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Heritage and Community Languages in higher education: Some Initiatives from Australia

Heritage and Community Languages in higher education: Some Initiatives from Australia. Anne Pauwels. Australia as a multilingual and multicultural community. Almost 17% use a community language at home More than 350 languages spoken in Australia

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Heritage and Community Languages in higher education: Some Initiatives from Australia

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  1. Heritage and Community Languages in higher education:Some Initiatives from Australia Anne Pauwels

  2. Australia as a multilingual and multicultural community • Almost 17% use a community language at home • More than 350 languages spoken in Australia • Top ten languages in 2006: Chinese, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino, German, Hindi, Croatian • Top ten languages in 1976:Italian, Greek, German, Serbo-Croatian,French, Dutch, Polish, Arabic, Spanish and Maltese

  3. Age profile of ethnolinguistic communities • Young profile [% of speakers in the 0-14 years age group]: Arabic (26%), Vietnamese (23.6%),Cantonese (17.3%), Mandarin (17.1%), Spanish (14.3%), Greek (12.2%), Italian (6.6%) • Old profile [% of speakers in +55 age group]: Latvian (67%), Lithuanian (64.4%), Dutch (56.6%),Ukrainian (53%), German (49.5%), Hungarian (49.1%), Maltese (43.3%)

  4. Australia’s language policies • Major fluctuations since its formation as a colony in 18th C • National Policy on Languages (1987) • English for all • A second language for all • Maintenance of Australian indigenous languages • Language services for people • A series of reiterations and variations since 1987 (Lo Bianco 2009)

  5. Languages in Schools • Priority languages • Increasing commitment to a minimum of 3 years compulsory study of a language • Widespread adoption of language study in primary schools • 130 languages available for study • School of languages in some states • More than 40 languages available for final year assessment (=A level) • Approx 13% of graduating students (A level) take an exam in a language

  6. Languages at University • Approx 66 languages available for study at 1 or more Australian universities in the mid 1990s • In 2006 reduced to 29 languages • Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Italian, Indonesian, German and Spanish are widely available • Most universities offer around 6 languages • Less widely taught languages are concentrated in less than 5 universities on east coast of Australia • Hebrew, Hindi, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese available at only 1 or 2 universities

  7. Linguistic diversity in Australian universities • 18% of Australian (home) students use a language other than English at home • More than 120 languages are used by Australian students • Top ten languages:Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic, other Chinese dialects, Greek, Spanish, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean

  8. The situation of languages at university: a summary • A drastic reduction in the number of languages available for study (single, joint honours or as additional subject) • Only 1 language is available in all states: Indonesian • Only four universities offer more than 10 languages • Most universities offer 2 to 3 European languages and 2 or 3 Asian languages • Most language departments have less than 8 FTE academic staff • Increased casualisation of the work force

  9. The situation of languages at university: a summary • Reduction in language programs & departments across the country due to financial constraints • Increased demand for ab-initio courses • Significant increase in the number of tertiary students with a home background in a language other than English • Increased demand for language as an additional subject in degree programs • Increased demand for language skills for strategic purposes (economic, security) • Disjuncture with languages in schools

  10. Strengthening languages through collaborative arrangements • To ensure that very small enrolment languages continue to be available for study in Australia • To ensure that as many students as possible have access to language study across Australian universities • To facilitate the introduction of new languages into universities, especially those of relevance to Australia • To minimise the closure of language departments in Australian universities • To enrich language learning experiences for Australian language learners

  11. Models for language collaboration • Cooperative Blended Model • Cooperative Blended Exchange Model • Blended Online and Immersion Model: residential - study abroad • Collaborative city-based model

  12. Initial Evaluation • Cooperative blended model is the most successful to date • Blended online & immersion model is working best for very small programs in languages working together • Practical arrangements and administrative procedures are the main ‘stumbling blocks’ for long term collaboration.

  13. City-based collaboration • Version 1: students travel • Version 2: staff travel

  14. Some concluding remarks • Majority of world’s languages will never reach a ‘critical mass’ of students in a university and will need to be sustained through partnerships, collaboration across universities, systems, countries. • Criteria for collaboration: • Willingness to work together • A degree of compatibility, • Willingness to embrace a new way of thinking • Sustainability

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