Australian universities push to expand foreign language teaching

澳大利亚顶级大学联合呼吁调整外语教学政策

　　21ST

　　澳大利亚八所顶级大学日前联合呼吁，须加强该国从幼儿园直至研究生时期的外语教育。针对近年来澳大利亚外语教学持续下滑的趋势，教育界人士指出，外语教师师资短缺是首当其冲需要解决的问题。

　　AUSTRALIA’S top universities, the Group of Eight (Go8), are promoting a move to

　　start foreign language teaching from infancy to postgraduate level, The Courier-mail

　　has reported. The Go8 is regarded as a group of the most prestigious universities

　　in Australia, which includes the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne

　　and Monash University. On June 7, the Go8 and the Australian Academy of the Humanities

　　sponsored a National Summit on Languages in Canberra, bringing together language

　　teachers and representatives of business and government. They were seeking support

　　for effective measures to develop the Australian language capacity. Figures show

　　that the number of languages available in Australian universities has fallen from

　　66 to 29 in the past 10 years, with just 3 percent of students studying an Asian

　　language. In contrast, more than 300 million Chinese students are currently studying

　　English, while in Finland, where students consistently outperform Australia on

　　international literacy and numeracy tests, all children take three languages throughout

　　their school years. In a policy paper prepared for the summit, the Go8 show how

　　and why Australia’s lack of language skills is putting future economic growth

　　in danger. The Go8 paper noted: “Australians are increasingly competing for jobs

　　with people who are just as competent in English as they are in their own native

　　language and possibly one or two more. The London business world prefers graduates

　　from European universities rather than British institutions because they speak

　　English as well as at least one other language, and often two or three.” The shortage

　　of foreign language teachers is a major stumbling block in overcoming the problem.

　　All schools have trouble filling language teachers’ jobs. Teacher education is

　　one of the strategies to increase the supply of language teachers. The universities

　　- which train teachers - could play the biggest role. Despite the shortage of

　　secondary teachers in languages, Queensland is currently producing many primary

　　school teachers.