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Indonesian language education in Australia: Patterns of provision and contending ideologies
Abstract
Since the introduction of Indonesian in the 1950s, the nature and extent of programs for studying the language in Australian schools has varied significantly. A decade on from the national report on the state of Indonesian language education in Australian schools that indicated a substantial decline in provision ( Kohler & Mahnken, 2010 ), it is timely to take stock and consider how Indonesian is faring and why. This paper reports on a mixed methods study exploring the state and nature of Indonesian language provision in government schools in Australia. The findings indicate that while some decline continues overall, patterns of provision vary, particularly at different levels of schooling. The findings highlight the need for a nuanced understanding of the confluence of factors impacting on Indonesian, including contending ideologies; none of which adequately capture the intrinsic value and distinctiveness of studying Indonesian in the Australian context.
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This paper reports on a project of structural and curriculum change in the Languages learning area in three Australian schools that implemented new models of Languages provision over a 3-year period and seeks to examine the ways that school cultures influence processes of change. The project adopted a qualitative collective case study approach that involved collaboration between teachers, school leadership and the research team on activities related to implementing the models, including a contextual analysis of policies and structures, collaborative curriculum planning and implementation, planning of interventions relevant to each site, monitoring, and ongoing evaluation and annual reporting. It also collected structural data in the form of school profiles, including information about the school context and learner groups, curriculum data, including program documentation, resources, student work samples, tasks and assessment data, and teacher and student evaluation data. Interviews were conducted with participating teachers, school leaders and students on a continuous basis, gathering each participant’s perspectives on the process of change over time. The paper examines the ways that the culture of schools, and in particular the structures that existed in the schools in relation to timetabling, the organisation of curriculum, the planning and enactment of teaching, learning and assessment and the approach to staffing, influenced what was possible in terms of change and ultimately the sustainability of change, particularly in relation to a learning area that is perceived to be ‘specialist’.
An Investigation into the State and Nature of Languages Education in Australian Schooling is a landmark report for the Commonwealth Government providing a comprehensive analysis of the state of languages education across all schooling sectors, levels of schooling and jurisdictions in Australia. This report comprised both quantitative and qualitative data analysis across aspects such as policy settings, program provision and conditions, student participation, staffing, pedagogy, curriculum and assessment. The report made a series of recommendations related to quality improvement in the provision of languages education in schools.
Cambridge Core - Applied Linguistics - Language and Subjectivity - by Tim McNamara
In this article I present the widely reported crisis of modern foreign languages study through a discourse perspective. I
review the ‘problem’ of languages uptake in English schools and then present a qualitative study for which groups of 14-year-olds
from different schools were asked to discuss their choices either to continue studying or to drop modern languages. To interpret
findings I drew on Bourdieusian social practice theory and Foucault’s notion of the discursive field, which seeks to identify
the power dynamic inherent in naturalized discourses, such as, in this case, language learning is a worthy enterprise. Findings
suggest that we need to rethink the way languages are perceived as opportunity by different stakeholders: students most favourably
disposed to language study perceive languages in more holistic ways, embedded across actual and projected networks and educational
and career pathways. Most significantly, the value of language study as an asset is articulated as a form of cultural capital
in an educational discourse of liberal, humanistic tradition of education rather than purely as an instrumental goal.
Transformations associated with the increasing speed, scale, and complexity of mobilities, together with the information technology revolution, have changed the demography of most countries of the world and brought about accompanying social, cultural, and economic shifts (Heugh, 2013). This complex diversity has changed the very nature of communication within and across languages, in society in general, and in education. These changes in turn require a reconceptualization of our approach to language/s education in ways that recognize a diversity of goals for people from different backgrounds, people who are learning a variety of languages in diverse settings and who may be interested in developing different capabilities and achieving different outcomes. In this article, we address the reconceptualization of the goals and outcomes of learning additional languages and processes for their formulation and realization. We will make explicit the educational values that underpin our position. Recognizing the immense diversity that the learning of additional languages in diverse contexts encompasses, our consideration is necessarily conceptual. The point of departure for our discussion is communicative language teaching, the dominant paradigm for language teaching for the past 40 years. We briefly trace its historical development and provide an account of some of the conceptual and theoretical expansions since its initial formulation. In light of this expansion we then discuss goals for learning additional languages by: (a) reaffirming the multilingual character of communication and learning to communicate, focusing on the exchange of meaning, (b) (re-)inserting the importance of personal development and aesthetics, and (c) recognizing the centrality of reflectivity and reflexivity in communication and learning to communicate. We conclude with a set of principles that are intended to capture the expanded nature of goals and their rendering for the purposes of teaching and learning.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its publication, Michael W. Apple has thoroughly updated his influential text, and written a new preface. The new edition also includes an extended interview circa 2001, in which Apple relates the critical agenda outlined in Ideology and Curriculum to the more contemporary conservative climate. Finally, a new chapter titled "Pedagogy, Patriotism and Democracy: Ideology and Education After 9/11" is also included.
The declining interest in foreign languages in English-speaking countries has been attributed to negative societal attitudes and specific pupil attitudes and perceptions. While various initiatives have aimed to encourage language study, little research has systematically documented the relationship among perceptions, attitudes, and actually opting to study a language (henceforth, uptake). This article reports on an experiment involving 604 13/14-year-old pupils in 3 secondary schools in England that tested whether perceived relevance of languages can be improved through 2 different interventions (a panel discussion with external speakers versus a lesson with an external tutor) and whether pupil perceptions and attitudes can be linked explicitly to foreign language uptake at an optional level. Findings show that only pupils who participated in the panel discussion subsequently reported more positive attitudes and higher personal relevance of languages, though participating in either intervention may have contributed to higher uptake compared to a nonactive control group. Boys appeared to have generally more negative attitudes toward both language learning and advocacy than girls. Declared intentions to study or drop a language did not align with final decisions for one quarter of the pupils. Critically, perceptions of language lessons (French, German, or Spanish) and attitudes to languages were reliable predictors of uptake, though the strongest predictor was whether pupils considered languages to be important for themselves. Perceived wider importance of languages was not, in itself, a sufficient incentive.
What prompts secondary students to continue or discontinue language study once it's no longer compulsory? Language education in Australia tends to be influenced by strong political trends, but despite the many attempts by governments to increase student numbers in language programs through a range of policies over the years, student enrolments and retention rates in contexts where languages are not compulsory remain a challenge. Against this background of constantly shifting policy agendas for languages education, it is worth considering what students themselves are saying about languages and how this is reflected in what they are actually doing when it comes to taking a language at school. The authors outline their 2007 study into what 57 South Australian students reported as being their reasons for continuing or discontinuing language studies once it was no longer compulsory, as well as what these students claimed about the importance or otherwise of knowing more than one language. The article describes the study methodology and outcomes, then briefly analyses the results, concluding with some key messages that may be usefully considered by language teachers. [Author abstract, ed]
The emergence of communicative language teaching as the dominant paradigm in foreign language pedagogy cast 'communication' in a central role in language acquisition, both as an aim and as a medium of instruction. Despite its centrality, the concept of 'communication' is generally taken as widely understood and is seldom defined. This paper examines current language learning approaches and classroom practices to uncover how the field of foreign language pedagogy conceptualises communication, and compares this conceptualisation to the perspectives on communication evident in the work of applied linguists and communication scholars. Finally, the paper discusses whether 'communication' as understood by theorists is a feasible aim of foreign language instruction or whether it conflicts with the pedagogical realities of most language classrooms. Yes Yes
fter providing a brief general framework for language policy and planning, this article examines the case of language policy and planning in Australia with a particular focus on how one of the elements in that framework, prestige planning, might contribute to successful planning implementation, thereby adding to our more general understanding of how language planning operates. It is argued that language-in-education planning in Australia, which has been the major vehicle for improvements in language teaching and learning over the last 25 years, has contributed to both the prestige and the spread of additional language teaching in the country. Thus, while it may not be generally recognised, without the receptive goals emphasised by prestige planning, language planning's productive goals would be much less likely to be achieved.
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