BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY in AUSTRALIA Jane Orton FRONT COVER IMAGE: Thinkstock
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澳大利亚-中国关系研究院 BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA Jane Orton FRONT COVER IMAGE: Thinkstock Published by the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) Level 7, UTS Building 11 81 - 115 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007 t: +61 2 9514 8593 f: +61 2 9514 2189 e: [email protected] © The Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) 2016 ISBN 978-0-9942825-4-5 The publication is copyright. Other than for uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without attribution. CONTENTS List of Tables 4 List of Charts 6 Introduction 8 Notes 10 Executive Summary 16 Chapter 1 2008 to 2015: The Goal and the Gap 23 Chapter 2 Policy: a Language of Unique Significance 31 Chapter 3 Current Provision 41 Chapter 4 The Learners 65 Chapter 5 The Language 83 Chapter 6 Discussion: Building Capacity 95 Appendices A: State Data in Tables and Charts 117 B: Consultation List 135 C: The Teaching of Chinese in Victoria Schools: 145 DET Initiatives D: Monash University Entry Courses 149 E: Letter from the Victorian Equal Opportunity and 151 Human Rights Commissioner BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA 3 LIST OF TABLES A-K: in text 1-16: Appendix A Table A Number of schools offering Chinese and number 43 of students studying Chinese in Australia in 2008 and 2015 by state/territory and school sector Table B Number of primary and secondary students of 44 Chinese in each Australian state/territory in 2008 and 2015 Table C Number of students studying Year 12 Chinese 45 Table D Number and type of teachers of Chinese in 60 training 2015 Table E Results of EI Chinese Proficiency test 68 administered to the Year 12 class of VCE L2 Chinese in 2012 Table F Victorian Eligibility Criteria for VCE Chinese 71 Subjects Table G New South Wales Eligibility Criteria for HSC 72 Chinese Subjects Table H Western Australia Certificate of Education 76 Eligibility Criteria for Chinese as a Second Language Table I Internal Structure of Characters 88 Table J Vocabulary in Italian and Chinese 90 Table K Cognates in Japanese but not Chinese 91 Table 1 Australian Capital Territory: number of schools 118 offering Chinese Table 2 Australian Capital Territory: number of students 118 studying Chinese Table 3 New South Wales: number of schools offering 120 Chinese Table 4 New South Wales: number of students studying 120 Chinese 4 BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA LIST OF TABLES Table 5 Northern Territory: number of schools offering 122 Chinese (2015) Table 6 Northern Territory: number of students studying 122 Chinese (2015) Table 7 Queensland: number of schools offering Chinese 124 Table 8 Queensland: number of students studying 124 Chinese Table 9 South Australia: number of schools offering 126 Chinese Table 10 South Australia: number of students studying 126 Chinese Table 11 Tasmania: number of schools offering Chinese 128 Table 12 Tasmania: number of students studying Chinese 128 Table 13 Victoria: number of schools offering Chinese 130 Table 14 Victoria: number of students studying Chinese 130 Table 15 Western Australian: number of schools offering 132 Chinese Table 16 Western Australia: number of students studying 132 Chinese BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA 5 LIST OF CHARTS Appendix A Chart 1 Australian Capital Territory: number of schools 118 offering Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 2 Australian Capital Territory: total number of 119 students (primary and secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 3 Australian Capital Territory: Number of Year 12 119 students studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 4 New South Wales: number of schools offering 120 Chinese in 2008 and 2015 Chart 5 New South Wales: total number of students 121 (primary and secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 6 New South Wales: number of Year 12 students 121 studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 7 Northern Territory: number of schools offering 122 Chinese in 2008 and 2015 Chart 8 Northern Territory: total number of students 123 (primary and secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 9 Northern Territory: number of Year 12 students 123 studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 10 Queensland: number of schools offering Chinese 124 in 2008 and 2015 Chart 11 Queensland: Total number of students (primary 125 and secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 12 Queensland: number of Year 12 students 125 studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 13 South Australia: number of schools offering 126 Chinese in 2008 and 2015 6 BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA LIST OF CHARTS Chart 14 South Australia: total number of students 127 (primary and secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 15 South Australia: number of Year 12 students 127 studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 16 Tasmania: number of schools offering Chinese in 128 2008 and 2015 Chart 17 Tasmania: total number of students (primary and 129 secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 18 Tasmania: number of Year 12 students studying 129 Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 19 Victoria: number of schools offering Chinese in 130 2008 and 2015 Chart 20 Victoria: total number of students (primary and 131 secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 21 Victoria: number of Year 12 students studying 131 Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 22 Western Australia: number of schools offering 132 Chinese in 2008 and 2015 Chart 23 Western Australia: total number of students 133 (primary and secondary) studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector Chart 24 Western Australia: number of Year 12 students 133 studying Chinese in 2008 and 2015 by sector BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA 7 INTRODUCTION In every decade since 19701 a report has been published urging development in Asian languages and literacy in Australia. From time to time, notably in 1990 and in 20082, considerable amounts of money have been allocated to advance the cause. In 2016, faced with the continuing lack in significant numbers of students graduating from Australian schools with proficiency in Chinese language despite efforts to improve outcomes, it may seem worth asking whether by now Chinese should not just be allowed to sink or swim on its own, as is the case for the other languages taught in schools. Despite these attempts, and faced with the continuing lack of significant numbers of students graduating from Australian schools with proficiency in Chinese, it is time for a renewal of efforts to promote, protect and even privilege the learning of Chinese in our schools: > Chinese is a language of unique and continuing significance to Australia in the twenty-first century: we cannot afford not to have a significant percentage of the community workforce with a degree of competence in the language; > In the past five years there have been breakthroughs in the teaching and learning of Chinese that give ample evidence that it can be made quite learnable to a very high degree of proficiency by virtually any Australian child in the course of their school years. However, like learning any complex skill, to attain a high proficiency in Chinese, it is best to begin young and continue learning over a number of years. In practical terms, much that is needed to achieve the desired goal is already available, so success would not require more than a fairly modest outlay of funds. What is essential is that those involved with structuring and administering programs for Chinese language 1 The Commonwealth Advisory Committee, ‘The teaching of Asian languages and cultures in Australia’ (The Auchmuty Report), AGPS, Canberra, ACT, 1970. 2 The Federal Government’s National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) and the National Asian Languages and Literacy in Schools Program (NALLSP), respectively. 8 BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA INTRODUCTION education for teachers and students design initiatives thoroughly informed about the special challenges the task requires. Chinese is not Japanese or French. It makes very particular demands. The aim of this report is to explain these demands and show that they can all be met if they are squarely taken into account. BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA 9 NOTES 1. NOMENCLATURE 1.1 LEARNER CATEGORIES The recently published Australian Curriculum for Languages: Chinese (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2015) details three separate streams of students: 1. First (native) language learners (L1), comprising international students who have grown up in a Chinese-speaking society and have usually completed up to four to five years of secondary schooling in a Chinese society before coming to Australia to prepare for entry to university; 2. Background learners (BL), who have spoken Chinese at home since birth and, whether born in Australia or not, have been schooled in Australia; and 3. Second language learners (L2), who are school learners of Chinese and use it virtually only in a classroom. Chinese courses offered by the different states use different – even contradictory – names for learner categories and the eligibility criteria for the categories vary from state to state. In this report, the Australian Curriculum’s three categories of learners are used but to avoid confusion with local usage, the name of the middle category has been changed to the descriptive term home speaker learner. Thus, the report refers to: 1. First language learners (L1), denoting international students; 2. Home speaker learners, denoting local students who have spoken Chinese since birth; these students are designated Background learners in the Australian Curriculum for Chinese and Heritage students and Advanced L2 learners in some states; it should be noted that this category does not include all students of Chinese ethnic background; and 10 BUILDING CHINESE LANGUAGE CAPACITY IN AUSTRALIA NOTES 3.