languages in australia and western australia japan vs france

8/8/2019 Languages in Australia and Western Australia Japan vs France

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y History of language education in Australia

y How many languages are currently taught in

Australian schoolsy Challenges and issues of teaching languages in

Australia

y A look at the Japanese language progression inAustralia

y A look at the French language progression in Australia

y Why study languages?

y Conclusion


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y Prior to European colonisation Indigenous languages

y Migration of Irish in first English convict ships - Australianever a truly monolingual country

y

Gold rush in 1850s brought many Welsh speakersy Extinction of all languages by dominance of English


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y WW2 brought waves of European migrants which

introduced community languages in Australian schoolingy 1982 - committee of Australian parliamentarians was

appointed and identified a number of guiding principlesthat would support a National Policy on Languages (NPL)

y Completed in 1987 - Create fairness, diversity and positiveeconomics towards bilingualism in Australians

y 1991 Australian Language and LiteracyPolicy was formed

y Built from the NPL, with an Economical focus on languages


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y All Australians should develop and maintain effective literacy inEnglish to enable them to participate in Australian society;

y The learning of languages other than English must be substantiallyexpanded and improved to enhance educational outcomes and

communication within both the Australian and the internationalcommunity;

y Those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages which are stilltransmitted should be maintained and developed, and those that arenot should be recorded where appropriate;

y Language services, provided by interpreters and translators, the printand electronic media and libraries, should be expanded and improved.

y develops an array of transferable skills that support other areas of thecurriculum

The four key goals of the ALLPwere that:


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y Ten priority, or wider taught languages: Indonesian,Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, French, German,modern Greek, Korean, Spanish and Aboriginal languages

y

To a lesser extent: Arabic, Hebrew, Vietnamese


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Second language education is a subject of continual public debate inAustralia.

A deep and persistent malaise afflicts language education in Australia.

The MCEETYA National Plan on Languages Education (2005) opens witha

true statement : Quality languages education is not yet part of thelearning experience of all students, in all schools, in all parts of thecountry

half the children in compulsory education in Australia are not beingtaught a language other than English (LOTE) in a mainstream school

The majority of those taking a LOTE are in programs with inadequatetime allocation.

Most schools do not require students to take a second languagethroughout the compulsory years of education

Many schools make it impossible or inconvenient to take a LOTE inYears 9 and 10 through the constraints of the time table.


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During 2009 four issues have dominated languagediscussions:

1. English learning and literacy and its relationship to firstlanguage maintenance among Indigenous children

2. The ongoing crisis of language teaching in mainstreamschools and universities

3. The critical importance of English proficiency in migrantentrance determination and for the integration ofinternational students into Australian educationinstitutions, and;

4. Ongoing disputes about the right balance of aims inlanguage education between Australia's external trade,security and regional engagement needs and broaderremits encompassing cultural, humanistic andintellectual enrichment


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y The Australian Academy of the Humanities hasfor 2 decades been at the forefront of action toredress the continual pattern of neglect of

language in education and public policy.y In February 2009, the Academy organised a highly

successful National Colloquium on languages inhigher education entitled: Beyond the Crisis:

Revitalising Languages in Australian Universities.


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Australia has an impressive record of policydevelopment and program innovation insecond language education, but a relatively

poor record for consistency of application andmaintenance of effort.

From 1970-2006: 67 policy-related reports,investigations or substantial enquiries into

the problem and challenge of instituting aneffective language education experience forAustralian learners.


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the large number of reports andprograms has served to weaken

the place of languages due tocontinual shifting of prioritiesand ineffective interventions.


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The year 1968 is often invoked as a keydate in language education policy.

Universities removed the requirementfor school language study as a criterionfor entry to certain tertiary programs.


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In 1968, 44% of the students werestudying a second language at year 12level.

75% were studying French.

The effect of this removal wasimmediate: language candidates in Year12 dropped to about 10 per cent.


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LanguageJapaneseItalianIndonesianFrenchGermanChinese (Mandarin)

ArabicSpanishGreekVietnameseOther

Total

Number of students332,943322,023209,939207,235126,92081,35825,44920,51818,58411,01445,567

1,401,550 (100%)


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Year 7Year 8Year 9

Year 10Year 11Year 12

79.3%64.1%30.8%

17.6%10.9%*10.3%*


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Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 total

Japanese 63,272 47,997 19,177 11,430 5,627 4,667 152,170

French 45,085 42,475 19,469 11,543 6,353 4,607 129,532

Italian 35,449 29,522 17,176 8,172 3,895 2,740 96,954

Indonesian

32,301 24,444 11,264 5,281 2,189 1,618 77,097

German 25,292 21,788 10,291 5,574 2,750 2,147 67,842

Chinese(Mandarin)

12,456 8,120 4,146 2,790 2,649 2,689 32,850

Spanish

3,004 2,113 611 325 714 612 7,379


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Latin 1,717 1,172 853 649 349 296 5,036

Arabic 1,332 1,273 886 839 480 211 5,021

Greek 1,425 1,323 899 611 319 213 4,790

Other 3,771 2,780 1,994 1,314 833 820 11,512

Total 225,104 183,007 86,766 48,528 26,158 20,620 590,183


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the almost exclusive reason given for languagespromotion by government is related to labourmarket and economic issues.

many students perceive their realistic prospects intheir language Year 12 examinations will impactnegatively on their overall scores

some schools refuse to continue languages

through to Year 12


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y Japanese education in Australia dates back to 1906, inMelbourne.

y 1917 Sydney University introduces Japanese.

y

1940s Language boomed in most cities.y Post WW2: Fascination with the culture and economical

influences encouraged further education


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y 1970s Introduction of Japanese in secondary schools

on a wider scaley Textbooks were created aimed at school-age children

y Some of the first in the world!

y 1980s/90s tsunami of language learners

y Wide-scaled introduction in primary schooling


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y Beginning of the 21st century Japanese is #1

y Second only to Japan's neighbour Korea

y Declining rate of language learners in Australia

y Strong future alliances with Asian countries


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Hick (1964):

the History of modern language teaching inAustralia is virtually the history of the teaching ofFrench.

French: a living tradition within Australianculture and education.

French has been instrumental in some of themajor policy initiatives of the past 2 decades in

LOTE.For many years, French was the modern foreign

language the most widely taught.


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French has had some presence in the school sincethe mid 19th century.

The first French teacher was an aristocratic

refugee from France: Gabriel Louis Marie Huon deKerillay.

He was a member of the Bourbon family andserved in the NSW corps until 1807.

He was employed by Governor Macarthur as thetutor of his children.


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The history of the integration of Frenchinstruction into the curricula of formal educationin Australia is barely a century old.

Modern language was classified as useful inBritain, this classification was not questionedwhen the education debates of the 19th centurywere transported in Australia. (1858)

Utilitarian view: commercial value of French.


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In the 1990s in WA: 9 LOTE listed, French had themost enrolments with 45%.

French was the LOTE most studied by both girls

and boys.In the Catholic system, of the 8 LOTE listed,

French had the second greatest share ofenrolments.

Independent system: 12 LOTE are listed, French isthe most studied with 53%.


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y Blessed with resources but disregarded with dominatemonolingual mindset

y Lack of increased language skills at home

y Lack of opportunity to use languagey Misguided crowded curriculum references


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y Introduces students and other learners to differentlanguages, cultures provides the ability to accessother peoples ideas and ways of thinking

y

Inspires interest and respect in other countriesy Makes use of a range of communication technologies

y Develops an array of transferable skills that supportother areas of the curriculum


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y Exchange programs to foreign countries

y Bonus WAIS marks for those who study languages atuniversity entrance level

y Programs which send you overseas to teach English JET program


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In the context of moves for a national curriculumfor Australia what is the best way to secure apermanent place for the key languages of Asia andEurope at school and university level across the

country?

learning and using an additional language atschool should provide a rich educational and

practical experience, rather than be limited to autilitarian preparation for using languages forbusiness or other instrumental purposes post-school


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Language teachers are not just teacher but also

subject advocate, called upon continually todefend the integrity and presence of the language

they teach. Also have to deal with complaints about the

crowded curriculum, lack of student interest anda host of other pressures.

languages in australia and western australia japan vs france

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