Standards have been “betrayed” in recent years as institutions attempt to attract students from a rapidly “diminishing field”, it is suggested.

The study said some universities were ditching texts in foreign languages in favour of English translations to make them easier to understand.

University departments are also offering courses focusing on contemporary culture and film to appeal to modern teenagers.

The report – funded by the Government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England – said that academics were being required to provide “remedial” lessons for first-year students because A-levels fail to give them a decent grounding in basic grammar or language.

It comes amid growing fears over a decline in the popularity of French, German, Spanish and Italian at all ages in the last decade.

The study, by Professor Michael Worton, vice-provost of University College London, said that the number of undergraduates studying foreign languages had dropped five per cent and many departments had already closed.

It found that Labour’s decision to make the subject optional at GCSE level in England five years ago had sent out a "powerful negative message".

A drop in the number of pupils studying languages at GCSE and A-level meant the discipline was seen as a “diminishing field”, leading to a “loss of status and often of funding”.

“The absence of foreign languages from the national curriculum after the age of 14 sends out a powerful negative message, especially in comparison with other countries, be this in continental Europe, the Far East, Central Asia and so on,” the study said. “There remains no sense nationally or internationally that the UK is committed to multilingualism,”

Prof Worton, professor of French language and literature, was commissioned by Hefce to review languages at English universities amid concerns about falling student numbers and a lack of funding.

He found that moves by the Government to protect funding for science and maths-based subjects amounted to an 11 per cent cut in funding for languages.

A survey of universities conducted for the review said language departments felt “vulnerable and beleaguered” and the importance of the subject was not understood or recognised by the Government or potential students.

In response, he said, languages departments have been forced to alter courses.

The most widely-reported trend was towards a “greater emphasis" on cultural and film studies, the report said, resulting in a decline in literary studies.

It added: “Several departments also reported an increase in the number of courses offering texts taught in translation or other options accessible to non-linguists. This was generally driven by the need to increase student… numbers (and therefore income), but was generally perceived as a form of ‘dumbing down’ or even a betrayal of the nature and aims of a modern foreign languages curriculum.”

The report said that in 2002/3 some 3.3 per cent of all full-time students were studying languages as part of their degree. In 2007/08 this figure was 2.9 per cent, despite a 9.4 per cent increase in the number of students at university overall.

The report found that, despite the overall decline in numbers, there was a rise in interest for Asian, Modern Middle Eastern, African and Iberian studies.

Prof Worton recommended establishing a forum for Government departments, Hefce, universities, schools and employers to agree plans for languages.

David Lammy, the Higher Education Minister, said: “I welcome this contribution to the debate on the health of modern foreign languages.

"I believe that modern languages are of real importance and value, will look carefully at the findings of the report and work closely with [the Department for Children, Schools and Families] and Hefce to take them forward.”

(www.eduwo.com, Jainlyn&Charlotte)