Will, Emma (SEN)
From:	Blood, Margaret (SEN)
Sent:	Wednesday, 4 April 2001 3:36 PM
To:	EET, Committee (SEN)
Subject:	FW: SENATE INQUIRY TO HIGHER EDUCATION
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Angela Scarino [mailto:Angela.Scarino@unisa.edu.au] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 2:41 PM
To: 'Blood, Margaret (SEN)'
Subject: RE: SENATE INQUIRY TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Dear Margaret, 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Senate Inquiry to Higher Education. I do so as the President of the Australian Federation of Modern Languages Teachers Associations. The Federation is a national body of some 3,000 members (Australian and international) which brings together teachers of languages and cultures at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Its aim is to foster quality teaching and learning of languages and cultures in Australia.

The Federation has welcomed the funding support which has been made available to the Languages area over the past years. Among other things, this support has led to an increase in the number of programs offered at primary level in all states and territories and to a re-profiling of the languages offered in schools, to include a larger number of programs in the languages of Asia. It has also welcomed the place accorded to languages as a Key Learning Area in the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century, most recently in the Adelaide Declaration and prior to that in the Hobart Declaration. It is this positioning which has enabled the area to extend into primary education. Given the relative recency of the inclusion of the area in the primary school setting and given the re-profiling of the range of languages at secondary and tertiary levels, the area remains in a state of dynamic change and development.

The Federation is eager to collaborate with government on ways of strengthening provision of languages and cultures programs in schools and in higher education. We see languages and cultures education as having a key role to play in the internationalisation of education which is essential to Australia's positioning as a contributor in international political, social, cultural and economic activity. The need to strengthen children and young people's literacy, numeracy and technology skills is clear; side by side with these goes the ability to communicate across cultures. These are the skills young people need in employment in a global market place. 

There are a number of issues in the Languages area which require consideration and to which the Federation would wish to make a valuable contribution. They are as follows:

Policy, planning and innovation 

Given the range of languages and forms of provision a national, collaborative approach to languages and cultures education is warranted. There are a number of outstanding examples of national collaborative work in the languages area in Australia and this needs to be built upon. An explicit policy and plan is needed to support collaboration for the next five years. In this context we draw your attention to the comprehensive work which has been undertaken by the Nuffield Foundation in the UK and the recently released report: Languages: the next generation. The inquiry recommended on the following:

·       What capability in languages will the UK need in the next twenty years if it is to fulfil its economic, strategic, social and cultural aims and responsibilities, and the aspirations of its citizens?

·       To what extent do present policies and arrangements meet these needs? 
·       What strategic planning initiatives will be required in the light of the present position? 

A particularly interesting aspect of the inquiry was its poll survey of the general population and the evidence from this showing clearly that attitudes towards languages learning have become markedly more positive in recent years in the UK, especially among young professionals. The survey also showed that while there are many positive developments relating to languages in education and other areas of government, the scene remains one of unrelated initiatives without a clear path of learning from primary school to university and beyond, and investments in one sector are rarely exploited in another.

In the USA, the Department of Education's Working Group 4 'Comparative Information on Improving Education Practice' was formed to implement President Clinton's Executive Memorandum on International Education Policy. The role of this group is to examine international comparisons with a view to offering leaders information to improve schooling in the US. The two areas identified as policy priorities for the US were early childhood education and foreign language education. The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington was asked to explore what can be learned about language education around the world by (1) reviewing comparative language education studies and (2) conducting interviews of language education professionals in countries whose policies and practices may inform those of the US. The President of the Federation contributed to this study which included 19 countries. The themes which emerged from the study in terms of 'what the US can learn' from others included 'start language education early; learn from others; conduct long-term research; provide stronger leadership; identify how technology can improve language instruction; improve teacher education; develop appropriate language assessments; designate foreign language as a core subject; take advantage of the sociolinguistic context' (see <http:www.cal.org/ericcll//countries.html>). These are important themes which require urgent discussion in Australia and to which the Federation can contribute.

Similarly in Europe, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to designate 2001 as the European Year of Languages, with the purpose to

·       increase awareness of the richness of Europe's linguistic heritage 
·       celebrate linguistic diversity and promote plurilingualism 
·       encourage language learning on a life-long basis. 

In addition, the Lisbon summit of the European Council in 2000 attended by all Heads of State in the European Union set out a strategic program for the next decade in response to globalisation and the knowledge-driven economy. This included defining new basic skills which were articulated as follows:

        'IT skills, foreign languages, technological culture, entrepreneurship and social skills.' (Lisbon European Council, 2000. Presidency Conclusion paragraph 26).

The kinds of initiatives being undertaken in other parts of the world in relation to languages and cultures education are absent in our country. In the most recent Innovation Statement the priority disciplines are information and communications technology, mathematics and science. While there is no doubt that the higher education sector needs to focus on these areas, innovation cannot occur without global connections and it would be problematic for Australia to operate with a view that global connections can be sustained exclusively in English. The need for developing the linguistic and inter-cultural resources in this context become paramount. Similarly, the statement 'Backing Australia's Ability', a paper intended to boost Australian research development and innovation has as one of its goals, ' to develop and retain Australian skills,' in the context of increasing global research. It would be pleasing if this goal intended also the conservation and extension of the rich linguistic and cultural/intercultural resources of this country, but there is no indication that this is the case.

In contrast, with the increasing resource pressures in higher education (the base operating grant per equivalent FTU has continued to fall since the early 1980's) institutions have put in place operational and administrative savings through cutbacks, rationalisation of course offerings, reduced admin and support functions and staff reductions. This process has led to the closure of a number of university language departments as well as increasing fragility for remaining programs.

Higher Education is trying to run an up-to-date program for languages within structures which mitigate against this. The report by the Australian Academy of the Humanities: Subjects of Small Enrolments in the Humanities documents very well the complex issues at work. The Federation notes that the area most represented in this investigation is languages. The proposed strategies are demanding and will not be managed by any single institution working alone. Provision needs to be coordinated nationally with strong regard for the long-term consequences. Australia, as part of an international setting, cannot afford to waste its existing linguistic and cultural resources and nor can it afford not to develop and extend those resources across the population as a whole.

Languages and cultures education need to be strengthened in higher education. We recommend strongly that the Inquiry adopt our view that languages and cultures learning are an integral part of programs in higher education, that the decline in the number of programs must be arrested, that it is an essential dimension of innovation and growth and that Australia needs to follow the lead of other countries in recognising the value of languages and cultures education.

I would be pleased to discuss these matters further should that be required. 

Yours sincerely, 

Angela Scarino 

President: AFMLTA 

Angela Scarino 
Head: School of International Studies 
Director: Research Centre for Language & Cultures Education 
University of South Australia 
St Bernards Road 
Magill SA 5072 
Phone 8302 4775 
Fax 8302 4774 
email: angela.scarino@unisa.edu.au 

---------- 
From:   Blood, Margaret (SEN)[SMTP:Margaret.Blood@aph.gov.au] 
Sent:   Wednesday, 28 March 2001 13:58 
To:     'a.scarino@unisa.edu.au' 
Subject:        SENATE INQUIRY TO HIGHER EDUCATION 

<<File: submission notes.doc>><<File: Terms of Ref.doc>><<File: Higher Ed Advertisement.doc>> 
Dear Ms Scarino 

I am a research officer with the Senate Committee conducting the inquiry 
into higher education. You were identified as a person whose organisation 
has a professional interest in higher education and may be interested in 
making a submission to the inquiry. 

I am therefore attaching, for your information, documents relating to the 
inquiry's terms of reference and procedures for submissions. 

The Committee has agreed to a program of public hearings in various states 
and territories.  It will decide on witnesses for each hearing  once it has 
reviewed the submissions that have been received.  Submissions need not be 
long - 3 to 4 pages would be enough in most cases. 

As you will see the terms if reference include the capacity of universities 
to contribute to economic growth in communitites and regions. There is no 
need to address all the Terms of reference - one issue is enough in some 
cases. 

Please contact me on 02 62773524 or email at eet.sen@aph.gov.au if you have 
any questions. 

The closing date for submissions is 31 March 2001. If you wish to make a 
submission and cannot meet this deadline please contact me to discuss. I 
would also be grateful if you could pass this information on to others you 
know who may be interested in the inquiry. 

Hearings Program 

26 April                Hobart:  Higher Ed. Inquiry 

30 April                Darwin:  Higher Ed. Inquiry, UNT and Batchelor 
Institute 

14-15 May               Melbourne: Higher Education inquiry 

22 June                 Canberra:  Higher Ed. Inquiry, Room 2S1, Parliament 
House 

2-3 July        Adelaide and Whyalla:  Higher Ed. Inquiry, University of 
Adelaide and USA 

5 July  Perth:          Higher Ed. Inquiry, (possibly ECU and Murdoch 
University) 

12-13 July      Regional Queensland:  Higher Ed. inquiry,(possibly UCQ 
Rockhampton and JCU Townsville) 

                ] 
17-18 July      Sydney: Higher Education inquiry 

19 July         Newcastle: Higher Education inquiry 

 <<submission notes.doc>>  <<Terms of Ref.doc>>  <<Higher Ed 
Advertisement.doc>>  

Margaret Blood 

Margaret Blood 
Principal Research Officer 
Senate Employment Workplace Relations Small Business and Education Committee 
ph 02 62773524 
email at eet.sen@aph.gov.au