Language studies in decline at high-school, university

The number of students learning a second language is in decline, with a shortage of qualified teachers and the high-cost of offering languages at university being partly to blame. This is according to professor Jane Simpson, deputy director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language at The Australian National University (ANU) who said evidence shows that fewer students are doing languages at HSC level. In 2013 only eight per cent of HSC students sat a foreign language exam, down from more than 50 per cent in the ‘50s. “Overall we are not producing the bilingual people that we need for Australia to be really competitive in the next 30, 40 years,” Simpson said. She said many children these days will want to work overseas for at least part of their lives. “To do that they will be more competitive if they speak the language of the country they’re working in,” she said. “It’s going to be harder for them to get those jobs if they don't have a second language.” Simpson said the lack of opportunities to study a foreign language comes from a decline in the number of languages taught at universities, and the number of universities teaching languages. “We’re also facing problems in shortages of language teachers, really qualified language teachers, really experienced language teachers,” Simpson said. She said language teaching at university is expensive and with revenue cuts many institutions are not making the investment. Language teaching is intensive and it requires small classes and a number of hours to teach. “The amount that the government gives to pay for language teaching is not enough to cover the cost of language teaching. “Many universities are cutting the number of hours that they offer in language teaching and they're cutting the number of languages, because the combination of the low demand for some languages and the expense of teaching them, means that universities can't afford to do it,” she explained. Simpson believes a decline in the uptake of students studying a second language is in part because learning languages is not significantly recognised as an achievement. “We don’t believe that people recognise what a triumph it is to learn a language,” Simpson said. To address this, the Centre of Excellence has launched the Patji-Dawes award to celebrate language teachers. “We want celebrate language teaching and learning and draw public attention to what an intellectual achievement it is to learn a language,” Professor Simpson said. The award is named in honour of young indigenous Eora woman, Patyegarang and First Fleet settler Lieutenant William Dawes. The two shared a student-teacher relationship that saw Lt Dawes master the local Sydney indigenous language in what is the earliest documented instance of a settler learning an Indigenous language. “We want to encourage students from high school, community schools and universities to nominate teachers. I would also like to encourage immigrants who have come here and learned English to nominate a teacher who has inspired them,” she said. She also said the ANU has actually expanded the number of languages they teach and that to some extent fills the gap. Simpson said the award is just one part of the solution and that it will help to encourage more people to think about language learning as an exciting achievement. “In terms of what the solution for the decline of language teaching in Australia, I think we have to emphasise more and more the advantages and importance of learning languages to students, that this will really help them. “It's an intellectual achievement and it will open many, many doors to them.”