An Investigation of the State and Nature of Languages in Australian Schools

Abstract

This project is one of the Australian Government's national projects funded through the School Languages Programme to support the implementation of the 'National Statement for Languages Education in Australian Schools: National Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005-2008'. The project is an investigation into the state and nature of languages education in Australian schools. It was undertaken to form a foundation for long-term planning and policy development in languages education at the national level. There are a number of recent initiatives that have sought to influence the nature of languages education in Australia. The most recent and significant of these is the 'National Statement for Languages Education in Australian Schools: National Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005-2008', which frames the nature and purpose of languages education in a nationally agreed manner. In addition, the development of 'Professional standards for languages teaching' similarly seeks to influence the nature of languages education nationally. One of the central features of the evolving nature of languages education is the developing profile of intercultural language learning. The investigation for this report involved the collection of data about the state and nature of languages education from a number of different sources in order to generate a rich description of the current situation, which can be used as a basis for decision-making and agenda-setting. The investigation was based on four main sources of input: • a literature review and document analysis; • a quantitative survey; • interviews and focus groups; • qualitative data.