Australia has a national curriculum that sets out how languages are taught in schools from the Foundation year to Year 10. Parents choosing a school, adult learners comparing course structures and anyone curious about how a large country organises language learning can use it as a reference. This article summarises the Languages learning area of the Australian Curriculum (version 9) as published by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). It concerns Australia only.
Which languages are covered
ACARA’s Languages learning area lists language-specific curricula for Arabic, Auslan (Australian Sign Language), Chinese, Classical Greek, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Modern Greek, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese. It also includes two frameworks: a Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages, and a Framework for Classical Languages. The description says that the Languages curriculum “includes language-specific curricula and frameworks for world languages”, and that its purpose is to give all students the opportunity to engage in learning a language in addition to English.
Three types of learner
A distinctive feature is the way the curriculum categorises learners. It says learners of languages in Australia comprise three major groups:
- Second-language learners, who are introduced to the target language at school as an additional, new language; the language used before school or at home is not the language being learnt.
- Background-language learners, who may use the language at home, not necessarily exclusively, and have varying degrees of knowledge of and proficiency in it. They have a base for literacy development in the language.
- First-language learners, who use and/or identify with the language as their mother tongue and use it for primary socialisation, education or literacy development.
For readers who are considering heritage-language study, the site’s guide to relearning a heritage language covers a related idea from a research perspective.
Aims
The curriculum names three interrelated aims: to develop linguistic competence, to understand language and culture and their relationship and thereby develop an intercultural capability in communication, and to help students understand themselves as communicators. In its rationale, ACARA says a capability solely in English “can limit global opportunities” and that a bilingual or pluri-lingual capability is the norm in many parts of the world. The document lists benefits it expects from learning languages, including communication skills, literacy skills in first and additional languages, intercultural capabilities and critical and creative thinking. These are the curriculum’s stated intentions rather than measured outcomes.
Structure: one or two sequences
The structure is presented in one or two sequences that offer alternative entry points, from Foundation to Year 10 and/or from Year 7 to Year 10. The Foundation to Year 10 sequence is presented in bands of two year levels after the Foundation year, while the Years 7 to 10 sequence has two bands: Years 7 and 8, and Years 9 and 10. The curriculum stresses that teachers can use the sequences flexibly, and that the two sequences do not necessarily represent every entry point into the curriculum.
Content is organised under two interrelated strands. For modern languages these are “Communicating meaning” and “Understanding language and culture”. The first strand has three sub-strands, interacting, mediating meaning in and between languages, and creating text. The second has two: understanding systems of language, and understanding the interrelationship of language and culture. Classical languages use a different first strand, engaging with the ancient world through texts, with sub-strands on accessing and responding to texts and on translating them into English.
Use of English and the macro skills
ACARA says students of modern languages use the target language to communicate whenever possible in classroom, local or digital environments, while English is used for reflection, discussion of ideas and comparing languages. For classical languages, English also supports interpretation and translation. The curriculum treats listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing, the “macro skills”, as interrelated and incorporates them in an integrated way rather than separately. This integrated approach contrasts with course designs that teach each skill in isolation; the site’s guide to how to choose a language course helps compare course formats.
Who decides how it is used
ACARA states that implementation of the Australian Curriculum is the responsibility of state and territory school and curriculum authorities, which decide how and when it is implemented in their jurisdiction. In practice, this means the language offering at any given school depends on state and territory decisions and on the school, not on the national document alone.
Common questions
Are all listed languages taught in every school? No. ACARA says implementation is decided by state and territory authorities.
Does the curriculum use the CEFR scale? The Languages learning area page uses bands of year levels rather than CEFR levels; readers wanting CEFR context can read the site’s CEFR explainer.
The bottom line
The Australian Curriculum: Languages provides a national framework for language teaching from Foundation to Year 10, with curricula for 16 languages and frameworks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and for classical languages. It distinguishes second-language, background-language and first-language learners, organises content into two strands, and offers two entry sequences. State and territory authorities decide how it is implemented. This is general information based on ACARA publications.
Sources
- Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, “Understand this learning area: Languages” (v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
- Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, “Foundation – Year 10 curriculum” (acara.edu.au)