[lg policy] Australia: Language push translates to high cost

[Harold Schiffman]

Language push translates to high cost

   - by: Bernard Lane
   - From: The Australian <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/>
   - May 12, 2012 12:00AM


   [image: Cate Whitty; Deputy Principal of Open High School in Sydney, wit
student Theresa Boon and her teacher David Trigg]

Cate Whitty; Deputy Principal of Open High School in Sydney, with Latin
student Theresa Boon and her teacher David Trigg. Picture: James Croucher *
Source:* The Australian

* TONY Abbott's ambitions for foreign language learning would require a new
generation of teachers and mandatory classes for very young children,
according to educator Cate Whitty. *

"We are talking about a generation -- a generation plus -- because not
enough language teachers are coming out of university at the moment," said
Ms Whitty, deputy principal of Sydney's Open High School, which teaches
nothing but languages. "And the way to get more teachers is scholarships."
In his budget reply, the Opposition Leader said a Coalition government
would work "urgently" with the states to make sure at least 40 per cent of
Year 12 students took a language within a decade. The proportion doing so
now is about 12 per cent.

He zeroed in on Asian languages, where experts blame meagre funding,
stop-start policy and popular indifference for abysmally low student
numbers.Kevin Rudd yesterday ridiculed Mr Abbott's newfound commitment to
boosting language studies, saying he had never shown interest in the issue
before this week. The former prime minister added that Mr Abbott was part
of the Howard government when it scrapped a key foreign language program
and language had not rated a mention in Mr Abbott's manifesto Battlelines.

"Why did Howard government abolish all funding for Asian language education
for schools in 2002?" Mr Rudd tweeted. Asia studies scholar Michael Wesley
observed on Twitter: "Tony Abbott's languages policy will cost $11.3
billion over 30 years -- money well spent." The costing comes from Dr
Wesley's 2009 report Building an Asia-literate Australia, which hints that
investing in these human skills would return more value than yet another
covered outdoor learning area.

Yesterday, the Coalition said the price ticket for its languages policy
would be revealed before the election.In power, it would begin "a
generational shift", finding ways to use foreign-language speakers to help
school learners and making a start on teacher training.Ms Whitty endorses
the idea of a big shift -- but it has to be big enough to embrace all
languages, not just those of Asia, she said.Her school teaches more than a
dozen languages to 2000-odd students in Sydney, and further afield using
video conferences.

Some languages have a local cheer squad (Italian has Italian-Australians,
for example) and others are touted as career-boosters, she said. Japanese
was seen that way a generation ago, Mandarin is today. A few have classic
appeal, such as Latin, the choice of Year 12 student Theresa Boon, from
North Sydney Girls High. For Ms Whitty, what's important is that languages
open a window on another culture, even if that culture survives only as
inherited traditions.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/treasury/language-push-translates-to-high-cost/story-fndbwnla-1226353428478




-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20120512/633277de/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list