The deep end of language learning
by Michèle Nardelli
If UniSA languages and applied linguistics expert Angela Scarino has anything to say about it, learning languages in Australia will soon become a deeper experience than just that struggle with vocabulary.
At the crest of a major educational initiative, which has attracted more than $2 million in Australian Government funding support and will involve teachers in every state in Australia, Scarino is aiming to make languages education a tipping point for real intercultural engagement.
The Intercultural Languages Teaching and Learning in Practice (ILTLP) project held its first national planning meeting at the end of August.
Scarino says beyond all the 1980s multicultural rhetoric about "celebrating diversity", intercultural engagement is a key to success in the new era of globalisation.
"We are all shaped by our culture. We bring views and understandings to all of our interactions that are a product of our cultural experiences," Scarino said.
"If you consider the nature of the world today – an environment of constant movement of people and ideas, all in an increasingly global community – the ability to engage in interactions at a genuine level with different cultures must be highly prized."
The advantages of using language education as a starting point for developing these 21st century skills, is that it is an education platform that always necessarily brings together at least two languages and cultures.
With planning for the first phase of the research set, 20 highly
experienced teachers of languages from across the country will be
researching and developing new models of teaching in their classrooms with
students. The results
from these case studies will inform the development of resources for
teaching
professional learning.
"When this research is done we hope to have developed teaching models and exemplars that can be fed into a professional learning program for a further 400 language teachers," Scarino said. "And here we want to have regular feedback from all these teachers about what is happening and yielding the best results in the classroom."
Scarino says this regular dialogue and feedback will be one of the most significant aspects of the project in building intercultural teaching and learning skills.
The Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning in Practice project has been commissioned and funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training under the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme. Project leaders are Angela Scarino and Tony Liddicoat from UniSA’s Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education.