Employing the language management framework, this paper reports on multilingual use among the staff of a major metropolitan university in Melbourne and covers both simple and organised management. It describes a top-down attempt to survey staffs' (academic and general) background in Languages other than English (LOTE), LOTE usage and evaluative…

The heterogeneous backgrounds, languages and proficiencies students bring to the classroom have always been a key challenge facing schools that wish to implement heritage language programmes. In this article I describe the evolution of one high school's approach to heritage language education and some of the roadblocks they encountered in…

In school languages education in Australia at present there is an increasing diversity of languages and learners learning particular languages that results from a greater global movement of students. This diversity builds on a long-established profile of diversity that reflects the migration history of Australia. It stands in sharp contrast to the…

In his examination of successful innovation and change in education in many settings, Fullan (2001) identifies the three broad options for effecting change that public authorities have at their disposal. They can seek to bring about change through imposing accountability (system-wide or targeted), or through providing incentives (either…

The history of the role of assessment in policy-making for languages education in Australia over the past 20 years is characterised by a complex and shifting interface between language policy, curriculum and assessment. Three phases can be identified during which significant changes occur. These highlight an ongoing struggle for legitimacy for…

Explains the relationship between international trade and language competence in Australia and describes programs to enable students to spend part of their study time learning European Community (EC) languages in countries other than their own. Also discusses the status of foreign language learning in the United Kingdom. (SM)

David Ingram's career has traversed several decades of shifting rationale for language policy in Australia. Government and institutional initiatives have at various times favoured traditional foreign language teaching, multicultural imperatives and language diversity, concern for Asian economically strategic languages, or a focus on literacy in…

This study investigated the status of instruction in cultures and languages other than English in Queensland, Australia in preparation for development of comprehensive and coherent public policies for the field. The report addresses the following topics: the policy development process (project background and the nature of language education…