Canberra Region Languages Forum Update August 2013

1. New ANU Language teaching forum: second Monday of every month, 4 - 5.30pm, followed by drinks & nibbles. 

2. A Forum on Mandarin Education the ACT region, ANU, Saturday 10 August 2013

3. Homestay host families needed for international students attending ACT public schools.

4. Time to apply for the ACT government's Participation (multicultural) grants program.


Full details in the Update available HERE  

Protest about the abolition of language courses at University of Canberra

Where?  Lawns of Parliament House, Canberra

When: Friday 12 July, starting at 4pm.  

For more information see www.facebook.com/events/664490400232555/ 

LINGUA LOCA: Workshop for poets who write in a language other than English

10 am - 5.30pm, Sunday 4 August, Gorman House Arts Centre.

Only 12 free places available!

Applicants must write a paragraph about themselves,  including cultural background and send a copy of a poem that they have written, in English, no more than two pages in length, to the ACT Writers Centre at admin@actwriters.org.au by Friday, July 26. Enquiries to 6262 9191. 

A joint project between the ACT Writers Centre and the Community Cultural Inclusion Officer - Tuggeranong Arts Centre 

Threatened closure of language programs at the University of Canberra (UC)

The UC Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Parker announced on Friday 24 May 2013 that, in response to the Federal Government’s ‘Efficiency Dividend’, “UC would discontinue its own teaching of elective majors in Chinese, Japanese and Spanish all of which are available at the ANU but which are too small at UC, in [his] view, to be viable.”

An hour earlier the six permanent academic staff of the Languages program were told the same and that they would be made redundant. All teaching of Languages would thus be transferred to ANU. No financial data was presented.

This decision is in direct contrast to UC’s public position on internationalisation and the value of globalised higher education. Staff in the Languages programs at UC and ANU were not consulted about the decision to cut languages at UC. 

This decision raises a number of issues:

1.      How will current students continue their language studies?

The programs at UC and ANU differ, and there are problems with timetabling across two campuses, in addition to the financial and time costs for students forced to access both campuses, not to mention the difficult process of cross institutional enrolment.

2.      How will future students have equal access to tertiary language education?

Experience from other Australian cities has shown that teaching languages at only one tertiary institution means ultimately that numbers of students studying languages decline, instead of being supported.

3.      Given the recent White Paper declaring this century the Asian Century how is this in the national interest? 

Clearly the focus is on Asia, but the VC is pulling the plug on all of its languages including two of the key Asian languages, Chinese and Japanese. The rhetoric and reality are quite different.

4.      How will UC be able to respond to the increase in student enrollments anticipated as a result of the new national curriculum being rolled out in 2014 for languages? 

From 2014 onwards all students from K-10 will learn a language as part of the Australian national curriculum. This initiative will dramatically increase the numbers of students with language learning experience. The flow on effect of this will mean that students will study languages at the tertiary level. How will this need be met if not by both UC and ANU continuing to offer its language programs?

 

UC programs are of the highest quality and receive constant positive feedback from students. Languages staff have also been awarded Australian and UC awards for teaching excellence. 

For the above-mentioned reasons, the staff listed below are distraught about this short-sighted decision. They seek to reverse this decision and would be grateful for your support by contacting the leadership of the University of Canberra as soon as possible to express your concern:

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra, Professor Stephen Parker can be contacted by email at Stephen.parker@canberra.edu.au

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) Professor Nick Klomp, can be contacted by email at dvceducation@canberra.edu.au

The Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design, Professor Lyndon Anderson, can be contacted by email at Lyndon.anderson@canberra.edu.au

The students have also started a petition, it is at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-language-studies-at-uc/signatures.html

Dr. Nicolette Bramley (Lecturer, Japanese)

Dr Jose Antonio Gonzalez (Assistant Professor, Spanish)

Dr. Yuko Kinoshita (Senior Lecturer, Japanese)

Dr. Naikan Tao (Assistant Professor, Chinese)

Dr. Laura Tolton (Assistant Professor, Spanish)

Dr. Felicia Zhang (Senior Lecturer, Chinese)

Canberra Region Languages Forum Update May 2013

The May Update has details about:

• Draft K-10 curriculum for Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Modern Greek, Spanish and Vietnamese in Australian schools, plus draft Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages now available for public consultation 
• Japanese and Chinese language majors may disappear at WA’s Curtin University
• New Portuguese language program launched at ANU
• Canberra's French-Australian Preschool open day, 11am – 2pm, Saturday 1 June
• Traditional German lantern walk in Canberra, 5-6.30pm Sunday 16 June
• Multilingual potluck lunch, 11am-1pm Saturday 29 June
• Language conferences at the ANU in July: Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) conference, Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA) National Conference,  National Chinese Teachers' Conference, 2013 Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA) Conference 
• LCNAU Public Lecture: Languages, the Asian Century White Paper, and Three Provocations for the Committed from a Pragmatic Humanist. 5.30pm Thursday 4 July
• Forum on Mandarin language education in the ACT, Saturday 10 August at the ANU

CLICK HERE for details

The future of Chinese dialects

The standardization of Mandarin and its promotion and enforcement as the national language in the PRC has done much to break down language barriers within the country. In addition, the use of Pǔtōnghuà as a lingua franca has greatly helped China’s economic and social development. But this has come at a cost to various dialects, which are arguably an integral part of each region’s habits, culture, and unique characteristics.

A project has recently started to record and archive audio clips from a variety of areas in China to help preserve language for future generations. If you are interested in finding out more, or getting involved, have a look at the Phonemica website at http://phonemica.net/

Alliance Française de Canberra School holiday program

Open to all levels and ages from pre-kindy (3-4 yrs old), kindy (5-6), children  (7-11) to teens (12-17). 

Monday 15 - Friday 19 April 2013, 9.30am - 12.30pm. Price $215, Morning Tea Included.  

Bookings essential. For more details: phone 6247 5027, email enquiries@afcanberra.com.au  or visit www.afcanberra.com.au