4. Issues affecting LOTE provision

The issue of teacher supply and demand, and its corollary, the quality of teaching, was mentioned by almost all jurisdictions as probably the most significant issue affecting the provision of LOTE. It is an issue that has long been recognised, having been one of the key action items in the NALSAS Phase 2 Strategic Plan, for example. It is an issue that will require a coherent and coordinated response from the Commonwealth, the school sector, and the higher education sector.2 It affects after-hours ethnic schools as much as it does mainstream schools. There have been several projects that have attempted to provide both pre-service and in-service professional development and certification to increase the number of teachers available for LOTE.

The collective view of primary school principals, as conveyed by the Australian Primary School Principals Association (APPA,) is one that supports the concept of provision of LOTE in primary schools. However, they also share concerns that not all schools are able to deliver equitable outcomes, to the point where local resources and teaching in other KLAs are eroded in trying to compensate for shortfalls, or overcome other local challenges and priorities.

Principals indicated that there were many very successful models across Australia where LOTE was producing positive outcomes and the investment had been extremely rewarding. Principals also indicated there were many models across Australia that were unsuccessful, to the point where they opted out of LOTE if they could. Where they could not, they struggled on with unsatisfactory results and loss of commitment.

Learning Area	Decreased a lot	Decreased a little	Remained the same	Increased a little	Increased a lot	Not applicable
1. The Arts	3.1	27.9	49.6	14.3	3.8	1.3
2. English	0.2	2.9	18.8	41.9	35.7	0.4
3. Health and Physical Education	1.6	14.1	52.0	25.1	6.5	0.7
4. Languages other than English	6.3	9.7	35.0	16.3	13.8	19.0
5. Mathematics	0.2	3.5	60.4	26.1	8.6	1.1
6. Science	1.3	23.5	53.1	17.7	3.4	0.9
7. Studies of Society and Environment	2.0	25.8	55.9	13.4	1.8	1.1
8. Technology	0.4	6.5	21.6	41.0	28.7	1.8

Source: APPA (2002). The Place of LOTE in the Primary School Curriculum, p.11.

According to principals, the geographic and demographic nature of many Australian primary schools significantly challenges their capacity to deliver effective, ongoing second language programmes. If LOTE is to remain universal for all primary students, then it needs to be universally resourced, ensuring quality for all schools, without impacting on the  overall curriculum. Otherwise the pressures of an overcrowded curriculum, thinning of resources, access to quality specialists and intermittent programmes will continue to erode the value of primary school LOTE programmes.

Table 4 above shows principals’ perceptions of the changes in the amount of time given to the various KLAs from 1996-1998. While 30 per cent of principals indicated that their school now spent more time teaching LOTE, more than half said that it had remained the same or decreased. Eighteen per cent said that they are not undertaking, or have dropped, LOTE. An additional 20 per cent answered this question as not applicable. At least some of these may have abandoned their LOTE programme entirely during this period.

Table 5 below suggests that LOTE is delivered by specialist teachers in about half of the schools in junior primary classes, and by nearly 70% of schools in the senior primary years. This factor highlights an important issue for many primary schools, that is, their dependence on the availability of qualified LOTE teachers.

Learning Area	Not taught to students	Taught as a separate subject by the class teacher	Integrated with the teaching of other areas	Combination of B&C	Taught by a specialist teacher
English	0.0	10.6	17.0	71.5	0.9
Mathematics	0.0	48.3	5.8	45.0	0.9
Science	0.2	17.5	27.3	49.9	5.1
SOSE	0.4	9.2	36.4	53.3	0.7
LOTE	33.3	10.5	2.7	5.0	48.5
Art	0.0	13.0	19.7	43.01	24.4
Music	1.6	19.5	8.6	19.3	51.0
Health	0.2	22.6	30.2	40.4	6.7
PE/Sport	0.0	42.6	3.3	12.6	41.5

Source: APPA (2002) The Place of Languages other than English in Primary Schools, p.12

Ranking	Reason to Discontinue LOTE Programme	Percent of Total
1	Lack/loss of teacher specialist	43.5%
2	Other local student/school needs	12.3%
3	Never had one	9.4%
4	Resourcing	8.0%
5	Crowded curriculum	7.2%
6	Ed Centre/Spe.Ed	3.6%
7	Discontinued	2.9%
8	Staffing formula restrictions	2.2%
9	Parent pressure/request	2.2%
10	Lack of continuity - High Schools	1.4%
11	Experiential only	1.4%
12	Poor outcomes	1.4%
13	Other	4.2%

Source: APPA (2002) The Place of Languages other than English in Primary Schools, p.19

Table 6 above shows that the most commonly given reason why the school did not teach or had discontinued LOTE was either the lack of, or loss of, a specialist teacher. It is apparent that many principals are not able to maintain the parity of LOTE with the other KLAs, illustrated by their preparedness to put other areas as priorities. Because LOTE is relatively more difficult to implement, some principals choose not to provide LOTE.

Schools undertaking LOTE were asked to identify the reasons for their decision about LOTE implementation, and how this decision was made. Table 7 below shows the majority of decisions appear to have been determined by programmes offered by the local secondary school, as well as community and teacher access. Principals appeared to support programmes where language teachers were guaranteed for some length of time.

Ranking	How or Why Schools Chose Local LOTE Program	Percent of Total
1	Linked to local High School programme	27.6%
2	Whole school/council decision	21.9%
3	Access to language teacher specialist	18.1%
4	Govt/system mandate	5.1%
5	Local historical reasons	5.1%
6	Local language	5.3%
7	Local schools decision	3.6%
8	Local teacher enthusiasm/skill	2.7%
9	Program availability	3.4%
10	Local needs	2.1%
11	Local district office decision	2.1%
12	Unsure	1.3%
13	Future relevance	0.6%
14	Funding/Resourcing	1.1%

Source: APPA (2002) The Place of Languages other than English in Primary Schools, p.20

Ranking of top 10 responses	Outcome	% of Top 10 responses
	Greater cultural awareness/ appreciation/ acceptance of diversity	47.7%
12	Acquisition of another language, at various skill levels	34.1%
3	Not much	3.5%
4	General language improvement	3.5%
5	Preparation for High School	3.2%
6	Community support and valuing LOTE	2.2%
7	Curriculum integration and benefits	1.8%
8	Increased student interest	1.7%
9	Enhances process of learning	1.3%
10	Meets govt/system requirements	1.0%

Source: APPA (2002) The Place of Languages other than English in Primary Schools, p.21.

Principals were also asked what they saw as the general outcomes from their LOTE programme. As Table 8 above shows, the most frequent response was the development of cultural awareness, appreciation and acceptance of diversity. APPA says that it is important to note that a significant number of principals are positive and supportive of their LOTE programmes.

2. See later sections of this report for a discussion of issues in relation to higher education and ethnic schools in more depth.