Projects (current)
Members of the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures are often engaged in multiple projects of various types - more 'pure' research projects, more focussed applied consultancies, some externally funded, some not. The following lists all funded projects which are currently underway in the RCLC. This list is updated twice each year, in approximately February and August.
- Student achievement in Asian languages education
- The state of Indonesian in Australian schools
- Singapore Third Languages project
- Assessing student learning in language cultures education
- Assessing the intercultural in language learning
- Co-operative blended model offering Arabic and Italian at UniSA and Deakin respectively
- Investigation of intercultural teaching and learning of internal and external students of Italian
Student achievement in Asian languages education
Angela Scarino ~ Andrew Scrimgeour ~ Michelle Kohler ~ Catherine Elder ~ Ute Knoch ~ Tim McNamara ~ Sun Hee Kim ~ Noriko Iwashita ~ Anne-Marie Morgan
2009-2010, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
This project is being jointly run by the RCLC at the University of South Australia and the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. The purpose of the project is to conduct research to establish a baseline and descriptors of what different students can achieve in learning particular languages (Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean) under different conditions (program type, duration and intensity). The assessments are intended, therefore, to inform the research and development process, rather than to establish a national assessment scheme.
The state of Indonesian in Australian schools
Angela Scarino ~ Michelle Kohler
2009, Asia Education Foundation (through University of the Sunshine Coast)
The aim of this DEEWR funded project is to provide baseline information on the current state of Indonesian in Australian schools as part of the support for the implementation of the federal government's National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Project (NALSSP). The investigation will focus on quantitative data such as participation rates and qualitative data from interviews with stakeholders in the provision of Indonesian languages programs in schools. The project is a joint venture with University of the Sunshine Coast and is managed by the Asia Education Foundation.
Singapore Third Languages project
Angela Scarino ~ Michelle Kohler
2008 - 2009, Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia & Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
This project involves researching appropriate levels of student outcomes as
a basis for developing assessment specification and procedures for
Indonesian and Arabic languages.
Assessing student learning in language cultures education
Angela Scarino ~ Kazuyo Taguchi ~ Leo Papademetre
2006 - 2009, Catholic Education Office
This project will extend teachers' knowledge and understanding of assessment and strengthen the assessment of students' performance in languages learning as one of the key learning areas in the school curriculum for all students. It responds specifically to current Federal and State priority in the area of educational assessment.
Assessing the intercultural in language learning
Anthony J Liddicoat ~ Angela Scarino ~ Antonio Mercurio
2006 - 2009, ARC Linkage; industry partners are the Department of Education and Children's Services of South Australia, the South Australian School of Languages, and the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
The project will work with teachers and students in Years 4-12 in a range of languages to develop approaches to assessment for intercultural language learning. The project will examine key dimensions of assessment: eliciting and judging intercultural language learning and validating the assessment approach. The project will include the development and analysis of assessment tasks, analysis of students' responses to these tasks, and analysis of criteria used in judging responses. The study will develop a theorised model of assessment for intercultural learning in languages, which will fill a gap in languages pedagogy and intercultural research, an understanding of task features for assessing intercultrality and an explication of assessment processes.
Co-operative blended model offering Arabic and Italian at UniSA and Deakin respectively
Giancarlo Chiro ~ Gary Smith ~ Vincenza Tudini
2007-2009, Deans of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities
The research project will be for an exchange of courses, including online materials in Arabic (from Deakin to UniSA) and Italian (from UniSA to Deakin). The project will trial Model 1 (Cooperative Blended Model) as part of a Collaboration and Structural Reform (CASR) grant looking at innovative collaborations in the provision of Languages other than English in Australian higher education. Teaching and learning innovations and other outcomes will be researched, evaluated and reported in refereed journals.
Investigation of intercultural teaching and learning of internal and external students of Italian
Giancarlo Chiro ~ Vincenza Tudini
2006-2009, Cassamarca Foundation Australia Project Committee