Maintenance and Vitality. the Chapter on Spanish in Australia
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 384 209 FL 022 497 AUTHOR Valverde, Estela; And Others TITLE Unlocking Australia's Language Potential: Profiles of 9 Key Languages in Australia. Volume 9: Spanish. INSTITUTION Australian National Languages and Literacy Inst., Deakin. REPORT NO ISBN-1-875578-32-3 PUB DATE 94 NOTE 212p.; For related documents, see FL 022 493-496 and ED 365 111-114. AVAILABLE FROMNLLIA, 9th Level, 300 Flinders St., Melbourne, Victoria 3C00, Australia. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) Tests/Evaluation Instruments (160) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Pius Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Business Communication; Continuing Education; Demography; Economic Impact; Educational Trends; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Instructional Materials; International Trade; Interpreters; Language Attitudes; Language Maintenance; *Language Role; Language Teachers; Language Tests; Language Usage; Migration Patterns; National Surveys; Postsecondary Education; Professional Associations; *Public Policy; *Second Languages; Sociocultural Patterns; *Spanish; Teacher Certification; Teacher Education; Teacher Qualifications; Translation; Trend Analysis IDENTIFIERS *Australia ABSTRACT The last in a series of reports on nine prominent foreign languages in Australia reviews the status of Spanish, particularly as it concerns public policy and second language teaching. The first chapter describes the research and survey methodologies that are the basis for this report. Subsequent chapters summarize the results and draw conclusions. The chapter on Spanish in Australian education looks at student demographics, education policy, ethnic schools, second language instruction, educational associations, curricula, instructional materials, tests and testing, teacher education and certification, and changes over time. The chapter on Spanish in Australian society focuses on patterns in the Spanish-speaking population's location and migration, demand for translation and interpreters, the language's image, and language maintenance and vitality. The chapter on Spanish in Australia and overseas includes its economic importance overseasand in Australia, trade patterns with Spanish-speaking nations, and opinions within the business sector. Conclusions and recommendations are made concerning the promotion of Spanish in education, resource allocation, and the future of the language in Australia. Appended are extensive materials from the study including institutions teaching Spanish, ethnic school contacts, and survey instruments (one in Spanish). Contains 85 references. (MSE) -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE :HIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI.- U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Principal author: Estela Valverde On e of I docad,onar Research andImocovecnen1 EDUCATIONAL RE SOURCESINFORMATION Sandra Hal* CENTER iERICI Contributing Authors: teptodocad as 1,s doc umenl nes Peen Elizabeth Ramirez sole( eyed tIOm Ine person Ororganriatron .9tnat.ng d ( Mrno, rhar2es have beenmade to .mprove ,ep,oduct.on (molly POtt,,S of vie* nt 00n.0nS staledI n thty ()act, met do not necesuloyeweSent OE f-41 posti,on Or POlICY L'1,,IGUAGES 1!.) tITFINACy T IT 6T E BEST COPY AVAILABLE Unlocking Australia's LanguagePotential PROFILES OF 9 KEY LANGUAGES IN AUSTRALIA Volume 9: Spanish Canberra 3 Unlocking Australia's Language Potential National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication Data Unlocking Australia's Language Potential: Profiles of 9 Key Languages in Australia: Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 1 875578 07 2 (set) ISBN 1 875578 08 0 (v.1) ISBN 1 875578 09 9 (v.2) ISBN 1 875578 10 2 (v.3) ISBN 1 875578 11 0 (v.4) ISBN 1 875578 12 9 (v.5) ISBN 1 875578 13 7 (v.6) ISBN 1 875578 14 5 (v.7) ISBN 1 875578 15 3 (v.8) ISBN 1 875578 16 1 (v.) 1. Language and languages - Study and teaching - Australia. 2. Australia - Languages Study and Teaching - Foreign speakers.I. National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia. II. Australian Second Language Learning Program. © 1994 Commonwealth of Australia and NLLIA ISBN 1 875578 32 3 This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of the NLLIA and the Commonwealth. 418.007 Funded by DEET with additional resource support from the NLLIA. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth or the NLLIA. National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Limited Level 2, 6 Campion Street, Deakin ACT 2600 Australia Tel: (06) 281 3366 Fax: (06) 281 496 The National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Limited The National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Limited (NLLIA) was established in 1990 as the Key Centre for Language Teaching and Research to meet the goals and principles of the 1987 National Policy on Languages. Under the 1991 Australian Language and LiteracyPolicy, the mandate of the NLLIA was modified to include a heightened focus on literacy. The NLLIA consists of The NLLIA Directorate The NLLIA-Victorian Office The NLLIA-Business Language Services The NLLIA-Child Literacy and ESL Research Network The NLLIA-Adult Literacy Research Network The NLLIA-Language and Society Centre The NLLIA-Language Acquisition Research Centre The NLLIA-Centre For Workplace Communication and Culture The NLLIA-Language and Technology Centre The NLLIA-Centre for Deafness and Communication Studies The NLLIA-Language Testing Centre The NLLIA-Language Testing and Curriculum Centre The NLLIA-Western Australia Office The NLLIA-South Australian Teaching and Curriculum Centre The NLLIA-Document Design and Research Unit The NLLIA-Centre for Research and Development on Interpreting and Translating The NLLIA-Style Council The NLLIA offers national leadership and guidance on language education issues by: providing professional development activities for language lectur- ers, teacher trainers and teachers creating and operating a database and clearing house on language education issues and regularly disseminating information from these facilitating and conducting research needed to improve practice in language education regularly assessing language education needs by providing adviso- ry and consultancy services to government, unions, business and the community on relevant language issues. NLLIA Directorate Level 2 6 Campion St Deakin ACT 2600 Australia Tel: (06) 281 3366 Fax: (06) 281 3096 Email: [email protected] THE NATIONAL LANdUAG ES. AND LITERACY INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 5 Profile TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Acknowledgements v i i 1 SURVEY METHODOLOGY 1 1.1 Spanish survey 1 1.1.1 The questionnaires - the response rate 3 1.2 Language study questionnaire 3 1.2.1 Design of the language study questionnaire 3 1.2.2 Sampling procedure 4 1,2.3 Administration of the questionnaire 5 1.2.4 Analysis 5 2 THE SPANISH LANGUAGE IN THE AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM 6 2.1 Overview 6 2.2 The development of Spanish language teaching in Australia 7 2.2.1 Spanish-speaking background children in Australian schools 12 2.2.2 Current State and national policy considerations 15 2.3 Spanish courses 1991 - 1992 19 2.3.1 Primary level 19 2.3.2 Secondary level 22 2.3.3 Ethnic schools 33 2.3.4 The Spanish program in Australia 35 2.3.5 Tertiary level.. 36 2.3.6 Continuing education courses 46 2.3.7 Levels of courses offered 50 2.3.8 Educational associations 51 2.3.9 Available curricula 53 2.3.10 Available teaching materials 56 2.3.11 Available assessment/testing instruments 59 2.3.12 Issues in teacher education 61 2.3.13 Issues in teacher qualifications 65 2.3.14 Issues in tertiary instruction 70 2.4 Factors contributing to change in language learning in Australia 72 2.4.1 Overview 72 2.4.2 Internal factors affecting Spanish 75 2.4.3 External factors affecting Spanish 78 2.4.4 Amount and direction of change of Spanish since NPL 81 2.5 Future developments 83 3 THE SPANISH LANGUAGE IN AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY 85 3.1 Overview 85 3.2 Census data 87 3.2.1 Size and change of SSB population 88 3.2.2 Migration categories 90 3.2.3 Migration patterns 91 3.2.4 Location of the Spanish speaking population 93 3.2.5 Interpreting and translation demand 98 6 iii Unlocking Australia's Language Potential 3.3 Nature of the Spanish language in Australia 98 3.3.1 The image of Spanish in Australian society 98 3.3.2 Spanish as a community language in Australian society 100 3.4 Factors in language maintenance 100 3.4.1 Linguistic vitality in the Spanish-speaking community 101 3.4.2 Fairfield (NSW) - a case study 102 3.4.4 The vitality of the Spanish language in Australia 118 4 SPANISH IN AUSTRALIA AND OVERSEAS 121 4.1 Overview 121 4.2 The economic importance of the Spanish language 121 4.2.1 The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 123 4.3 Economic importance of Spanish for Australia 124 4.4 Trade patterns with Spanish-speaking nations 125 4.5 The opinion of the Australian business sector 131 4.6 The 'Spanish for Business' questionnaire 132 4.6.1 The questionnaire 132 4.6.2 Sampling procedure 133 4.6.3 Findings 133 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 138 5.1 Promotion 141 5.2 Resourcing and distribution of funding 142 5.3 Recommendations 143 5.4 The future of Spanish in Australia 144 REFERENCES 147 APPENDIXES 153 7 iv Spanish Profile Foreword One of the consequences of the increased emphasis on language policy making from State and Federal Governments in recent years has been the proliferation of ways of categorising languages. The nine languages featured in these profile studies were categorised as Languages of Wider Teaching. There are obviously other ways in which the languages could have been classified. Any one of a large number of possible categories could have been used but this particular group of nine was listed in the National Policy on Languages as languages which either already had or could reasonably be predicted to have the majority of all languages candidates in Australia.