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The Forum > Article Comments > Repairing languages education > Comments

Repairing languages education : Comments

By Phillip Mahnken, published 16/5/2008

We need advocacy and promotion of languages studies to equip ourselves to be fit participants in the global community.

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Jon J, I agree, well designed and delivered in-country immersion programs or well motivated travellers in another language community end up with better fluency than the drip feed system in our schools. All depends though on what you do with the school time: how well trained teachers are, how attuned to the students’ dispositions, how responsive the students, how supportive the parents, schools and community are. Attitude is everything.

I applaud your idea of one month intensive language programs and interaction with speakers of the language. It should be tested over summer holidays with real credit towards school or uni entrance results if students attain equal or better results.

You write: “Right now language teaching in Australian schools is just a way for language teachers to perpetuate themselves.” In one sense you are right, just as music, history and science teachers – or devotees of a sport or a faith - believe in what they do and wish to perpetuate its benefits despite apathy or resistance. On the other hand, I just spent Saturday with a dozen Sunshine Coast language teachers and two trainers from Brisbane all giving up their day to think and work on professional standards and how to improve their own practice. Most language teachers are dedicated, hardworking, and frustrated beyond endurance by the failure of their enterprise. Australia has lost many top languages teachers who take off for the more rewarding work of TESOL teaching or other school subjects. So much less anxiety, constant battling with negative attitudes on all sides, so much easier on the nerves.

What does it say about us, what message would it give the world if once-proud multicultural Australia actually gave up on teaching the languages of others? Or continue to do it so poorly? We who live on an isolated continent, who need to work harder and communicate more cleverly with the world in trade, security and cultural realms, we who have the gift of immigrants from 160 or so other cultural groups, are not up to the job? Good only for wheat, wool, minerals and well-muscled young sports people?
Posted by Phillip Mahnken, Sunday, 18 May 2008 11:47:32 PM
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To respond to Keith, whose frustration I share with repetitive failing systems we have tried again and again to pump some life into. I agree with the challenge you have thrown down to both state and federal Labor. Too many politicians, think tankers and bureaucrats think policy is the achievement. Too many academics think talkfests and theoretical papers are real life. Too many of us Australians put up with governments papering over problems until they do become rotten norms. “Same problem, endlessly suggesting the same solution with the same results is close to insanity.” Who could disagree? We all need to work smarter because from what I see we’re all working damned hard.

I must admit though that the recent spate of media attention to languages, and the 2020 Ideas Summit “call for a radical ramping up of language skills … as well as a comprehensive reinvigoration of Asian language literacy” (reported by Peter Jones in this Forum) is like balm and a signal to a beleaguered language teaching profession. Talk and encouraging words have their uses. Sticking to your word, implementing policies, follow through, evaluation, improvement, even better.

I must admit, also, I prefer a Mandarin speaking role model as PM to one who wins elections with the racist card, endorses horrific wars based on falsehoods, podium thumps like Krushchev at indigenous people, locks up asylum seekers. Sending out diagonally opposite messages to all that language teachers espouse: respect for difference, the enriching nature of diversity, acknowledgement of complexity, human rights. None of that matters so long as the economy is sound (for some), is that right?

I congratulate those bilingual children. How did they do it? Is this a solution you can share so that all state school kids across Australia can benefit? Or would they all require high incomes, an AFS year abroad and ski holidays in the Alps to be able to emulate that achievement?
Posted by Phillip Mahnken, Sunday, 18 May 2008 11:54:31 PM
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Philip Mahnken,

Firstly thank you for supporting and sharing part of my frustration. It is a pity some silly indoctrinated idealogy prevents you from enbracing wholly the frustration with our current malaise.

Secondly Why bring John Howard into a discussion about language tuition in our STATE schools?

You might share my frustration but you've just indulged in the blame shifting the labor state regimes have practised for the past 10 odd years. It's all John Howards fault ... eh?

'All we need to do is work smarter.' Rubbish. All we need to do is elect alternative governments. That's smarter than putting up with the abject failures from the current rabbles. They can't change themselves.

The bloody biggest problem of them all is that until people like you start to realise state problems are caused by labor state governments and you start condemning them in the same manner you spout on about John Howard things won't change. But everythings ok while we all feel warm and fuzzy in the embrace of socialist incompetents...eh?

Tell me in 3 or 4 years time after health, education, police, transport, emergency services and other state responsibilities have all deteriotated to the point of absolute chaos and labor governments will still be disagreeing with one another after having simply thrown billions at the problems and the buffoons in the media and brotherly commentators will still be focusing on the opposition and any of their internal hiccups and the Economy is stuffed ... well who will you blame then ... John Howard?

Do you think it a grand role model for our kids to see our PM cop a lecture on human rights in Tibet from a communist dictator and not respond manfully but only slink away chastened while continuing to grin, be everybodies friend and keep mouthing off in Mandarin?

Some role model ... Where's his bloody self-respect?

And my booze now costs more? Why didn't they tell me they we going to tax my pleasure ... before the election.
Posted by keith, Monday, 19 May 2008 8:27:07 AM
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Henriette,

Hello. I have read that Humankind lost or had deferred significant knowledge, because the Romans wrote in Vulgar Latin and lost the knack of esoteric Attic Greek. It is part of the reason why the early West had a relatively poor base to work from, after the fall of the Western Empire [476], and, why the West was then behind the Arabs and the Chinese in knowledge.

Circa. 1975 the Australian Governments replaced teaching English with a poor, degraded substitute. Even today's younger teachers are not adequately literate. Its not their fault. It the people for whom we voted.

O.

Cheers.
Posted by Oliver, Monday, 19 May 2008 2:11:33 PM
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Philip,

'Is this a solution you can share so that all state school kids across Australia can benefit? Or would they all require high incomes, an AFS year abroad and ski holidays in the Alps to be able to emulate that achievement?'

What is this all about?
Why do you envy our success and why have you assumed things were always easy for us.

My youngsters went to Wellers Hill State School, Holland Park State High and Coorparro Secondary College.

Both youngsters underwent remedial reading and speech therapy after being returned from NZ and their mother at a time when the actions of P. Keating impacted so negatively on my business that I nearly went bankrupt. I raised them alone from ages 9 and `11.

We went camping, to surf club, tennis club (state school), swimming club (state school), music lessons (private and state school), flying lessons (Air Cadets), Little Athletics and dancing lessons.

My son will qualify as an Electrical and Computer engineer with a double degree in applied maths. My daughter toured with the Queensland Youth Orchestra (Winds Ensemble and Symphony). Both are employed and happy motivated people.

A few tips:

Read kids a diet of Greek classis, Grims, Aesops, Kipling, Swift, Cervantes, Conrad, Plaidy, Stewart, Lawson, Paterson, Rudd, Idress and Shakespeares sonnets.
Encourage board games, cards, crosswords and mathematical puzzles.
Watch the their teachers like a hawk.
Avoid idealogues and team sports like the plague.
Apply three rules:
If you start something finish it.
If you do something do it properly.
I'm the boss.

My parents and grandparents were working people and labour people. They strived to get their families out of the mire they found themselves in. My parents were extremely proud of my sucesses and all generations would be cheering my kids on. They'd resent me and them if I or they pretended to be working people. We're not, we fortunately have achieved what they originally set about doing.

They were working people, proud and I never ever witnessed them display your all too obvious envy.
Posted by keith, Monday, 19 May 2008 11:34:45 PM
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"The first year “s” will be used for soft “c”. Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. “k” will replase hard “c”. This will make English Konform to German. Not only wil this klear up konfusion but keyboards kan have one less letter." - Mr Nobody.

If adopted this would have significant implications for punctuation.

Historically when two vowels had the same sound, the second vowel has a diaeresis. Because folks, I guess,were pretty bugged by this, we started using hyphens between the vowels, to make this distinction. This is why we should have co-operative rather than cooperative for altruistic acts between people. Actually, a coopoverative [c oo p] is a chicken enclosure. That is why say chicken coop, the abreviation.

Technically, zoology should be zo-ology, so the last bit would rhym with all the 'ologies. Zoo shouldn't rhym with boo. The Macquarie is etymologically and phonetically wrong; but it is a lexicon: A book of more common language usage. [If my writings are important to me, I use the OED]

Reference on chicken coops: Fowler :-).
Posted by Oliver, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 10:33:12 AM
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