In this article, Anne-Marie Morgan, Deputy Head of School and a member of the English, Languages and Literacies Education team in the School of Education at the University of New England, and of the Languages, Literacies and Literature Research Network, presents highlights from the Summer AFMLTA National Languages Conference (20th, Melbourne,…

Despite the recent Australian Government commitment to supporting schools in growing students into global citizens, language educators cannot rely on this alone to attract new language students. The Young Language Ambassador Program is a new initiative that started in August 2014. The Young Language Ambassador Program is a partnership between…

The following is the text of the Horwood Address delivered by Associate Professor Lesley Harbon from the University of Sydney at the AFMLTA Biennial Conference in Canberra 2013. The focus of the Address is accomplished teaching of languages and cultures, known to us all through the AFMLTA's work on Professional Standards published in 2005.…

2015 marked the 20th anniversary of the National Languages conference of the AFMLTA. The conference was held in Melbourne with a welcome reception at the Melbourne Immigration Museum and conference dinner in the iconic Eureka Tower. Almost 300 delegates attended the conference from around Australia, as well as a contingent from New Zealand and a…

The first meeting to discuss the formation of what was to become the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA) was held on 22 August 1961. The AFMLTA then officially commenced on 1 January 1962, so in fact the AFMLTA is not too distant from its 50th anniversary. A particular feature of the AFMLTA is the Keith Horwood…

The 19th biennial AFMLTA National Languages Conference was held in Canberra in July 2013. The conference, along with other professional learning activities conduced at a local level and for individual languages, aims to provide teachers of languages with the opportunity to work toward the professional learning outcomes outlined in the AITSL…

The Research Centre for Languages and Cultures (RCLC) at the University of South Australia hosts an annual symposium on current issues related to languages and language education. The hallmark of the RCLC symposia is that they intend to raise critical, current issues in the languages field for wider debate, include presenting cutting edge research…

A look back at the first year of the Language and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) highlights how great the need for such a network has been within the sector and how important LCNAU's role will be in ensuring the future of languages teaching and research in universities and beyond. LCNAU was established in early 2011 as part…

Professional learning (PL) is an essential ingredient in the professional and personal lives of contemporary educators. PL can take many forms but large-scale conferences remain a touchstone in many fields, including languages education. In this paper, we review the evaluation of the 18th biennial conference of the Australian Federation of Modern…

In this article, the author reports on a new symposium series which aims to provide a forum for dialogue across different interest groups of the languages field as a basis for considering a viable, encompassing language education policy; and, to position the languages community to address the important development of a national curriculum. Four…

While language teaching and learning offers students essential skills and understanding in the realm of intercultural competence, both students and teachers operate within the context of the wider curriculum. Primary language specialists, for instance, often work within a collaborative environment with their generalist classroom colleagues. In…