.

Cultural background

Professor Peter Lutzeier, head of Surrey University's School of Languages and International Studies, said while English is the language most widely spoken in business, companies still needed to be able to communicate in other languages, so more students needed to choose to study languages at both A level and degree level.

Foreign languages are still needed for communicating in the business world

"If you want to place a product in a particular region, or set up a new office, you have to address customers with their own language and cultural background. You can only get that cultural background if you speak the language.

"I would say that a lot of students say 'What's the point in learning a foreign language?', but it is important, and it is important that forward-looking companies realise that.

"Unless more people start learning languages, there is going to be a problem, and I would encourage schools to offer a wide variety of languages, not just French."

Prof Lutzeier, who is German, is a marketing consultant to BMW.

"The work I do with BMW is about how they should sell themselves and their brand values across the world.

"You have to have a clear sense of the cultural values and brand values, and to do that you need to speak the language."

'Danger of complacency'

Hugh Harris, senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry, agreed that an increase in the numbers of students choosing to learn languages was needed.

"People might think they don't need an extra language if everyone else is learning English, but businesses still need to be able to speak the language of their customers when they're trying to win them over," he said.

French and German were the most important languages in terms of Britain's export markets, he said.

But Spanish, spoken widely in the growth areas of Latin America and Central America, was also a key language for business, as were Mandarin and Japanese.

"There is a danger of complacency at the moment, and some people are making choices that aren't going to help them in the future."

Teacher shortage

The warning comes as schools are having problems trying to fill modern language teaching posts.

The government has extended a scheme of cash incentives to encourage more students to enter teacher training for modern languages.

In an attempt to tackle the recruitment crisis, modern languages trainees will receive a "golden hello" of �5,000 from September 2000.

An inquiry into the UK's capacity in languages is currently taking place, and is set to be completed in the spring.

The Nuffield Language Inquiry, established by the charitable trust the Nuffield Foundation and chaired by the newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald, is looking into what capabilities in languages the UK will need during the next 20 years, and what planning and initiatives are needed to develop these.