Executive Summary of the Review of the Australian Government Languages Other than English Programme (LOTE) - Report

(c) Commonwealth of Australia, 2002

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1. Introduction

This report presents the findings and recommendations of an external review of the Commonwealth Languages Other Than English (LOTE) in Schools Programme. The Review was conducted between August and December, 2002.

The LOTE in Schools Programme supports one of the eight key learning areas in the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century, endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in 1999. The Programme has, until recently, been comprised of two elements, the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy and the LOTE element.

The LOTE element supports school language programmes at all levels of schooling across all sectors. Languages offered in schools include European, Asian and Indigenous languages. The element also supports community language programmes, such as insertion classes in regular school hours and after-hours ethnic schools. Such programmes are intended to maintain the languages and cultures of students from a language background other than English and to increase students’ awareness and understanding of those languages and cultures.

The NALSAS Strategy has supported Asian languages and studies in all school systems throughout the nation, in order to improve Australia’s capacity and preparedness to interact internationally, in particular with Asian countries. Four languages were targeted under the Strategy: Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean.

The Commonwealth currently allocates $50 million a year for its LOTE in Schools Programme, comprising $20 million a year for the LOTE element and $30 million a year for the NALSAS Strategy. Commonwealth funding for the NALSAS Strategy will end in December 2002. The LOTE element funding is currently provided for in the States Grants’ agreements until December 2004. The focus of this Review is on the LOTE element.

Two significant reports in relation to Languages other than English in Australian schools released in 2002 have strongly influenced this Review. These reports were the Evaluation of the NALSAS Programme (a report to the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training by Erebus Consulting Partners, 2002), and the report of a national seminar conducted by the Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council, entitled Working Together on Languages Education (Melbourne 30-31 May, 2002).

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Objectives for this Review

The Review investigated the Commonwealth’s role in languages education in Australian schools, focusing in particular on:

• The current provision of languages programmes in schools and in afterhours ethnic schools 
• Issues related to the successful implementation of languages programmes  
• Work on languages education being undertaken through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) 
• Recommendations for future national strategic directions for the Commonwealth School Languages Programme.

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Methodology for the Review

The methodology for the review comprised three main elements: a meta-analysis of documents about LOTE provision in Australia (including the recent Evaluation of

the NALSAS Strategy and Review of Asian Studies in Australian Schools); consultation with key stakeholders; and an analysis of public submissions.

i. Literature and Document Analysis

Documents that were used to inform the current Review included recent evaluation reports, relevant Australian and international research on languages education, analysis of systemic documents – including examination of policy statements, curriculum and syllabus documents, units of work, guidelines and resource material. A full list of sources consulted is shown in the Appendix 5.

ii. Interviews with key stakeholders

The views of a wide range of key stakeholders were sought to inform the Review on the major issues concerning the provision of Languages other than English in Australian schools. Those interviewed included representatives from state and territory education jurisdictions, non-government schools organisations, state and territory Catholic Education Offices, national principals’ associations, the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers’ Association, the Australian Federation of Ethnic Schools Association, the Australian Council of Deans of Education, the National Parents’ Association, directors of curriculum, academics and other representatives of professional and business organisations.

The interview schedules used as a stimulus for discussion with systemic representatives and key stakeholders are shown at Appendix 1. A list of those interviewed is provided at Appendix 2.

iii. Analysis of Public Submissions

Public input to the Review was sought via an advertisement in The Australian newspaper of September 21, 2002. Responses were accepted by email and by post. The closing date for the submissions was 21 October, 2002, although late submissions were accepted. More than 600 submissions were received in total. They came from a wide range of individuals, schools, tertiary institutions, and professional, business and community organisations. A full list of those making submissions is shown at Appendix 4.