My previous blog post was about learning second language during primary school and how the government encourages school to teach foreign language and thought this article would be another useful article to post blog. While was reading through other student's blog posts I have realized there were similar topics which were racism and private public schools. Although it relates to our few readings we do however I found this article very interesting to mention about.
This article tells us that the proportion of students studying a foreign language for the Higher School Certificate is at a historic low and less than a fifth of what it was during the 1950s. Also, Only 8 per cent of the more than 75,000 students enrolled in the HSC this year will sit a foreign language test when the written exams begin on October 14, down from more than 50 per cent in the '50s.
I was actually surprised by the fact the rate has decreased because I believe Australia has become one of the largest country with multicultural society but it's surprising to see the rate is decreasing. I may not know the answer to this issue but it can be viewed that many students are finding language not as important as other subjects that will boost their mark. The article mentions that "The most popular subjects for students doing this year's HSC, after English and mathematics, are biology, business studies" which I have made assumption that nowadays many people are wanting to study in medical or business field. I have few people that I know in year 12 preparing for HSC this year thinking getting into business field will make them successful in the future. But in my opinion knowing foreign language in business field gives them better opportunity and greater recognition when it comes to communicating worldwide. Furthermore, as I have mentioned in previous blog, I think learning foreign language during school is the greatest opportunity and allows students to have a broader understanding of other culture. Not only building knowledge but it may lower racism because their perspective on certain background may change.
I'm majoring Japanese and planning to become a language teacher when I graduate and I am hoping to teach Japanese to many students and help them to be able to communicate with Japanese background. I really want our society to be one, meaning able to communicate with the people on the other side of the world.
In order to increase the rate of learning foreign language, one must know that learning second language allows better opportunity than people speaking one language. Nowadays, It is crucial to be bilingual and as the article mentions "Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reaffirmed his government's commitment to lifting the number of students studying foreign languages during his diplomatic visit to Indonesia" this will allow to increase the rate.
References
Tovey. J (2013) Number of HSC language students fall to record low. Retrieved from
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/number-of-hsc-language-students-falls-to-record-low-20131002-2usv2.html
Wadham, B., Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture and Education. Sydney: Pearson Education. Chapter 1: What is culture?
I also find the falling levels of language learners disheartening, I myself learnt Italian for my HSC and developed a whole new set of skills, helping me in my teaching practices and giving me confidence to travel and work overseas.
ReplyDeleteYour idea of multiculturalism and the potential to bring people closer together through bilingualism is valid and important in my opinion, as the world is condensing due to globalisation and we now have the need to accommodate for different language backgrounds in schools and become multilingual to survive and contribute to the global labour market.
Language and cultural support for both international and domestic students is innate in assisting the shaping of well informed, global citizens and so extra resources and support is required for non-English speaking students. This is important in bringing them up to speed so they can learn more effectively in the class room. Such programs should be more supplemented more by state government initiatives because as Basu (2011, p. 1309) states ‘As a public institution, the school has a mandate to serve all students and to create an educational system that is sensitive to diversity and that allows for equality of opportunity… the exclusion of the experiences, values, and viewpoints of Aboriginal, racial, and ethnocultural minority groups constitutes a systemic barrier to success for students from those groups’. In light of this, programs such as ESL (English as a Second Language) in high schools have been incorporated into the curriculum to allow for students with a lower level of English to learn in a safe environment alongside their other school subjects. Benefitting the participating students not only in education but also allowing them to socially and culturally to adapt while increasing their test scores and improving the outer image of the school and education system itself. Language programs like ESL are also important in improving the global knowledge of domestic students, further increasing integration and multiculturalism through the concept of multilingualism as it is an essential ’feature of contemporary nation-states as globalization and transnational migration continues.’ Tollefson (2002).
Hence, by changing classroom practices to support lower language skills students and promoting multilingual domestic students, globalisation influences educational outcome requirements and classroom practices to support students within a global context.
References
- Basu, R. (2011). Multiculturalism Through Multilingualism in Schools: Emerging Places of “Integration” in Toronto. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 101(6), 1307-1330, doi: 10.1080/00045608.2011.579536
- Tollefson, J. W. (2002). Language policies in education: Critical issues. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.