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The Current State of Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools 本語日本語日本語日本語日 日本語日本語日本語日本語 本語日本語日本語日本語日 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語The Current State of 本語日本語日本語日本語日Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools 日本語日本語日本語日本語 本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日 日本語日本語日本語日本語 本語日本語日本語日本語日 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語 本語日本語日本語日本語日 日本語日本語日本語日本語 本語日本語日本語日本語日 Melbourne Centre for 日本語日本語日本語日本語本語日Japanese Language Education The Current State of Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools Anne de Kretser Director, Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education (funded by the Nippon Foundation) Dr Robyn Spence-Brown Senior Lecturer, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Monash University Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語 This work was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations under the School Languages Program. The Current State of Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools ISBN: 978 1 74200 102 9 SCIS order number: 1441568 Full bibliographic details are available from Education Services Australia Ltd. Published by Education Services Australia Ltd PO Box 177, Carlton South, Vic, 3053 Australia Telephone: (03) 9207 9600 Facsimile: (03) 9910 9800 Email: [email protected] Website: www.esa.edu.au © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above requires the prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at www.ag.gov.au/cca The views expressed in the publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Edited by Katharine Sturak and Zoe Naughten Designed by Deanna Vener Printed in Australia by GEON Impact Printing Pty Ltd 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語 Table of Contents List of Tables 3 2.6 Senior Secondary Courses and Completions 27 List of Graphs 3 2.6.1 Diversity of Senior Secondary Courses 27 List of Acronyms 3 2.6.2 Enrolment Trends behind the Statistics 28 Executive Summary 4 2.6.3 When ‘Year 12’ Is Not Year 12 32 Context 4 2.7 Interpreting the Statistics 33 Nature and Purpose of the Report 6 2.8 Incentives and Disincentives Key Findings 6 for Retention to Year 12 33 Key Recommendations for Leading Change 10 Case Study 1 1 Introduction 12 Disincentives for Continuation to Year 12 36 1.1 Why Japanese Is Important 3 Curriculums and Programs 37 and Appropriate as a Language 3.1 Standardisation of the Languages of Wider Teaching 12 Curriculum and Implications for Japanese 37 1.2 Japanese Language and Culture 3.2 Primary School Programs and Curriculum 38 and the Learning Task 13 3.2.1 Primary School Programs 38 1.3 Brief History of Japanese Language 3.2.2 Primary Level Curriculum 38 Education in Australia 14 Case Study 2 1.4 Methods of Data Collection Constraints on Delivering a Quality and Structure of the Report 15 Program in a Primary School 40 Case Study 3 2 Participation Sound Curriculum and 2.1 Statistical Comparisons 16 Pedagogy in a Primary School 41 3.2.3 A Recent Initiative 42 2.2 Number of Schools 16 3.3 Secondary School Programs 2.3 National Enrolment Statistics and Trends 17 and Curriculum 42 2.3.1 Primary Enrolments 17 3.3.1 Secondary School Programs 42 2.3.2 Secondary Enrolments 22 3.3.2 Secondary Level Curriculum 43 2.3.3 State and Territory Differences 23 3.3.3 Senior Secondary Curriculum 2.4 The Nature of the Student Cohort 23 and Assessment 43 2.4.1 Student Background 23 3.3.4 Catering for Home-background 2.4.2 Female/Male Ratios 24 (Heritage) Students 44 2.5 Continuation and Attrition 25 3.4 Differential Pathways, Transition Issues and Continuity of Provision 46 3.4.1 Primary-Secondary Transition 46 3.5 Specific Curriculum Issues 47 3.5.1 Literacy in the Curriculum 47 3.5.2 Culture in the Curriculum 47 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語1 Table of Contents Case Study 4 4 Teachers 62 Advanced Entry Pathway in 4.1 Ensuring the Future 62 Year 7 for Continuing Students 48 Case Study 5 4.2 Numbers of Teachers in Each State, Transition into Secondary Using Territory and Sector 62 a ‘Japanese Passport’ 50 4.3 Teacher Supply and Employment 3.5.3 New Technologies 50 Conditions 62 3.5.4 In-country Visits and 4.3.1 Teacher Supply 62 School-to-school Interaction 52 4.3.2 Conditions for Primary Teachers 64 3.6 Non-mainstream Programs 53 4.4 Teacher Backgrounds and Competencies 64 3.6.1 International Baccalaureate 53 4.4.1 Teacher Backgrounds 64 3.6.2 School of Languages and Case Study 7 Distance Programs 53 Classroom Teacher Who 3.6.3 Immersion Programs 53 Teaches Japanese 65 3.6.4 Community Languages Schools 53 4.4.2 Language Competence 66 Case Study 6 4.4.3 Operating within the Intercultural Studies in a Australian Environment 66 Secondary Program 54 4.4.4 Japanese-specific 3.7 Opportunities for Post-school Study 56 Methodology Training 67 3.8 Resources 57 4.5 Language Assistants 67 3.8.1 Textbooks 57 4.6 Professional Development 67 3.8.2 Other Resources Produced in Australia 57 4.7 Teacher Training 68 3.8.3 Materials from Japan 58 5 Japanese Language Education Overseas 69 3.8.4 Online and Multimedia Resources and ICT Facilities 58 6 Conclusion 70 3.8.5 Resource Centres and Bookshops 58 3.9 Sources of Support for Japanese 7 A Program for Change – Language Education 59 Key Recommendations 73 3.9.1 The Japan Foundation 59 3.9.2 Other Organisations 60 References 75 3.9.3 Teacher Associations and Support Networks 60 Consultation List 77 3.9.4 Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education 60 Acknowledgements 83 3.9.5 Tertiary Language Departments and Professional Associations 60 3.9.6 Greater Coordination and Communication 61 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語2 List of Tables Table 1 Number of Schools Offering Japanese 18 Table 2 National Enrolments P–12 by State and Territory 2000 and 2008 19 Numbers of Students Studying Across Year Levels, States and Territories 20 Table 3 (2008, except where specified) Table 4 Senior Secondary Course Completion Statistics 2000–2008 30 Table 5 Provision of Japanese through Schools of Languages and Distance Education 2009 56 Table 6 Teacher Numbers by State and Territory 62 Table 7 Membership Figures for Japanese Language Teacher Associations 63 List of Graphs Graph 1 Percentage of Total Student Cohort Studying Japanese by State 24 Graph 2 Decline in Enrolments After Early Secondary Years 26 Graph 3 Year 12 Continuers Completions 2000–2008 29 List of Acronyms AEF Asia Education Foundation LOTE Languages Other Than English Australian Federation of Modern Melbourne Centre for Japanese AFMLTA MCJLE Language Teachers Association Language Education AFS American Field Service MLTA Modern Language Teachers Association APEC Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation National Asian Languages and Studies NALSAS Capricornia Language Immersion in Australian Schools CLIP Program National Asian Languages and Studies NALSSP Department of Education and in Schools Program DEECD Early Childhood Development National Languages and Literacy NLLIA Department of Education, Employment Institute of Australia DEEWR and Workplace Relations NNS Non-Native Speakers IB International Baccalaureate NS Native Speakers Information and Communication PYP Primary Year Programs ICT Technology School of Isolated and Distance SIDE ILL Intercultural Language Learning Education JLTA Japanese Language Teachers Association TER* Tertiary Entrance Rank Japanese Studies Association YFU Youth for Understanding JSAA of Australia * There are differences in terminology across states and territories but, for the sake of simplicity, the term TER has been used throughout this report to indicate the score upon which tertiary entrance decisions are based. 日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語3 Executive Summary Context primary and secondary students every year (over 10 per cent of the school population). This prepares From the 1970s until the early 2000s, the teaching of them more broadly for an increasingly diverse and Japanese in Australia expanded rapidly, and it is now globalised world, whether they need to use Japanese the most widely taught language in Australia, in both extensively in the future or not. schools and universities – a unique situation within the western world. The impetus for this expansion This report argues that the teaching of Japanese derived partly from the economic and strategic faces significant challenges. Since 2000 there has importance of the Australia–Japan relationship, which been an overall decrease of approximately 16 per prompted government investments in promoting the cent in the number of students studying Japanese, teaching of Japanese. However, it was supported by nearly 21 per cent at primary and 6.4 per cent at many other factors, including the development of a the secondary level, during a period when the total core group of committed teachers, good resources school population has been rising. In addition, there and opportunities for students to travel to Japan. is a high level of attrition in the middle years and Importantly, the study of Japanese has captured this is seriously threatening the ongoing health and the interest of many students, teachers and school effectiveness of programs. The decline in enrolments leaders, who have recognised the humanistic and is strongly linked to changes in external conditions, general educational reasons for learning Japanese, particularly in the failure to develop policies and in addition to the more pragmatic ones which have practices which value and support languages often been the focus of government policy. education in general by governments, education authorities and school managements, as has been Today, the teaching of Japanese must fulfil noted in several recent reports (eg Liddicoat, 2007; a dual purpose: Lo Bianco, 2009).
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