Languages education in the Asia-Pacific region: A response to the 2011 Research Centre for Languages and Cultures RCLC symposium

Abstract

The Research Centre for Languages and Cultures (RCLC) at the University of South Australia hosts an annual symposium on current issues related to languages and language education. Since 2008, the symposium program has explored the topics of languages in Australian education, applied linguistics in Australia, and linguistic and cultural diversity issues for Australia, drawing on Indian subcontinental and African examples. The linguistic and cultural diversity theme was extended in the 2011 symposium, with the area of interest shifting to Australia's northern neighbours. Titled 'Shifting sands: perspectives on the changing face of languages education in the Asia-Pacific region', the symposium aimed to explore the role of languages in education in the region, in particular addressing the role of English in Asian nations' educational systems and how it sits in relation to national and other languages, and the teaching of Asian languages in Australia. The hallmark of the RCLC symposia is that they intend to raise critical, current issues in the languages field for wider debate, include presenting cutting edge research and high profile speakers, and following up the symposia with dissemination of current thinking and ideas generated in the discussions through publications, further conference presentations and centre activities. The 2011 conference, convened by RCLC member Neil Murray, involved speakers from the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, including members of the RCLC, in a two day program divided into the two subthemes: 'the relationship between English and Asian languages,' and 'dimensions of teaching and learning in the Asia-Pacific context'. A public forum held on the evening of the first day was dedicated to the topic 'languages in flux: the place of Chinese and English in the Asia-Pacific region'.