The proficiency strands understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning are an integral part of mathematics content across the three content strands: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. The proficiencies reinforce the significance of working mathematically within the content and describe how the content is explored or developed. They provide the language to build in the developmental aspects of the learning of mathematics. The achievement standards reflect the content and encompass the proficiencies.

At this year level:

• understanding includes connecting names, numerals and quantities;
• fluency includes readily counting numbers in sequences, continuing patterns and comparing the lengths of objects;
• problem-solving includes using materials to model authentic problems, sorting objects, using familiar counting sequences to solve unfamiliar problems and discussing the reasonableness of the answer;
• reasoning includes explaining comparisons of quantities, creating patterns and explaining processes for indirect comparison of length.

Number and place value

Establish understanding of the language and processes of counting by naming numbers in sequences, initially to and from 20, moving from any starting point.

Connect number names, numerals and quantities, including zero, initially up to 10 and then beyond.

Subitise small collections of objects.

Compare, order and make correspondences between collections, initially to 20, and explain reasoning.

Represent practical situations to model addition and sharing.

Patterns and algebra

Sort and classify familiar objects and explain the basis for these classifications.

Copy, continue and create patterns with objects and drawings.

Using units of measurement

Use direct and indirect comparisons to decide which is longer, heavier or holds more, and explain reasoning in everyday language.

Compare and order duration of events using everyday language of time.

Connect days of the week to familiar events and actions.

Shape

Sort, describe and name familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects in the environment.

Location and transformation

Describe position and movement.

Data representation and interpretation

Answer yes/no questions to collect information and make simple inferences.

By the end of the Foundation year, students make connections between number names, numerals and quantities up to 10. They compare objects using mass, length and capacity. Students connect events and the days of the week. They explain the order and duration of events. They use appropriate language to describe location.

Students count to and from 20 and order small collections. They group objects based on common characteristics and sort shapes and objects. Students answer simple questions to collect information and make simple inferences.

The Science content includes the three strands of science understanding, science inquiry skills and science as a human endeavour. The three strands of the curriculum are interrelated and their content is taught in an integrated way. The order and detail in which the content descriptions are organised into teaching and learning programs are decisions to be made by the teacher.

Incorporating the key ideas of science

From Foundation to Year 2, students learn that observations can be organised to reveal patterns, and that these patterns can be used to make predictions about phenomena.

In Foundation, students observe and describe the behaviours and properties of everyday objects, materials and living things. They explore change in the world around them, including changes that impact on them, such as the weather, and changes they can effect, such as making things move or change shape. They learn that seeking answers to questions they pose and making observations is a core part of science and use their senses to gather different types of information.

Biological sciences

Living things have basic needs, including food and water.

Chemical sciences

Objects are made of materials that have observable properties.

Earth and space sciences

Daily and seasonal changes in our environment affect everyday life.

Physical sciences

The way objects move depends on a variety of factors, including their size and shape.

Nature and development of science

Science involves observing, asking questions about, and describing changes in, objects and events.

Questioning and predicting

Pose and respond to questions about familiar objects and events.

Planning and conducting

Participate in guided investigations and make observations using the senses.

Processing and analysing data and information

Engage in discussions about observations and represent ideas.

Communicating

Share observations and ideas.

By the end of the Foundation year, students describe the properties and behaviour of familiar objects. They suggest how the environment affects them and other living things.

Students share and reflect on observations, and ask and respond to questions about familiar objects and events.

My personal world

The Foundation curriculum focuses on developing students’ understanding of their personal worlds, including their personal and family histories and the places they and their families live in and belong to. The emphasis is on the student’s own history and their own place. They explore why places are special to them and others. As students explore the people and features of their social and physical worlds, they examine representations of place and sources, which may include stories from family members and from different cultures. They may also study places of similar size that are familiar to them or that they are curious about, coming to see how people feel about and look after places. Learning about their own heritage and their own place contributes to students’ sense of identity and belonging, beginning the idea of active citizenship.

The content provides opportunities for students to begin to develop humanities and social sciences understanding through key concepts including significance, continuity and change, place and space and perspectives. These concepts may provide a focus for inquiries and be investigated across sub-strands or within a particular sub-strand context.

The content at this year level is organised into two strands: knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills. The knowledge and understanding strand draws from two sub-strands: history and geography. These strands (knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills) are interrelated and have been developed to be taught in an integrated way, which may include integrating with content from the sub-strands and from other learning areas, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts. The order and detail in which they are taught are programming decisions.

Inquiry Questions

A framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills is provided by inquiry questions. The following inquiry questions allow for connections to be made across the sub-strands and may be used or adapted to suit local contexts: inquiry questions are also provided for each sub-strand that may enable connections within the humanities and social sciences learning area or across other learning areas:

• Who am I, where do I live and who came before me?
• Why are some places and events special and how do we know?

Questioning

Pose questions about past and present objects, people, places and events.

Researching

Collect data and information from observations and identify information and data from sources provided.

Sort and record information and data, including location, in tables and on plans and labelled maps.

Sequence familiar objects and events.

Analysing

Explore a point of view.

Compare objects from the past with those from the present and consider how places have changed over time.

Interpret data and information displayed in pictures and texts and on maps.

Evaluating and reflecting

Draw simple conclusions based on discussions, observations and information displayed in pictures and texts and on maps.

Reflect on learning to propose how to care for places and sites that are important or significant.

Communicating

Present narratives, information and findings in oral, graphic and written forms using simple terms to denote the passing of time and to describe direction and location.

The content in the history sub-strand in this year gives students opportunities to develop historical understanding through key concepts including continuity and change, perspectives, empathy and significance. Through studies of their family, familiar people and their own history, students look at evidence of the past, exposing them to an early understanding that the past is different from the present (continuity and change). They come to understand why some events are important in their own and others’ lives (significance), and how different people commemorate events that are important to them (empathy, perspectives).

Inquiry Questions

• What is my history and how do I know?
• What stories do other people tell about the past?
• How can stories of the past be told and shared?

Who the people in their family are, where they were born and raised and how they are related to each other.
How they, their family and friends commemorate past events that are important to them.
How the stories of families and the past can be communicated, for example, through photographs, artefacts, books, oral histories, digital media and museums.

The content in the geography sub-strand provides ways of developing students’ understanding of place, space and environment. Students explore the place they live in and belong to, and learn to observe and describe its features, and why it is important to them. They explore their own special places, how they feel about them, what makes them special, and how they can care for them (place, environment). They learn that their place is also the place of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Peoples (place). The idea of location is introduced through learning about representations on which places can be located and drawing story maps and creating models to show where familiar places and features are located (space).

Inquiry Questions

• What are places like?
• What makes a place special?
• How can we look after the places we live in?

The representation of the location of places and their features on simple maps and models. The places people live in and belong to, their familiar features and why they are important to people. The Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Country/Place on which the school is located and why Country/Place is important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The reasons why some places are special to people, and how they can be looked after.

By the end of Foundation Year, students identify important events in their own lives and recognise why some places are special to people. They describe the features of familiar places and recognise that places can be represented on maps and models. They identify how they, their families and friends know about their past and commemorate events that are important to them.

Students respond to questions about their own past and places they belong to. They sequence familiar events in order. They observe the familiar features of places and represent these features and their location on pictorial maps and models. They reflect on their learning to suggest ways they can care for a familiar place. Students relate stories about their past and share and compare observations about familiar places.

In the Australian Curriculum, The Arts is a learning area that draws together related but distinct art forms. While these art forms have close relationships and are often used in interrelated ways, each involves different approaches to arts practices and critical and creative thinking that reflect distinct bodies of knowledge, understanding and skills. The curriculum examines past, current and emerging arts practices in each art form across a range of cultures and places.

The Australian Curriculum: The Arts comprises five subjects:

• Dance • Drama • Media Arts • Music • Visual Arts.

The arts have the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich all students, exciting the imagination and encouraging them to reach their creative and expressive potential. The five arts subjects in the Australian Curriculum provide opportunities for students to learn how to create, design, represent, communicate and share their imagined and conceptual ideas, emotions, observations and experiences.

Rich in tradition, the arts play a major role in the development and expression of cultures and communities, locally, nationally and globally. Students communicate ideas in current, traditional and emerging forms and use arts knowledge and understanding to make sense of their world. The Australian Curriculum: The Arts values, respects and explores the significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to Australia’s arts heritage and contemporary arts practices through their distinctive ways of representing and communicating knowledge, traditions and experience. In The Arts, students learn as artists and audience through the intellectual, emotional and sensory experiences of the arts. They acquire knowledge, skills and understanding specific to The Arts subjects and develop critical understanding that informs decision-making and aesthetic choices. Through The Arts, students learn to express their ideas, thoughts and opinions as they discover and interpret the world. They learn that designing, producing and resolving their work is as essential to learning in the arts as is creating a finished artwork. Students develop their arts knowledge and aesthetic understanding through a growing comprehension of the distinct and related languages, symbols, techniques, processes and skills of the arts subjects. Arts learning provides students with opportunities to engage with creative industries and arts professionals.

The arts entertain, challenge, provoke responses and enrich our knowledge of self, communities, world cultures and histories. The Arts contribute to the development of confident and creative individuals, nurturing and challenging active and informed citizens. Learning in The Arts is based on cognitive, affective and sensory/kinaesthetic response to arts practices as students revisit increasingly complex content, skills and processes with developing confidence and sophistication across their years of learning.

This rationale is extended and complemented by the specific rationale for each arts subject.

The Australian Curriculum: The Arts aims to develop students’:

• creativity, critical thinking, aesthetic knowledge and understanding about arts practices, through making and responding to artworks with increasing self-confidence;
• arts knowledge and skills to communicate ideas; they value and share their arts and life experiences by representing, expressing and communicating ideas, imagination and observations about their individual and collective worlds to others in meaningful ways;
• use of innovative arts practices with available and emerging technologies, to express and represent ideas, while displaying empathy for multiple viewpoints;
• understanding of Australia’s histories and traditions through the arts, engaging with the artworks and practices, both traditional and contemporary, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples;
• understanding of local, regional and global cultures, and their arts histories and traditions, through engaging with the worlds of artists, artworks, audiences and arts professions.

These aims are extended and complemented by specific aims for each arts subject.

Foundation to Year 2

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Dance, students:

• become aware of their bodies and learn about the body bases, parts and zones used in dance;
• explore space, time, dynamics and relationships as they make and observe dances;
• explore locomotor and non-locomotor movements and use these fundamental movement skills in their own dance;
• experiment with simple technical and expressive skills and begin to learn about choreographic devices through selecting and organising movements in their own dances.

Skills

Explore, improvise and organise ideas to make dance sequences using the elements of dance.

Use fundamental movement skills to develop technical skills when practising dance sequences.

Present dance that communicates ideas to an audience, including dance used by cultural groups in the community.

Respond to dance and consider where and why people dance, starting with dances from Australia including dances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe the effect of the elements in dance they make, perform and view and where and why people dance. Students use the elements of dance to make and perform dance sequences that demonstrate fundamental movement skills to represent ideas. Students demonstrate safe practice.

Foundation to Year 2

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Drama, students:

• become aware of role and situation as they listen and respond as fictional characters;
• explore voice and movement to create role;
• learn about focus and identifying the main idea of the drama;
• learn how their ideas can be expressed through role and story.

Skills

Explore role and dramatic action in dramatic play, improvisation and process drama.

Use voice, facial expression, movement and space to imagine and establish role and situation.

Present drama that communicates ideas, including stories from their community, to an audience.

Respond to drama and consider where and why people make drama, starting with Australian drama including drama of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe what happens in drama they make, perform and view. They identify some elements in drama and describe where and why there is drama. Students make and present drama using the elements of role, situation and focus in dramatic play and improvisation.

Foundation to Year 2

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Media Arts, students:

• become aware of structure, intent, character and settings in ideas and stories;
• explore ideas and learn about composition, sound and technologies to construct stories;
• learn how their ideas can be communicated through selecting and organising the elements of media arts.

Skills

Explore ideas, characters and settings in the community through stories in images, sounds and text.

Use media technologies to capture and edit images, sounds and text for a purpose.

Create and present media artworks that communicate ideas and stories to an audience.

Respond to media artworks and consider where and why people make media artworks, starting with media from Australia including media artworks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students communicate about media artworks they make and view, and where and why media artworks are made. Students make and share media artworks using story principles, composition, sound and technologies.

Foundation to Year 2

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Music, students:

• become aware of rhythm, pitch, dynamics and expression, form and structure, timbre and texture;
• explore sounds as they learn to listen to and make music;
• learn to discriminate between sounds and silence, and loud and soft sounds;
• learn to move and perform with beat and tempo;
• learn to listen as performers and as audience.

Skills

Develop aural skills by exploring and imitating sounds, pitch and rhythm patterns using voice, movement and body percussion.

Sing and play instruments to improvise, practise a repertoire of chants, songs and rhymes, including songs used by cultural groups in the community.

Create compositions and perform music to communicate ideas to an audience.

Respond to music and consider where and why people make music, starting with Australian music, including music of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students communicate about the music they listen to, make and perform and where and why people make music. Students improvise, compose, arrange and perform music. They demonstrate aural skills by staying in tune and keeping in time when they sing and play.

Foundation to Year 2

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Visual Arts, students:

• become aware of visual conventions and learn to notice visual detail;
• explore how and why artworks are created and ways to use and apply visual conventions, such as line, shape, colour and texture;
• learn how their ideas or subject matter can be developed through different forms, styles, techniques, materials and technologies;
• learn about how and why artists, craftspeople and designers present their ideas through different visual representations, practices, processes and viewpoints.

Skills

Explore ideas, experiences, observations and imagination to create visual artworks and design, including considering ideas in artworks by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

Use and experiment with different materials, techniques, technologies and processes to make artworks.

Create and display artworks to communicate ideas to an audience.

Respond to visual artworks and consider where and why people make visual artworks, starting with visual artworks from Australia, including visual artworks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe artworks they make and view and where and why artworks are made and presented. Students make artworks in different forms to express their ideas, observations and imagination, using different techniques and processes.

The Australian Curriculum: Technologies describes two distinct but related subjects:

• Design and Technologies, in which students use design thinking and technologies to generate and produce designed solutions for authentic needs and opportunities;
• Digital Technologies, in which students use computational thinking and information systems to define, design and implement digital solutions.

Technologies enrich and impact on the lives of people and societies globally. Australia needs enterprising individuals who can make discerning decisions about the development and use of technologies and who can independently and collaboratively develop solutions to complex challenges and contribute to sustainable patterns of living. Technologies can play an important role in transforming, restoring and sustaining societies and natural, managed and constructed environments.

The Australian Curriculum: Technologies ensures that all students benefit from learning about and working with traditional, contemporary and emerging technologies that shape the world in which we live. By applying their knowledge and practical skills and processes when using technologies and other resources to create innovative solutions, independently and collaboratively, they develop knowledge, understanding and skills to respond creatively to current and future needs.

The practical nature of the Technologies learning area engages students in critical and creative thinking, including understanding interrelationships in systems when solving complex problems. A systematic approach to experimentation, problem-solving, prototyping and evaluation instils in students the value of planning and reviewing processes to realise ideas.

All young Australians should develop capacity for action and a critical appreciation of the processes through which technologies are developed and how technologies can contribute to societies. Students need opportunities to consider the use and impact of technological solutions on equity, ethics, and personal and social values. In creating solutions, as well as responding to the designed world, students consider desirable sustainable patterns of living, and contribute to preferred futures for themselves and others.

This rationale is extended and complemented by specific rationales for each Technologies subject.

The Australian Curriculum: Technologies aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that, individually and collaboratively, students:

• investigate, design, plan, manage, create and evaluate solutions;
• are creative, innovative and enterprising when using traditional, contemporary and emerging technologies, and understand how technologies have developed over time;
• make informed and ethical decisions about the role, impact and use of technologies in the economy, environment and society for a sustainable future;
• engage confidently with and responsibly select and manipulate appropriate technologies − materials, data, systems, components, tools and equipment − when designing and creating solutions;
• critique, analyse and evaluate problems, needs or opportunities to identify and create solutions.

These aims are extended and complemented by specific aims for each Technologies subject.

Foundation to Year 2

Learning in Design and Technologies builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in the Early Years Learning Framework, revisiting, strengthening and extending these as needed.

By the end of Year 2 students will have had the opportunity to create designed solutions at least once in each of the following technologies contexts: Engineering principles and systems; Food and fibre production and Food specialisations; and Materials and technologies specialisations. Students should have opportunities to experience designing and producing products, services and environments. This may occur through integrated learning.

In Foundation to Year 2 students explore and investigate technologies − materials, systems, components, tools and equipment − including their purpose and how they meet personal and social needs within local settings. Students develop an understanding of how society and environmental sustainability factors influence design and technologies decisions. Students evaluate designed solutions using questions such as ‘How does it work?’, ‘What purpose does it meet?’, ‘Who will use it?’, ‘What do I like about it?’ or ‘How can it be improved?’ They begin to consider the impact of their decisions and of technologies on others and the environment including in relation to preferred futures. They reflect on their participation in a design process. This involves students developing new perspectives, and engaging in different forms of evaluating and critiquing products, services and environments based on personal preferences.

Using a range of technologies including a variety of graphical representation techniques to communicate, students draw, model and explain design ideas; label drawings; draw objects as two-dimensional images from different views; draw products and simple environments and verbalise design ideas.

They plan (with teacher support) simple steps and follow directions to complete their own or group design ideas or projects, and manage their own role within team projects. Students are aware of others around them and the need to work safely and collaboratively when making designed solutions.

Knowledge and Understanding

Identify how people design and produce familiar products, services and environments and consider sustainability to meet personal and local community needs.

Explore how technologies use forces to create movement in products.

Explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter and how food is selected and prepared for healthy eating.

Explore the characteristics and properties of materials and components that are used to produce designed solutions.

Processes and Production Skills

Explore needs or opportunities for designing, and the technologies needed to realise designed solutions.

Generate, develop and record design ideas through describing, drawing and modelling.

Use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to safely make designed solutions.

Use personal preferences to evaluate the success of design ideas, processes and solutions including their care for environment.

Sequence steps for making designed solutions and working collaboratively.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe the purpose of familiar products, services and environments and how they meet the needs of users and affect others and environments. They identify the features and uses of technologies for each of the prescribed technologies contexts.

With guidance, students create designed solutions for each of the prescribed technologies contexts. They describe given needs or opportunities. Students create and evaluate their ideas and designed solutions based on personal preferences. They communicate design ideas for their designed products, services and environments using modelling and simple drawings. Following sequenced steps, students demonstrate safe use of tools and equipment when producing designed solutions.

Foundation to Year 2

Learning in Digital Technologies builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in the Early Years Learning Framework. It focuses on developing foundational skills in computational thinking and an awareness of personal experiences using digital systems.

By the end of Year 2, students will have had opportunities to create a range of digital solutions through guided play and integrated learning, such as using robotic toys to navigate a map or recording science data with software applications.

In Foundation – Year 2, students begin to learn about common digital systems and patterns that exist within data they collect. Students organise, manipulate and present this data, including numerical, categorical, text, image, audio and video data, in creative ways to create meaning.

Students use the concept of abstraction when defining problems, to identify the most important information, such as the significant steps involved in making a sandwich. They begin to develop their design skills by conceptualising algorithms as a sequence of steps for carrying out instructions, such as identifying steps in a process or controlling robotic devices.

Students describe how information systems meet information, communication and/or recreational needs.

Through discussion with teachers, students learn to apply safe and ethical practices to protect themselves and others as they interact online for learning and communicating.

Knowledge and Understanding

Recognise and explore digital systems (hardware and software components) for a purpose.

Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams.

Processes and Production Skills

Collect, explore and sort data, and use digital systems to present the data creatively.

Follow, describe and represent a sequence of steps and decisions.

Explore how people safely use common information systems to meet information, communication and recreation needs.

Create and organise ideas and information using information systems independently and with others, and share these with known people in safe online environments.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students identify how common digital systems (hardware and software) are used to meet specific purposes. They use digital systems to represent simple patterns in data in different ways.

Students design solutions to simple problems using a sequence of steps and decisions. They collect familiar data and display them to convey meaning. They create and organise ideas and information using information systems, and share information in safe online environments.

Foundation Year

The Foundation Year curriculum provides the basis for developing knowledge, understanding and skills for students to lead healthy, safe and active lives. The content gives students opportunities to learn about their strengths and simple actions they can take to keep themselves and their classmates healthy and safe.

The content explores the people who are important to students and develops students’ capacity to initiate and maintain respectful relationships in different contexts, including at school, at home, in the classroom and when participating in physical activities.

The Foundation curriculum provides opportunities for students to learn through movement. The content enables students to develop and practise fundamental movement skills through active play and structured movement activities. This improves competence and confidence in their movement abilities. The content also provides opportunities for students to learn about movement as they participate in physical activity in a range of different settings.

Focus areas to be addressed in Foundation include:

• safe use of medicines (AD);
• food and nutrition (FN);
• health benefits of physical activity (HBPA);
• mental health and wellbeing (MH);
• relationships (RS);
• safety (S);
• active play and minor games (AP);
• fundamental movement skills (FMS);
• rhythmic and expressive movement activities (RE).

Being healthy, safe and active

Identify personal strengths.

Name parts of the body and describe how their body is growing and changing.

Identify people and demonstrate protective behaviours and other actions that help keep themselves safe and healthy.

Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing

Practise personal and social skills to interact positively with others.

Identify and describe emotional responses people may experience in different situations.

Contributing to healthy and active communities

Identify actions that promote health, safety and wellbeing.

Participate in play that promotes engagement with outdoor settings and the natural environment.

Moving our body

Practise fundamental movement skills and movement sequences using different body parts.

Participate in games with and without equipment.

Understanding movement

Explore how regular physical activity keeps individuals healthy and well.

Identify and describe how their body moves in relation to effort, space, time, objects and people.

Learning through movement

Cooperate with others when participating in physical activities.

Test possible solutions to movement challenges through trial and error.

Follow rules when participating in physical activities.

By the end of Foundation Year, students recognise how they are growing and changing. They identify and describe the different emotions people experience. They identify actions that help them be healthy, safe and physically active. They identify different settings where they can be active and demonstrate how to move and play safely. They describe how their body responds to movement.

Students use personal and social skills when working with others in a range of activities. They demonstrate, with guidance, practices and protective behaviours to keep themselves safe and healthy in different activities. They perform fundamental movement skills and solve movement challenges.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages is designed to enable all students to engage in learning a language in addition to English. The design of the Australian Curriculum: Languages recognises the features that languages share as well as the distinctiveness of specific languages.

There are aspects of the curriculum that pertain to all languages. The key concepts of language, culture and learning, as described in the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages, underpin the learning area. They also provide the basis for a common rationale and set of aims for all languages.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages includes language–specific curricula for world languages and a Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages.

Language specificity

The curriculum content and achievement standards are different for each specific language because of inherent differences in the languages themselves.

Each language has its own distinctive structure, systems, conventions for use, related culture(s), place in the Australian and international communities, as well as its own history in Australian education.

Diversity of language learners

Understanding who learners are, as language learners and as young people, is the starting point for developing their language learning. An increasingly varied range of students now study languages in Australian classrooms. The changing pattern of migration to Australia is extending the range of languages students bring with them to school. Education systems seek to provide for this diversity of language background and for the fact that languages classrooms include students with varying degrees of experience of and proficiency in the language being learnt, as well as their particular affiliations with additional languages.

Learners come to learning languages with diverse linguistic, cultural and personal profiles, bringing distinctive biographies which include individual histories; biographies; previous experiences of and relationships with the target language and particular motivations, expectations, and aspirations.

As unique, social and cultural beings, students interpret the world and make sense of their experiences through their own social and cultural traditions, understanding and values.

Learners of languages in Australia comprise three major groups:

• second language learners
• background language learners
• first language learners.

Second language learners are those who are introduced to learning the target language at school as an additional, new language. The first language used before they start school and/or the language they use at home is not the language being learnt.

Background language learners are those who may use the language at home, not necessarily exclusively, and have varying degrees of knowledge of and proficiency in the language being learnt. These learners have a base for literacy development in the language.

First language learners are users of the language being learnt who have undertaken at least primary schooling in the target language. They have had their primary socialisation as well as initial literacy development in that language and use the target language at home. For Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, first language learners are learners whose primary socialisation is in the language being learnt and who may or may not have yet developed initial literacy.

Within each of these groups, there are differences in proficiency in the language being learnt. It is acknowledged that the span of language experiences of background learners is particularly wide, and learners in this group are likely to have quite diverse affiliations with the target language. Nevertheless, for pragmatic reasons, it is not feasible to identify further groupings.

A framework is being developed for Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages that caters for different learner pathways that also take into account the state of the particular language involved.

Through learning languages, students acquire:

• communication skills in the language being learnt;
• an intercultural capability, and an understanding of the role of language and culture in communication;
• a capability for reflection on language use and language learning.

Language learning provides the opportunity for students to engage with the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world and its peoples, to reflect on their understanding of experience in various aspects of social life, and on their own participation and ways of being in the world.

Learning languages broadens students’ horizons in relation to the personal, social, cultural and employment opportunities that an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world presents. The interdependence of countries and communities means people in all spheres of life are required to negotiate experiences and meanings across languages and cultures. Despite its status as a world language, a capability in English only is no longer sufficient. A bilingual or plurilingual capability is the norm in most parts of the world.

Learning languages:

• extends the capability to communicate and extends literacy repertoires;
• strengthens understanding of the nature of language, of culture, and of the processes of communication;
• develops intercultural capability;
• develops understanding of and respect for diversity and difference, and an openness to different experiences and perspectives;
• develops understanding of how culture shapes worldviews and extends learners’ understanding of themselves, their own heritage, values, culture and identity;
• strengthens intellectual, analytical and reflective capabilities, and enhances creative and critical thinking.

Learning languages also contributes to strengthening the community’s social, economic and international development capabilities. Language capabilities represent linguistic and cultural resources through which the community can engage socially, culturally and economically, in domains which include business, trade, science, law, education, tourism, diplomacy, international relations, health and communications.

Learning Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages meets the needs and rights of young people to learn their own languages and recognises their significance in the language ecology of Australia. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, learning their own languages is crucial to overall learning and achievements, to developing a sense of identity and recognition and understanding of language, culture, Country and Place. For all students, learning Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages provides a distinctive means of understanding the country in which they live, including the relationship between land, the environment and people. The ongoing and necessary reclamation and revitalisation of these languages also contribute to reconciliation.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure students:

• communicate in the target language;
• understand language, culture, and learning and their relationship, and thereby develop an intercultural capability in communication;
• understand themselves as communicators.

These three aims are interrelated and provide the basis for the two organising strands: Communicating and Understanding. The three aims are common to all languages.

Language and culture

The interrelationship of language, culture and learning provides the foundation for the Australian Curriculum: Languages.

In the languages learning area the focus is on both language and culture, as students learn to communicate meaningfully across linguistic and cultural systems, and different contexts. This process involves reflection and analysis, as students move between the new language being learnt and their own existing language(s). It is a reciprocal and dynamic process which develops language use within intercultural dimensions of learning experiences. It is not a ‘one plus one’ relationship between two languages and cultures, where each language and culture stay separate and self-contained. Comparison and referencing between (at least) two languages and cultures build understanding of how languages ‘work’, how they relate to each other and how language and culture shape and reflect experience; that is, the experience of language using and language learning. The experience of being in two worlds at once involves noticing, questioning and developing awareness of how language and culture shape identity.

Learner background and time-on-task are two major variables that influence language learning and they provide the basis for the structure of the Australian Curriculum: Languages. These variables are addressed through the specification of content and the description of achievement standards according to pathways and learning sequences respectively.

Pathways

In the Australian Curriculum: Languages, pathways for second language learners, background language learners and first language learners have been developed as appropriate to cater for the dominant group(s) of students learning each specific language within the current Australian context. For the majority of languages, one curriculum pathway has been developed for Years F–10, catering for the dominant cohort of learners for that language in the current Australian context. For Chinese, pathways have been developed for three learner groups: first language learners, background language learners and second language learners.

The Framework for Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages includes three learner pathways:

• first language learner pathway;
• revival language learner pathway;
• second language learner pathway.

Sequences of learning

The design of the Australian Curriculum: Languages takes account of different entry points into language learning across Foundation – Year 10, which reflects current practice in languages.

For the second language learner pathway and the background language learner pathway, there are two learning sequences:

• Foundation–Year 10 sequence;
• Years 7–10 (Year 7 Entry) sequence.

For the first language learner pathway, there is one learning sequence:

• Years 7–10 (Year 7 Entry) sequence.

Content and achievement standards are described initially in a three-year band for Foundation–Year 2 followed by two-year bands of learning: Years 3–4; Years 5–6, Years 7–8 and Years 9–10.

The Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages is written in the bands Foundation – Year 2, Years 3–6 and Years 7–10. In the absence of pedagogical evidence across the country for all these languages, the broader band distinctions provide maximum local flexibility in curriculum development.

Content structure

The content of the Australian Curriculum: Languages is organised through two interrelated strands which realise the three aims. The two strands are:

• Communicating: using language for communicative purposes in interpreting, creating and exchanging meaning;
• Understanding: analysing language and culture as a resource for interpreting and creating meaning.

The strands reflect three important aspects of language learning:

1) communication.

2) analysis of aspects of language and culture.

3) reflection that involves:

1. reflection on the experience of communicating;

2. reflection on comparative dimensions of the languages available in students’ repertoires (for example, the first language in relation to second language and self in relation to others).

Strands and sub-strands

A set of sub-strands has been identified within each strand, which reflects dimensions of language use and the related content to be taught and learned. The strands and sub-strands do not operate in isolation but are integrated in relation to language use for different purposes in different contexts. The relative contribution of each sub-strand differs for described languages, pathways and bands of learning. The sub-strands are further differentiated according to a set of ‘threads’ that support the internal organisation of content in each sub-strand. These ‘threads’ are designed to capture (1) range and variety in the scope of learning and (2) a means for expressing the progression of content across the learning sequences.

Communicating:

Using language for communicative purposes in interpreting, creating and exchanging meaning:

1.1 Socialising
Interacting orally and in writing to exchange, ideas, opinions, experiences, thoughts and feelings; and participating in planning, negotiating, deciding and taking action.

1.2 Informing
Obtaining, processing, interpreting and conveying information through a range of oral, written and multimodal texts; developing and applying knowledge.

1.3 Creating
Engaging with imaginative experience by participating in, responding to and creating a range of texts, such as stories, songs, drama and music.

1.4 Translating
Moving between languages and cultures orally and in writing, recognising different interpretations and explaining these to others.

1.5 Reflecting
Participating in intercultural exchange, questioning reactions and assumptions; and considering how interaction shapes communication and identity.

Understanding:
Analysing and understanding language and culture as resources for interpreting and shaping meaning in intercultural exchange:

2.1 Systems of language
Understanding language as a system, including sound, writing, grammatical and textual conventions.

2.2 Language variation and change
Understanding how languages vary in use (register, style, standard and non-standard varieties) and change over time and place.

2.3 The role of language and culture
Analysing and understanding the role of language and culture in the exchange of meaning.

ACARA is committed to the development of a high-quality curriculum that promotes excellence and equity in education for all Australian students.

All students are entitled to rigorous, relevant and engaging learning programs drawn from the Australian Curriculum: Languages. Teachers take account of the range of their students’ current levels of learning, strengths, goals and interests and make adjustments where necessary. The three-dimensional design of the Australian Curriculum, comprising learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities, provides teachers with flexibility to cater for the diverse needs of students across Australia and to personalise their learning.

More detailed advice for schools and teachers on using the Australian Curriculum to meet diverse learning needs is available under Student Diversity on the Australian Curriculum website.

Students with disability

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 require education and training service providers to support the rights of students with disability to access the curriculum on the same basis as students without disability.

Many students with disability are able to achieve educational standards commensurate with their peers, as long as the necessary adjustments are made to the way in which they are taught and to the means through which they demonstrate their learning.

In some cases curriculum adjustments are necessary to provide equitable opportunities for students to access age-equivalent content in the Australian Curriculum: Languages. Teachers can draw from content at different levels along the Foundation to Year 10 sequence. Teachers can also use the extended general capabilities learning continua in Literacy, Numeracy and Personal and social capability to adjust the focus of learning according to individual student need.

English as an additional language or dialect

Languages play a crucial role in the educational experience of students and in the curriculum as a whole. Given the diversity of students in Australian education, it is important to recognise that a range of languages is used either as part of the formal curriculum or as part of learners’ socialisation within and outside the school.

Learners bring their first language or languages as the one(s) they use for their initial socialisation in their family or community. For the majority, this is English. For many, it can be a range of different languages. Learners also encounter the language or languages of instruction at school. For most in Australia, this is English. For many students in Australia, the language of instruction is not the same as their first language. These students may learn through English as an additional language/dialect (EALD) programs.

In contemporary understandings of language acquisition, development and learning all the languages learners experience in their socialisation and education form part of learners’ distinctive linguistic and cultural repertoires. These are variously developed by both the experience of schooling and broader social community experience. These repertoires are an integral part of learners’ identities and what they bring to the learning of additional languages as part of the languages learning area within the school curriculum.

While the curriculum for languages primarily addresses the learning of languages, this learning cannot be separated from the development of learners’ more general communicative repertoires. It is through such a relational and holistic approach to languages education that learners develop their capabilities in knowing and using multiple languages. Learners extend their communicative and conceptual development, learning and identity formation.

In various kinds of bilingual programs, students are afforded an opportunity to learn through the medium of English and another language (learners’ first or additional language). These programs are of particular value in ensuring learners continue to develop at least two languages that are of value to them. They are of value to both their conceptual development and learning and to their identity formation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities recognise the importance of literacy to their children. They support literacy education programs that are founded on establishing literacy in their children’s first language. These are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages their communities use. Literacy in English is regarded as concomitant on first establishing students’ literacy in their first language. Although most bilingual programs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are designed to help students’ transition into learning in English, their fundamental value is in the development of bilingual literacy. Strengthening the bilingual literacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can significantly contribute to improving their overall academic achievement and success.

A national English as an Additional Language or Dialect: Teacher Resource has been developed to support teachers in making the Australian Curriculum: Foundation – Year 10 in each learning area accessible to EALD students.

Gifted and talented students

Teachers can use the Australian Curriculum: Languages flexibly to meet the individual learning needs of gifted and talented students.

Teachers can enrich learning by providing students with opportunities to work with learning area content in more depth or breadth; emphasising specific aspects of the general capabilities learning continua (for example, the higher order cognitive skills of the Critical and creative thinking capability); and/or focusing on cross-curriculum priorities. Teachers can also accelerate student learning by drawing on content from later levels in the Australian Curriculum: Languages and/or from local state and territory teaching and learning materials.

In the Australian Curriculum, general capabilities encompass knowledge, skills, behaviours, and dispositions that, together with curriculum content in each learning area and the cross-curriculum priorities, will enable students to live and work successfully in the 21st century.

There are seven general capabilities:

• literacy;
• numeracy;
• information and communication technology (ICT) capability;
• critical and creative thinking;
• personal and social capability;
• ethical understanding;
• intercultural understanding.

In the Australian Curriculum: Languages, general capabilities are identified wherever they are developed or applied in content descriptions.

They are also identified where they offer opportunities to add depth and richness to student learning through content elaborations. Icons indicate where general capabilities have been identified in languages content. Teachers may find further opportunities to incorporate explicit teaching of the capabilities, depending on their choice of activities.

Literacy

Learning languages develops overall literacy. It is in this sense ‘value added’, strengthening literacy-related capabilities that are transferable across languages, both the language being learnt and all other languages that are part of the learner’s repertoire. Languages learning also strengthens literacy-related capabilities across domains of use, such as the academic domain and the domains of home language use, and across learning areas.

Literacy development involves conscious attention and focused learning. It involves skills and knowledge that need guidance, time and support to develop. These skills include the:

• ability to decode and encode from sound to written systems;
• the learning of grammatical, orthographic and textual conventions;
• development of semantic, pragmatic and interpretative, critical and reflective literacy skills.

Literacy development for second language learners is cognitively demanding. It involves these same elements but often without the powerful support of a surrounding oral culture and context. The strangeness of the additional language requires scaffolding. In the language classroom, analysis is prioritised alongside experience. Explicit, explanatory and exploratory talk around language and literacy is a core element. Learners are supported to develop their own meta–awareness, to be able to think and talk about how the language works and about how they learn to use it. Similarly, for first language learners, literacy development that extends to additional domains and contexts of use requires comparative analysis that extends literacy development in their first language and English.

Numeracy

Learning languages affords opportunities for learners to use the target language to develop skills in numeracy, to understand, analyse, categorise, critically respond to and use mathematics in different contexts. This includes processes such as using and understanding patterns, order and relationships to reinforce concepts such as number, time or space in their own and in others’ cultural and linguistic systems.

Information and communication technology (ICT) capability

Learning languages is enhanced through the use of multimodal resources, digital environments and technologies in the target language. Accessing live target language environments and texts via digital media contributes to the development of information technology capabilities as well as linguistic and cultural knowledge. Accessing different real-time contexts extends the boundaries of the classroom.

Critical and creative thinking

In learning a language, students interact with people and ideas from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which enhances critical thinking, reflection and encourages creative, divergent and imaginative thinking. By learning to notice, connect, compare and analyse aspects of the target language, students develop critical, analytic and problem-solving skills.

Personal and social capability

Interacting effectively in an additional language and with people of diverse language backgrounds involves negotiating and interpreting meaning in a range of social and cultural situations. This involves understanding and empathising, which are important elements of social and intercultural competence. Being open-minded and recognising that people view and experience the world in different ways, and learning to interact in a collaborative and respectful manner are key elements of personal and social competence.

Ethical understanding

When learning another language, students are taught explicitly to acknowledge and value difference in their interactions with others and to develop respect for diverse ways of perceiving and acting in the world. Opportunities are provided to monitor and to adjust their own ethical points of view. In learning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, students should consider appropriate ethical behaviour in terms of engaging with the owners and custodians of the languages. Similar consideration is required when interpreting and translating or when collecting and analysing primary research data.

Intercultural understanding

The development of intercultural understanding is a central aim of learning languages, as it is integral to communicating in the context of diversity, the development of global citizenship and lifelong learning. Students bring to their learning various preconceptions, assumptions and orientations shaped by their existing language(s) culture(s) to their learning that can be challenged by the new language experience. Learning to move between the existing and new languages and cultures is integral to language learning and is the key to the development of students’ intercultural capability. By learning a new language, or learning to use an existing language in new domains and contexts, students are able to notice, compare and reflect on things previously taken for granted; to explore their own linguistic, social and cultural practices as well as those associated with the target language. They begin to see the complexity, variability and sometimes the contradictions involved in using language.

Learning a new language does not require forsaking the first language. It is an enriching and cumulative process, which broadens the learners’ communicative repertoire, providing additional resources for interpreting and making meaning. Learners come to realise that interactions between different people through the use of different languages also involves interactions between the different kinds of knowledge, understanding and values that are articulated through language(s) and culture(s). They realise that successful intercultural communication is not only determined by what they do or say, but also by what members of the other language and culture understand from what they say or do.

The Australian Curriculum gives special attention to three cross-curriculum priorities:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures;
• Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia;
• sustainability.

The cross-curriculum priorities are embedded in the curriculum and will have a strong but varying presence depending on their relevance to each of the learning areas.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are strong, rich and diverse. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity is central to this priority. It is intrinsically linked to living and learning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, deep knowledge of traditions and holistic world view.

A conceptual framework based on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique sense of identity has been developed as a tool for embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures within the Australian curriculum. This sense of identity is approached through the interconnected concepts of Country/Place, people and culture. Embracing these elements enhances all areas of the curriculum.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander priority provides opportunities for all learners to deepen their knowledge of Australia by engaging with the world’s oldest continuous living cultures. This knowledge and understanding will enrich their ability to participate positively in the evolving history of Australia.

A direct way of learning about and engaging with diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is to learn an Aboriginal language and/or a Torres Strait Islander language. There is an inseparable connection between Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages and land/sea, Country/Place, the environment, fauna and flora. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures are an integral part of the learning of Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages.

In learning all languages, there is a scope for making interlinguistic and intercultural comparisons across languages, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, to develop understanding of concepts related to the linguistic landscape of Australia and to the concepts of language and culture in general.

Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia

In the Australian Curriculum: Languages, the cross-curriculum priority of Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia enables the development of rich and engaging content and contexts for developing students’ capabilities to engage with the languages and cultures of Asia and of people of Asian heritage within Australia.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages enables students to learn the languages of the Asian region, learning to communicate and interact in interculturally appropriate ways, exploring concepts, experiences and perspectives from within and across Asian cultures.

In the languages learning area, students develop an appreciation for the place of Australia within the Asian region, including the interconnections of languages and cultures, peoples and communities, histories and economies. Students learn how Australia is situated within the Asian region, how our national linguistic and cultural identity is continuously evolving both locally, regionally and within an international context.

Sustainability

In the Australian Curriculum: Languages, the priority of sustainability provides a context for developing students’ capability to communicate ideas, understanding and perspectives on issues and concepts related to the environment.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages contributes to students’ capabilities to investigate, analyse and communicate concepts and understandings related to sustainability in broad contexts, and to advocate, generate and evaluate actions for sustainable futures. Within each language, students engage with a range of texts focused on concepts related to sustainability. These include:

• environment;
• conservation;
• social and political change;
• linguistic and cultural ecologies;
• change, both within the target language and culture, and across languages and cultures in general.

In this way, students develop knowledge, skills and understanding about sustainability within particular cultural contexts. This is crucial in the context of national and international concerns about, for example, climate change, food shortages and alternative ways of caring for land and agriculture. Through developing a capability to interact with others, negotiating meaning and mutual understanding respectfully and reflecting on communication, students learn to live and work in ways that are both productive and sustainable.

Learning Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages contributes to the global effort to exchange knowledge among people with varied practices in caring for the land. It also contributes to the reconciliation process in Australia and goals for language revival.

Accent

A manner of pronunciation of a language which marks speakers as belonging to identifiable categories such as geographical or ethnic origin, social class or generation.

Accent marks

Marks placed on a letter to indicate pronunciation, stress or intonation, or to indicate a different meaning or different grammatical usage for the word within which they appear. For example, résumé, piñata, ou/où.

Accuracy

Production of structurally correct forms of the target language.

Adjective

A word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. For example, astonishing in an astonishing discovery.

Adverb

A word class that may modify or qualify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. For example, beautifully in she sings beautifully; really in he is really interesting; very and slowly in she walks very slowly.

Adverbial

A word or group of words that functions as an adverb.

Aesthetic

Relates to a sense of beauty or appreciation of artistic expression.

Alliteration

A recurrence of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close succession (for example, ripe, red raspberry)

Audience

Intended readers, listeners or viewers.

Authentic (texts/materials)

Texts or materials produced for ‘real-life’ purposes and contexts as opposed to being created specifically for learning tasks or language practice.

Author

A composer or originator of a work (for example, a novel, film, website, speech, essay, autobiography).

Bilingualism

An ability to use two or more languages.

Biography

A detailed account of an individual’s life; a text genre that lends itself to different modes of expression and construction. In the context of intercultural language learning, the concept of biography can be considered in relation to identity, to the formation of identity over time, and to the understanding that language is involved in the shaping and expressing of identity.

Character components

Individual elements of a written character which have a separate linguistic identity.

Characters

(i) graphic symbols used in writing in some languages
(ii) assumed roles in dramatic performance

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains a subject and a predicate (verb) and expresses the complete proposition.

CLIL

Content and language integrated learning. An approach to learning content through an additional language.

Code-switching

A use of more than one language in a single utterance. For example, Papa, can you buy me a panini, please? A common feature of bilingual and multilingual language use.

Cognates

Similar or identical words which have shared origins. For example, father (English), Vater (German) and pater (Latin) have a shared origin. Gratitude (English) and gratitud (Spanish) are both derived from gratitudo (Latin). English ship and skiff share the same Germanic origin.

Cohesion

Grammatical or lexical relationships that bind different parts of a text together and give it unity. Cohesion is achieved through various devices such as connectives, ellipses and word associations. These associations include synonyms, antonyms (for example, study/laze about, ugly/beautiful), repetition (for example, work, work, work – that’s all we do!) and collocation (for example, friend and pal in, My friend did me a big favour last week. She’s been a real pal.)

Collocation

Words that typically occur in close association and in particular sequence. For example, salt and pepper rather than pepper and salt and ladies and gentlemen rather than gentlemen and ladies.

Communication

A mutual and reciprocal exchange of meaning.

Communicative competence

An acquired capability to understand and interact in context using the target language (TL). Defined by the use of appropriate phonological, lexical, grammatical, sociolinguistic and intercultural elements.

Complex sentence

A sentence with more than one clause. In the following examples, the subordinate clauses are indicated by square brackets: I took my umbrella [because it was raining]; The man [who came to dinner] is my brother.

Complexity

A degree to which language use is complex as opposed to simple. Elements of language complexity include:

Composing

A process of producing written, spoken, graphic, visual or multi-modal texts. It includes:
It also includes applying knowledge and control of language forms, features and structures required to complete the task.

Compound sentence

A sentence with two or more main clauses of equal grammatical status, usually marked by a coordinating conjunction such as or, and, but. In the following examples, the main clauses are indicated by square brackets: [Alice came home this morning] [but she didn’t stay long]. [Kim is an actor], [Pat is a teacher], [and Sam is an architect].

Comprehension strategies

Strategies and processes used by listeners, readers and viewers of text to understand and make meaning. These include:
making hypotheses based on illustrations or text layout:

• drawing on language knowledge and experience (for example, gender forms);
• listening for intonation or expression cues;
• interpreting grapho-phonic, semantic and syntactic cues.

Comprehension/comprehending

An active process of making/constructing/deciphering meaning of language input through listening, reading, viewing, touching (as in braille) and combinations of these modes. It involves different elements: decoding, working out meaning, evaluating and imagining. The process draws upon the learner’s existing knowledge and understanding, text–processing strategies and capabilities; for example, inferencing or applying knowledge of text types and social and cultural resources.

Concrete language

A language used to refer to the perceptible and material world and to particular persons, places and objects. For example, school, girl; as opposed to abstract language, used to refer to ideas or concepts removed from the material world such as peace, kindness, beauty.

Conjunction

A part of speech that signals relationships between people, things, events, ideas. For example, Sophie and her mother might come and visit, or they might stay at home. The conjunction and links the two participants, while or links alternative options.

Content

A subject matter used as a vehicle for language learning.

Context

An environment and circumstances in which a text is created or interpreted. Context can include the general social, historical and cultural conditions in which a text exists or the specific features of its immediate environment, such as participants, roles, relationships and setting. The term is also used to refer to the wording surrounding an unfamiliar word that a reader or listener uses to understand its meaning.

Convention

An accepted language or communicative practice that has developed and become established over time. For example, use of punctuation or directionality.

Create

Develop and/or produce spoken, written or multimodal texts in print or digital forms.

Cues

Sources of information used to facilitate comprehension of language, that may be visual, grammatical, gestural or contextual.

Culture

In earlier models of language teaching and learning, culture was represented as a combination of literary and historical resources, and visible, functional aspects of a community group’s way of life such as food, celebrations and folklore. While these elements of culture are parts of cultural experience and organisation, current orientations to language teaching and learning employ a less static model of culture. Culture is understood as a framework in which things come to be seen as having meaning. It involves the lens through which:

• people see, think, interpret the world and experience;
• make assumptions about self and others;
• understand and represent individual and community identity.

Culture involves understandings about ‘norms’ and expectations, which shape perspectives and attitudes. It can be defined as social practices, patterns of behaviour, and organisational processes and perspectives associated with the values, beliefs and understandings shared by members of a community or cultural group. Language, culture and identity are understood to be closely interrelated and involved in the shaping and expression of each other. The intercultural orientation to language teaching and learning is informed by this understanding.

De-centre

A capacity to step outside familiar frames of reference, to consider alternative views, experiences and perspectives and to look critically and objectively at one’s own linguistic and cultural behaviour.

Decode

A process of working out the meaning of a text. Decoding strategies involve readers/listeners/viewers drawing on contextual, lexical, alphabetic, grammatical and phonic knowledge to decipher meaning. Readers who decode effectively combine these forms of knowledge fluently and automatically, using meaning to recognise when they make an error and to self-correct.

Dialect

A variant of a language that is characteristic of a region or social group.

Diaspora

A scattered population with a common origin in a smaller geographical area.

Digital media

Various platforms via which people communicate electronically.

Digital texts

Audio, visual or multimodal texts produced through digital or electronic technology. They may be interactive and include animations or hyperlinks. Examples of digital texts include DVDs, websites and e-literature.

Digraph

Two letters that represent a single sound:

• vowel digraphs have two vowels (for example, ‘oo’, ‘ea’);
• consonant digraphs have two consonants (for example, ‘sh’, ‘th’).

Dipthongs

Two vowel sounds pronounced in a single syllable with the individual vowel sounds distinguished. (For example, hour)

Directionality

A direction in which writing/script occurs, for example, from left to right, right to left.

Encode

A process of changing spoken language into symbols of written/digital language.

Enunciation

A clear and distinct pronunciation of language.

Face

A ‘socio-dynamic’ term which concerns self-delineated worth that comes from knowing one’s status. Relates to concepts such as reputation, self-respect, honour and prestige. A key element of social relations in Chinese, Japanese and many other cultures.

Filler

A sound or word used in spoken conversation to signal a pause, hesitation or unfinished contribution. For example, I went to the station…er… then I caught a train… Frequent use of fillers characterises early stages of second language (L2) development, but proficient speakers and first language (L1) speakers also use them as an opportunity to reflect or recast.

Fluency

An ability to produce spoken or written language with appropriate phrasing, rhythm and pace. It involves the smooth flow of language, lack of hesitation or undue pausing and characterises the largely accurate use and automation of the target language.

Form-focused learning activities

Activities designed to rehearse, practise, control and demonstrate particular language structures, forms or features. For example, drills, rehearsed role plays/dialogues, games and songs, set sequences of language patterns.

Formulaic language

Words or expressions which are commonly used in fixed patterns and learned as such without grammatical analysis. For example, Once upon a time (story-starter); G’day, how are you going?(greeting in Australian English).

Framing

A way in which elements of text are arranged to create a specific interpretation of the whole.

Genre

A category used to classify text types and language use; characterised by distinguishing features such as subject matter, form, function and intended audience. Examples of genres typically used in early language learning include greetings, classroom instructions and apologies. More advanced language proficiency includes the ability to use genres such as narrative or persuasive text, creative performance and debates.

The language we use and the description of language as a system. In describing language, attention is paid to both structure (form) and meaning (function) at the level of the word, the sentence and the text.

Grapho-phonic knowledge

Knowledge of how letters in printed language relate to the sounds of the language and of how symbols (letters, characters) represent spoken language.

Homophone

A word identical in pronunciation with another but different in meaning (for example, bare and bear, air and heir).

Honorific

A grammatical form, typically a word or affix, that has at least part of its meaning the relative social status of the speaker in relation to the addressee, other participant or context. Parts of speech which signify respect, politeness and emphasize social distance or status.

Hybrid texts

Composite texts resulting from a mixing of elements from different sources or genres. For example, email, which combines the immediacy of talk and the expectation of a reply with the permanence of print.

Hypermedia

A multimedia system in which related items and forms of information, such as data, texts, graphics, video and audio, are linked and can be presented together by a hypertext program.

Hypertext

A text which contains links to other texts.

Identity

A person’s conception and expression of individuality or group affiliation, self-concept and self-representation. Identity is closely connected to both culture and language. Thinking and talking about the self is influenced by the cultural frames, which are offered by different languages and cultural systems. Identity is not fixed. Second language learners’ experience with different linguistic and cultural systems introduces them to alternative ways of considering the nature and the possibilities associated with identity.

Ideograph

A graphic character that indicates meanings without reference to the sounds used to pronounce the word.

Idiomatic expressions

A group of (more or less) fixed words having a meaning not deducible from the individual words. Idioms are typically informal expressions used by particular social groups and need to be explained as one unit (for example, I am over the moon, on thin ice, a fish out of water, fed up to the back teeth).

Indicative hours

An indication for the purposes of curriculum development of the assumption about learning time on task.

Infinitive

A base form of a verb.

Input

Direct contact with and experience of the target language; the stimulus required for language acquisition and learning. Input can take multiple forms and be received through different modes.

Intensifiers

Words that are usually used with adjectives to emphasise their meaning and are expressed by means of an adverb (for example, very interesting, awfully boring)

Intercultural capability

An ability to understand and to engage in the relationship between language, culture and people from diverse backgrounds and experience. This involves understanding the dynamic and interdependent nature of both language and culture, that communicating and interacting in different languages involves interacting with values, beliefs and experiences as well as with words and grammars. An intercultural capability involves being open to different perspectives, being flexible and curious, responsive and reflective; being able to decentre, to look objectively at one’s own cultural ways of thinking and behaving, and at how these affect attitudes to others, shade assumptions and shape behaviours. Characteristics of an intercultural capability include cognitive and communicative flexibility and an orientation and ability to act in ways that are inclusive and ethical in relation to diversity and difference.

Intercultural language teaching and learning

An orientation to language teaching and learning that informs current curriculum design; framed by the understanding that language and culture are dynamic, interconnected systems of meaning-making; that proficiency in an additional language involves cultural and intercultural as well as linguistic capabilities. The focus is on developing communicative proficiency and on moving between language–culture systems. It includes the reflexive and reciprocal dimension of attention to learners’ own language(s) and cultural frame(s).

Interpret

In the context of L2 learning, interpret refers to two distinct processes:

• the act of translation from one language to another;
• the process of understanding and explaining; the ability to conceive significance and construct meaning, and to explain to self or others.

Intonation

A key component of communication, involving patterns of pitch and melody of spoken language that can be used like punctuation; for example, to express surprise or suggest a question, to shade, accentuate or diminish emphasis or meaning, and to regulate turn-taking in conversations.

Language

A human cognitive and communicative capability which makes it possible to communicate, to create and comprehend meaning, to build and sustain relationships, to represent and shape knowledge, and to imagine, analyse, express and evaluate.

Language is described and employed:

• as code – comprising systems, rules, a fixed body of knowledge; for example, grammar and vocabulary, sound and writing systems
  as social practice – used to do things, create relationships, interact with others, represent the world and the self; to organise social systems and practices in dynamic, variable, and changing ways;
• as cultural and intercultural practice – means by which communities construct and express their experience, values, beliefs and aspirations;
• as cognitive process – means by which ideas are shaped, knowledge is constructed, and analysis and reflection are structured.

Language comprehension

A process of interpreting meaning from spoken, written, tactile and multimodal representations of language.

Language features

Features of language that support meaning; for example, sentence structure, noun group/phrase, vocabulary, punctuation, figurative language. Choices in language features and text structures together define a type of text and shape its meaning. These choices vary according to the purpose of a text, its subject matter, audience and mode or medium of production.

Language functions

Varied ways in which language is used to achieve particular purposes; for example, to persuade, to entertain, to apologise, to argue and/or to compliment.

Language patterns

Identifiable repeated or corresponding elements in a text. These include patterns of repetition or similarity, such as the repetition of imperative verb forms at the beginning of each step in a recipe, or the repetition of a chorus after each verse in a song. Patterns may alternate, as in the call and response pattern of some games, or the to-and-fro of a dialogue. Patterns may also contrast, as in opposing viewpoints in a discussion or contrasting patterns of imagery in a poem.

Language specificity

Distinguishing features of a particular language. These include lexico-grammatical and textual features, writing system(s), phonetic systems, and cultural elements which influence language use such as:

• politeness or kinship protocols;
• the nature of language communities which use the language;
• the historical and/or current relationship of a language with education in Australia;
• features of its ‘learnability’ in terms of teaching and learning in the context of Australian schooling.

Language systems

Elements that organise how a language works, including the systems of signs and rules (phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic) that underpin language use. These systems have to be internalised for effective communication and comprehension.

Learning trajectory

A conceptualised developmental sequence of learning, including learning goals, learning activities, knowledge and skills to be developed at progressive levels.

Level statements

Descriptions in broad terms of the developmental characteristics of students and their language learning at particular phases along the Foundation–Year 12 continuum.

Lexical cohesion

A use of word associations to create links in texts. Links can be made through the use of repetition of words, synonyms, antonyms and words that are related, such as by class and subclass.

Literacy resources

Individual resources and capabilities which learners bring to their learning experience; these include text knowledge, grammatical and vocabulary knowledge, knowledge of phonetic and writing systems. They also include critical, reflective and intercultural capabilities that support new literacy experience in a different language.

Macro skills

Four major language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Media texts

Spoken, print, graphic, or electronic communications created for a public audience. They often involve numerous people in their construction and are usually shaped by the technology used in their production. Media texts studied in different languages can be found in newspapers, magazines and on television, film, radio, computer software and the internet.

Mediate

To move between different linguistic and cultural systems, referencing own first language(s)/culture(s) while learning to use and to understand those of the target language. This movement involves:

• noticing, interpreting, responding sensitively and flexibly;
• conveying culturally-shaped ideas, values, experience to others;
• exploring how ideas and experiences are represented and conveyed in different languages and cultures;
• considering similarities, overlaps, collisions and adjustments;
• developing the capacity to communicate and represent different perspectives and interpretations.

Mediating operates in two distinctive ways:

• in practices such as interpreting and translating, with attention to what can happen in these processes in terms of ‘losing’ or ‘gaining’ meaning;
• as the element of the learning experience, which involves noticing, responding, comparing and explaining differences in expression and perspective.

Medium

Resources used in the production and transmission of texts, including tools and materials used (for example, digital text and the computer, writing and the pen or the keyboard).

Metalanguage

A vocabulary used to discuss language conventions and use ( for example, language used to talk about grammatical terms such as sentence, clause, conjunction; or about the social and cultural nature of language, such as face, reciprocating, register.)

Mnemonic

Memorising information by use of an aid such as a pattern, rhyme, acronym, visual image.

Modal verb

A verb attached to another verb to express a degree of probability (for example, I might come home) or a degree of obligation (for example, You must give it to me,You are to leave now).

Mode

Various processes of communication: listening, speaking, reading/viewing, signing and writing/creating. Modes are also used to refer to the semiotic (meaning making) resources associated with these communicative processes, such as sound, print, image and gesture.

Morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language. Morphemes are not necessarily the same as either words or syllables. The word cat has one morpheme while the word cats has two morphemes: cat for the animal and s to indicate that there is more than one. Similarly, like has one morpheme while dislike has two: like to describe appreciation and dis to indicate the opposite. The process of identifying morphemes assists comprehension, vocabulary building and spelling.

Morphology

Principles of word formation and inflection, especially with respect to constituent morphemes.

Multimodal text

A text which involves two or more communication modes; for example, the combining of print, image and spoken text in film or computer presentations.

Narrative

A story of events or experiences, real or imagined.

Narrative devices

Techniques used to help in the narrating of a story or reported event. For example, imagery, metaphor, allusion.

Neologism

A new word is created, for example, Smartphone, modem, AIDS or an existing word is used in a new way, for example, deadly.

Noun

A part of speech that includes all words denoting physical objects such as man, woman, boy, girl, car,window. These are concrete nouns. Abstract nouns express intangibles, such as democracy, courage,success, idea.

Oracy

An ability to express oneself in and to understand spoken language; it includes oral and aural proficiency.

Orthography

Writing words with correct letters or characters according to common usage.

Paralanguage

Additional elements of spoken communication which are integrated with vocal (voice) and verbal (words) elements, and contribute significantly to communication and meaning-making. For example, voice quality, volume and pacing, facial expressions, gestures, posture and body movement.

Paralinguistics

A study of paralanguage elements of expression.

Pedagogy

A combination of conceptual knowledge, practical skills and reflective capabilities which constitute the ‘art and science’ of teaching.

Performance

A use of the language in real situations, putting language knowledge into practice; it involves accuracy, fluency and complexity.

Phoneme

The smallest meaningful unit in the sound system of a language. For example, the word is has two phonemes: /i/ and /s/; ship has three phonemes: /sh/, /i/, /p/. A phoneme usually has several manifestations dependent on varying phonological contexts. For example, the p in pin and spin differs slightly in pronunciation but is regarded as being the same phoneme; that is, as having the same functional meaning within each word.

Phonics

A relationship between letters or characters and the sounds they make when pronounced. L2 learning involves developing phonic awareness and proficiency.

Phonological awareness

Understanding that every spoken word is composed of small units of sound, identifying relationships between letters and sounds when listening, reading and spelling. It includes understandings about words, rhyme and syllables.

Pragmatics

A study of how context affects communication; for example, in relation to the status of participants, the situation in which the communication is happening, or the intention of the speaker.

Prediction

An informed presumption about something that might happen. Predicting at text level can include working out what a text might contain by looking at the cover, or working out what might happen next in a narrative. Predicting at sentence level includes identifying what word is likely to come next in a sentence.

Prefix

A meaningful element (morpheme) added before the main part of a word to change its meaning. For example, unhappy.

Preposition

A part of speech that precede a noun, noun phrase phrase or pronoun, thereby describing relationships in a sentence in respect to:

• space/direction (below, in, on, to, under ‒ for example, she sat on the table);
• time (after, before, since ‒ for example, Í will go to the beach after lunch);
• those that do not relate to space or time (of, besides, except, despite ‒ for example, he ate all the beans except the purple ones).

Prepositions usually combine with a noun group or phrase to form a prepositional phrase. For example, in the office, besides these two articles.

Productive language use

One of the two aspects of communication through language (see receptive language) involving the ability to express, articulate and produce utterances or texts in the target language.

Pronoun

A part of speech that refers to nouns, or substituting for them, within and across sentences. For example, Ahmad chose a chocolate cake. He ate it that evening (where he and it are personal pronouns; and that is a demonstrative pronoun).

Pronunciation

A manner in which a syllable is uttered.

Prosody

Patterns of rhythm, tempo, stress, pitch and intonation used in language; for example, in poetry or public speaking.

Proxemics

A use of space, posture and touch as elements of non-verbal communication.

Purposeful learning

Learning which results from authentic language experiences that involve real purpose and achievable outcomes.

Question

A commonly employed prompt to elicit language use. A key element of scaffolding to support learners’ use of language and to encourage further contributions. Different types of questions provide different prompts:

• closed questions are questions for which there are predictable answers. For example, What time is it? These are typically used as prompts for short answers, as a framework for testing comprehension or reviewing facts, and for routinized interactions. They are frequently used to scaffold early language development;
• open questions are questions with unknown and unpredictable answers that invite and support more elaborated and extended contributions from learners. For example, How do you feel about that?What do you think might happen next? They are used as stimulus to discussion, reflection and investigation.

Questions are an important element of intercultural language teaching and learning. The quality of questions determines the quality and substance of the learning experience. Effective questions relating to the nature of language, culture and identity and the processes involved in language learning and intercultural experience guide the processes of investigating, interpreting and reflecting which support new understanding and knowledge development.

Read

Process visual or tactile symbols (for example, braille), words or actions in order to derive and/or construct meaning. Reading includes elements of decoding (of sounds and symbols), interpreting, critically analysing and reflecting upon meaning in a wide range of written, visual, print and non-print texts.

Receptive language

One of the two components of communication through language (see productive language): the ‘receiving’ aspect of language input, the gathering of information and making of meaning via listening, reading, viewing processes.

Reciprocating

An integrating element of intercultural communication that involves movement and relationship, interpreting and creating meaning, and understanding the process of doing so. It involves not only the exchange of words but also an exchange of understanding between the people involved. It comes into play when the learner ‘self’ encounters and interacts with the ‘other’ (the target language speaker, the target language itself as text or experience); when the existing language code and cultural frame encounters a different code and frame. This experience impacts on the learner’s perspective and sense of identity and on their usual ways of communicating. Reciprocating involves conscious attention to the process: attention to the self (intraculturality) and to the likely impact of the self on the other person involved (interculturality). Things previously taken for granted are noticed in reference to new or different ways. Key elements of reciprocating include conscious attention, comparison, reflection and analysis:

• recognition that both partners in an exchange are involved in the ‘effort of meaning’;
• willingness to work out what the other person means, the cultural and social context they are speaking from and the perspectives, which frame what they are saying;
• making necessary adjustments to own and each other’s input, orientation and stance that will help the exchange to be successful.

Register

A variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular situation, the variation being defined by use as well as user. For example, informal register or academic register.

Romanisation

A transcription from a differently scripted language, such as Chinese or Japanese, into the Latin alphabet.

Root of a word

A word/word element that cannot be reduced to a smaller unit and from which other words are formed. For example, plant in replanting.

Scaffolding

Support provided to assist the learning process or to complete a learning task. Scaffolded language support involves using the target language at a level slightly beyond learners’ current level of performance, and involves incremental increasing and decreasing of assistance. Task support provides assistance to perform just beyond what learners can currently do unassisted, to progress to being able to do it independently. Scaffolding includes modelling and structuring input in ways that provide additional cues or interactive questioning to activate existing knowledge, probe existing conceptions or cue noticing and reflecting.

Scanning

A text processing strategy adopted to search for specific words, ideas or information in a text without reading every word. For example, looking for a word in the dictionary or a name in a phone directory. Scanning involves moving the eyes quickly down the text looking for specific words and phrases to gain a quick overall impression/to get the gist.

Script

A writing system in which characters or symbols represent components of language (letters, syllables, words).

Semantic knowledge

Knowledge gained at a meaning rather than a decoding level. This involves understanding the relationship between signifiers (words, phrases, symbols, signs) and the meanings they represent. Semantic information is supported through reference to prior knowledge, cultural connotations and contextual considerations.

Skimming

A text processing strategy aimed at gaining information quickly without focusing on every word.

Speak

Convey meaning and communicate with purpose. Some students participate in speaking activities using communication systems and assistive technologies to communicate wants, and needs, and to comment about the world

Stereotype

A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Stress

An emphasis in pronunciation that is placed on a particular syllable of a word; for example, she will conduct the orchestra; her conduct is exemplary.

Suffix

A meaningful element added after the root of a word to change its meaning (for example, to show its tense : –ed in passed. Common suffixes in English include –ing; –ed; ness; –less; –able).

Synchronous

Occurring or existing at the same time.

Syntax

An ordering of sentence elements such as words, group/phrases and clauses. In some education settings, the terms syntax and grammar are used interchangeably.

Talk

Convey meaning and communicate with purpose. Some students participate in speaking activities using communication systems and assistive technologies to communicate wants, and needs, and to comment about the world

Task

An integrated experience and use of language, set in a context, accomplishing a purpose, focused on meaning. A task provides an organising structure and context for meaning-focused language learning. Unlike form-focused language activities and exercises, task-based learning involves the achievement of a goal or authentic outcome. Learners draw from existing language resources and seek out unfamiliar resources as needed to complete the task. Scaffolding is provided by the teacher via the task cycle, which includes form-focused teaching. Examples of tasks: researching an issue, sharing ideas and then categorising and presenting results; planning and having a picnic; designing and publishing an online newsletter.

Task-based language learning (TBLL)

An orientation to language teaching and learning, which focuses on the use of the language in meaningful and ‘life-like’ tasks and activities. The completion of the task is not an end in itself, as tasks are part of the overall learning and using of the language, providing a context and purpose for developing language competence and a means of assessing and evaluating learning outcomes. Learners work independently and/or collaboratively, draw on existing language resources, generate solutions to communicative problems, seek out additional or new language and other resources needed to complete the task. Focused language work, such as grammar knowledge, vocabulary building, social and cultural competence, is integrated with task preparation and completion processes. Tasks provide opportunities to integrate the four modes of language use, to develop fluency, complexity and problem-solving capacity, as well as including work on accuracy and focus on form. A task has limits as a one-off learning event, but is used as a meaningful component of learners’ overall learning progression.

Text

An identified stretch of language, used as a means for communication or the focus of learning and investigation. Text forms and conventions have developed to support communication with a variety of audiences for a range of purposes. Texts can be written, spoken or multimodal and in print or digital/online forms. Multimodal texts combine language with other systems for communication, such as print text, visual images, soundtrack and spoken word, as in film or computer presentation media.

Text processing strategies

Strategies learners use to decode and understand text. These involve drawing on contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge in systematic ways to work out what a text says. They include predicting, recognising words and working out unknown words, monitoring comprehension, identifying and correcting errors, reading on and re-reading.

Text structure

Ways in which information is organised in different types of texts (for example, chapter headings, subheadings, tables of contents, indexes and glossaries, overviews, introductory and concluding paragraphs, sequencing, topic sentences, taxonomies, cause and effect). Choices in text structures and language features together define a text type and shape its meaning. Different languages/cultures structure texts differently in many instances.

Text types (genres)

Categories of text, classified according to the particular purposes they are designed to achieve, which influence the features the texts employ. For example, texts may be imaginative, informative or persuasive; or can belong to more than one category. Text types vary significantly in terms of structure and language features across different languages and cultural contexts. For example, a business letter in French will be more elaborated than a similar text in English; a request or an offer of hospitality will be differently expressed in Japanese or German.

Textual features/conventions

Structural components and elements that combine to construct meaning and achieve purpose, and are recognisable as characterising particular text types (see language features).

Tone

A use of pitch and contour in spoken language to nuance words and, in some languages, to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning. In Chinese, for example, the tones are distinguished by their pitch range (register), duration and contour (shape). All Chinese syllables have a set tone, which distinguishes it and its meaning from another syllable. However, in certain environments tones can change or be modified, while in rapid spoken Chinese a great many unstressed syllables carry no tone at all.

Translation

A process of translating words/text from one language into another, recognising that the process involves movement of meanings and attention to cultural context as well as the transposition of individual words.

Transliteration

Writing a letter or word using the closest corresponding letter or word from a different language or alphabet.

Verb

A part of speech which expresses existence, action, state or occurrence. For example, they watch football; she is exhausted; the day finally came.

auxiliary verb – a verb that combines with another verb in a verb phrase to form tense, mood, voice or condition. For example, they will go, I did eat lunch, she might fail the exam.

Word borrowing

A practice of incorporating words from one language into another. For example, the use of Italian words such as pianissimo, cannelloni in English and the use of English ICT terms in many languages. The increasing frequency of word-borrowing between languages reflects intercultural contact, contemporary cultural shifts and practices in a globalised world, issues of ease of communication and efficiency and technological specialisation.

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learner, the pathway and particular language

Languages studied in the Second Language Learner Pathway (L2) are typically languages used in spoken form as the language of everyday communication by whole communities across all generations.

The second language learner pathway has been written on the assumption that learning will occur off-Country involving students who are typically not from the language community and have little or no experience of the language and culture. They are introduced to learning the language at school as an additional, new language.

The language chosen for curriculum development should have a sizeable set of resources in a variety of media, such as local documentaries, bilingual narrative and descriptive texts, and educational materials in print and digital form. Learning is enriched and authenticated by interaction with visiting Elders and community speakers, and where possible visits to Country/Place. Information and communications technologies provide additional resources to support a range of language and culture experiences.

The curriculum content and achievement standards in the Second Language Learner Pathway are generalised in order to cater for the range of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander languages that may be learnt as a second language. The content descriptions, content elaborations and achievement standards for the Second Language Learner pathway will need to be adapted for use with the particular language being taught and will need to be modified if the program occurs on-Country or if the learners are from the language community.

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy acquisition. For young students at this level, learning typically focuses on the immediate world of their family, home, school, friends and local environment. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school.

Language learning and use

The language is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy development. Learning in the two languages progresses at very different levels but each supports and enriches the other.

The language is used in classroom interactions, routines and activities and is supported by the use of visual and concrete materials, gestures and body language. At this stage, there is a focus on play and imaginative activities, games, music, movement and familiar routines, which provide scaffolding and context for language development.

Oral language is developed through listening to the sounds, shapes and patterns of the language, through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games and through imitating and repeating sounds in aural texts as modelled by the teaching team, visiting Elders and community speakers.

Learners experiment with simple formulaic expressions and with one- or two-word responses and single-idea phrases to prompts and cues. As they progress to using language for interactions such as greetings, asking for help, talking about self, friends and family, or asking and answering questions, they notice that the language behaves differently in different situations and that speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using language for purposeful interaction.

Students learn about Country/Place and community by interacting with visiting Elders and community speakers when possible, and by engaging with stories and songs and other texts such as videos, maps and pictures. They learn about the concepts of kin and social groupings, and how these are symbolised in the natural environment.

Students learn to use appropriate respect terms and to demonstrate respectful and appropriate behaviour when interacting with Elders, community speakers and community texts.

Learners will recognise the same alphabet they are learning for writing English. They write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to read and write words and sentences independently using modelled language, for example, matching pictures with single words, labels and captions. The use of repetition and recycling in instruction helps children to identify high-frequency words and simple phrases and to recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts.

They begin to understand how the language works, to compare it with English and to understand its place in relation to regional and national language diversity.

Contexts of interaction

Across Foundation to Year 2, learning occurs largely through interaction with peers and the teaching team, supplemented by some access to visiting Elders and community speakers. Information and communications technologies (ICT) resources provide additional access to language and culture experience.

Texts and resources

Children engage with a variety of spoken, visual, written and digital texts, which are short, clearly structured and supported by visuals and paralinguistic devices, for example, tone of voice, facial expression, gesture, with much repetition and recycling of structures and vocabulary. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in with song, dance, story and rap, and various forms of play, performance, conversational exchanges and activities mediated by language. Print and digital texts include stories, shared Big Books, songs, visual designs, photos, videos, environmental maps and wall charts and teacher-generated materials such as games, flashcards and items from both the local community and the target language community.

Level of support

Learning is supported through the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing learned language, and continuous cueing, feedback, response and encouragement.

The role of languages

Learners are encouraged to use the language being learnt whenever possible in class interactions and daily routines with the teaching team, visiting Elders and community speakers. Using English for explanation and discussion allows learners to talk about differences and similarities they notice between the language and their first language(s) and culture(s), to ask questions about language and culture, to consider how they feel when they hear or use the language and to talk about how they view different languages and the people who speak them. This introduction to the ‘meta’ dimension of intercultural learning develops the ability to consider different perspectives and ways of being as mediated by language.

Socialising

Interact with each other, the teaching team and visiting Elders/community speakers using simple language and gestures for greeting and farewelling, talking about self and family
[Key concepts: self, family, relationships; Key processes: interacting, sharing, listening]

Participate in guided group activities such as games, songs and simple tasks, using movement and gestures to support understanding and to convey meaning
[Key concepts: cooperation, play; Key processes: turn-taking, matching, choosing, cooperating, following instructions]

Interact in classroom routines and respond to teacher instructions
[Key concepts: routine, instruction; Key processes: participating, responding, following instructions]

Informing

Locate specific words and familiar phrases in texts such as charts, lists, photos, maps, and use information to complete guided oral and written tasks
[Key concepts: natural and built environment, community life, Indigenous knowledge; Key processes: identifying, selecting, sorting, matching, labelling, mapping Country/Place]

Give factual information using simple statements and descriptions, gestures, and captions
[Key concepts: Country/Place, community life; Key processes: labelling, describing, presenting, recounting]

Creating

Participate in shared listening to, viewing and reading of texts and respond through singing, reciting, miming, play-acting, drawing, action and movement
[Key concepts: storytelling, response; Key processes: responding, performing, sharing, expressing; Key text types: songs, raps, dances, traditional and contemporary stories, paintings, visual design and video clips.

Create and present shared stories, songs and performances using familiar words and patterns and support materials
[Key concepts: story, performance; Key processes: retelling, singing, re-enacting, dancing, drawing, performing; Key text types: songs, dance, stories, paintings and visual design, performances]

Translating

Translate frequently used words and phrases using visual cues and resources such as word lists
[Key concepts: translation, similarity, difference, meaning; Key processes: noticing, identifying, translating]

Create simple oral, print or multimodal bilingual texts for the classroom environment, such as captions, labels and wall charts
[Key concepts: meaning, bilingualism; Key processes: labelling, captioning, displaying, matching]

Identity

Describe aspects of self, such as family, school/class and language/s spoken, noticing how these different elements contribute to one’s identity
[Key concepts: identity, self, family, belonging; Key processes: describing, explaining, identifying]

Reflecting

Notice what is similar or different to their own language and cultural expression when interacting with songs, stories, games, pictures and artistic expression from the target language and culture
[Key concepts: language, culture, similarity, difference, respect; Key processes: noticing, comparing, responding, reflecting]

Systems of language

Notice and imitate characteristic sounds, intonation patterns and rhythms of the target language(s) and how these relate to the written language
[Key concepts: pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, writing; Key processes: imitating, noticing, distinguishing, reading aloud]

Notice types of words in the target language and understand and use some elements of the target language structure
[Key concepts: word function, word order, variation, patterns, rules; Key processes: identifying, recognising, noticing]

Recognise there are many ways of communicating messages in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages
[Key concepts: communication, narrative; Key processes: recognising, identifying]

Identify elements of the kinship system and its role in linking story and natural species and phenomena
[Key concepts: kinship, totemic relationships, place, cultural practices; Key processes: identifying, recognising]

Language variation and change

Recognise that different words and language forms are used to address and communicate with people according to relationship and context
[Key concepts: kinship, context, relationship; Key processes: noticing, recognising]

Recognise that languages borrow words from each other
[Key concepts: relatedness, word borrowing; Key processes: identifying, recognising, comparing]

Language awareness

Identify the region of the target language and notice how it is part of the broader regional and national language diversity
[Key concepts: linguistic diversity, language revival; Key processes: identifying, recognising]

Understand that language belongs to communities and that language learning requires the application of respectful and appropriate behaviour
[Key concepts: ownership, belonging, respect; Key processes: demonstrating, applying]

Role of language and culture

Notice that people use language in ways that reflect their culture, such as where and how they live and what is important to them
[Key concepts: Country/Place, Language, Culture, symbol; Key processes: noticing, recognising, questioning, making connections]

Role of language building

Recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are transmitted from generation to generation
[Key concept: oral transmission; Key processes: noticing, recognising, considering, valuing]

The achievement standards for the Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages Second Language Learner Pathway are generalised in order to cater for the range of languages that may be learnt as an L2 in the school context. The achievement standards will need to be adapted for specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teaching team, visiting Elders and community members to talk about themselves, family, friends and immediate environment using familiar language supported by gestures. When interacting with Elders and community speakers, they use appropriate forms of address and terms of respect. They use movement, gestures and rehearsed language to participate in guided group activities, such as adapting and performing action songs. They interact in familiar classroom routines by responding to requests, following instructions and using routine classroom language, for example, to request classroom objects. Students listen to, read, view and comprehend texts that are short, clearly structured and supported by visuals and paralinguistic elements, for example, tone of voice, facial…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with varying degrees of early literacy capability in Arabic and/or English. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people in settings outside the home, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school.

Arabic language learning and use

Arabic is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy. While the learning of Arabic differs from the learning of English, each supports and enriches the other. Arabic is used at home and in familiar Arabic-speaking settings, and in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of materials and resources, gestures and body language. At this stage, there is a focus on play, imaginative activities, games, music, dance and familiar routines, which provide scaffolding for language development. Repetition and consolidation help learners to identify familiar and new words and simple phrases, and to recognise the purpose of simple texts. Learners use Arabic for functions such as greeting (مرحبا؛ صباح الخير), sharing information ( هذه أختي لينا؛ عمري ست سنوات ), responding to instructions ( نعم؛ أنا هنا؛ حاضر ), and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks. The transition from spoken to written language is scaffolded via shared exploration of simple texts and language features. Learners use a variety of cues, including images, context and frequently used word patterns, to comprehend texts and communicate.

Contexts of interaction

The primary contexts for interaction in Arabic are the immediate environment of home and the classroom. Learners use Arabic to interact with each other and the teacher within the learning environment at school and with immediate family members at home. The use of information and communications technologies (ICT) enriches the learning of Arabic language and culture by providing alternative experiences, a range of resources, and opportunities to access authentic language in different contexts.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, written and visual texts, such as children’s songs and nursery rhymes, stories from Big Books and interactive resources. Writing skills progress from identifying the alphabet to tracing, labelling and copying letters, and then to constructing simple, short texts using familiar vocabulary.

Features of Arabic language use

Learners become familiar with how the sounds of the Arabic language are represented in letters and words. They practise pronunciation and intonation through activities such as reciting rhymes and poems and singing songs, and experiment with sounds, short and long vowels, phonemes, words, simple phrases and sentences relating to pictures, objects and actions, for example, طاولة صغيرة . They learn to recognise the letters of the Arabic alphabet, including new sounds, for example,خ؛ ع؛غ؛ ق؛ ص؛ ض؛ ط؛ ظ , and the way letters are joined to make words, for example, طار؛ طير؛ ذهب, and make comparisons with the English alphabet. They write letters, words and simple sentences using familiar vocabulary, prelearnt language features and structures, and formulaic expressions, for example, كان يا ما كان. They begin to recognise how language use changes according to the speakers and context.

Level of support

The classroom is a new context of communication where learners rely on the teacher to assist their learning. Learning experiences are supported by the teacher through scaffolding, modelling, cueing, monitoring, feedback and encouragement. Multiple and varied sources of input and stimulus are used, including visual cues, such as the use of gestures, and resources, for example, bilingual Big Books and picture books, subtitled cartoons and video programs, and realia, objects, maps and charts.

The role of English

Arabic is used as the medium for class interaction and to demonstrate and model new language acquisition. English may be used to explain features of language and aspects of culture. Both English and Arabic may be used when learners are communicating about similarities and differences between Arabic and other languages and cultures and reflecting on how they talk and behave in Arabic-speaking and English-speaking contexts.

The place of the Arabic culture and language in Australia and in the world

Arabic is spoken by approximately 280 million people in 22 countries over two continents. It is the official language of the Arab world, which includes countries of the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region, and is one of the official languages of the United Nations. The Arabic-speaking world has a long history, and the Arabic language has evolved and flourished over time, as evidenced by the richness of its literature. Arabic is comprised of a number of dialects that reflect the cultural diversity of Arabic-speaking countries, regions and communities.

Since the end of the nineteenth century, large communities of Arabic speakers have migrated to countries such as the United States, Europe and Australia. More than 370,000 Australians are of Arab descent, living predominantly in Sydney and Melbourne. Australia has strong relationships with countries in the Middle East, North Africa, the Gulf and the wider Arabic-speaking world through family ties, trade and education.

Arabic-speaking communities in Australia comprise diverse groups, differing in ancestral origins, religious backgrounds and histories. They hold a heritage that shares common linguistic and cultural traditions, and these are the ties that bind. Arabic language and culture represent an important part of the linguistic and cultural diversity of Australia. The Arabic-speaking community has made and continues to make a significant contribution to the development and enrichment of Australian society, in areas such as commerce, agriculture, industry, health, education, journalism, hospitality, tourism and international relations.

The place of the Arabic language in Australian education

The study of Arabic provides background students with the opportunity to connect with their family heritage and to communicate with speakers of Arabic in Australia and around the world. Following the early settlement of Arabic speakers in Australia, the teaching of Arabic was established for children of Arabic-speaking migrants in after-hours school settings. Since the 1980s, Arabic has been taught in primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions across Australia as well as in after-hours schools run by community organisations. This reflected the growing Arabic-speaking community in Australia, as well as government policies of the time supporting multiculturalism. The demand for Arabic language education in Australia has increased due to the geopolitical importance of the Arabic-speaking world and greater awareness of business opportunities.

The nature of Arabic language learning

Arabic is a Semitic language, and shares linguistic and phonological similarities with other Semitic languages such as Syriac, Aramaic and Hebrew. Classical Arabic and its successor, Modern Standard Arabic, have been and continue to be the language of religious texts as well as the basis for a rich heritage of classical poetry and literary prose. Today, speakers of Arabic come from a variety of social, cultural and religious backgrounds. Their views, cultures and beliefs are manifested in the language they use formally and informally in every aspect of their private lives and public affairs. Language is an inseparable part of their identity and the way they view themselves and the world around them.

The Arabic language has two forms: Modern Standard Arabic ( اللغة العربية الفصحى ) and colloquial Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic is the official language taught worldwide and used in formal situations, such as at school and university and in mosques, churches and official media. Colloquial Arabic is used in everyday situations, such as at home and in the marketplace, the street, restaurants, cafés, and popular and social media. Modern Standard Arabic is common to all countries of the Arabic-speaking world, while colloquial Arabic varies according to geographical location. For example, two individuals from Iraq and Morocco speaking in dialects would not easily understand each other unless they injected elements of Modern Standard Arabic into the conversation.

Arabic is a scripted language and is written from right to left. There are 28 letters, which are all consonants with short and long vowels. These vowels are represented in the forms of letters and marks called diacritic symbols which identify how words and letters are pronounced. Arabic is a highly inflectional language, with words formed according to a root system. Various vowels, prefixes and suffixes are used with root letters to create the desired inflection of meaning.

The diversity of learners of Arabic

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Arabic is pitched to background language learners, the dominant cohort of learners in the Australian context.

The background language learner pathway has been developed for students who have exposure to Arabic language and culture, and who may engage in active but predominantly receptive use of Arabic at home. The range of learners within the Arabic background language learner pathway is diverse, defined for the most part by different waves of migration, and their use of Arabic may extend beyond the home to everyday interactions with Arabic-speaking friends and involvement in community organisations and events. Other learners may have been born in an Arabic-speaking country, where they may have completed some education.

A key dimension of the Australian Curriculum: Languages – Arabic involves understanding the interrelationship between language and culture. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language learning orientation to enable students to participate meaningfully in language and cultural experiences, to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world from a bilingual perspective, and to understand more about themselves in the process.

Socialising

Initiate interactions with peers and the teacher by asking and responding to questions and exchanging information about self and family, friends and school
[Key concepts: personal world, place, belonging; Key processes: introducing, exchanging, expressing preferences]

Engage in guided group activities and transactions such as playing games, role-playing, singing and dancing, and communicate ideas, using movement, gestures and pictures to support meaning
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning; Key processes: active listening, speaking, giving and following instructions]

Participate in classroom activities and routines, such as opening and closing of lessons, responding to instructions and taking turns
[Key concepts: roles, routines; Key processes: listening, speaking, cooperating, following instructions, taking turns]

Informing

Locate and organise information from simple spoken, written and visual texts to identify details about people and objects
[Key concepts: meaning, context; Key processes: listening, reading, locating, categorising]

Share information obtained from different sources, including online and digital sources, by listing, tabulating or sequencing information and using illustrations and gestures to support meaning
[Key concepts: self, family, school; Key processes: describing, showing, presenting]

Creating

Listen to, view and read to simple imaginative texts, including digital and multimodal texts, and respond by making simple statements about favourite elements and through action, mime, dance, drawing and other forms of expression
[Key concepts: imagination, response, character; Key processes: participating, acting, listening, reading]

Create own representations of people or events in imaginative texts using familiar words, illustrations, actions and other verbal and non-verbal forms of expression
[Key concepts: performance, expression; Key processes: experimenting, drawing, captioning, labelling]

Translating

Translate familiar Arabic and English words, phrases and expressions, using visual cues and word lists, and explain the meaning of particular words and verbal and non-verbal expressions
[Key concepts: meaning, expression; Key processes: noticing, matching, translating]

Create simple print or digital bilingual texts in Arabic and English, such as word lists, labels and captions, for their class, school and family
[Key concepts: representation, equivalence; Key processes: naming, labelling, displaying]

Reflecting

Describe the experience of using Arabic at home and at school, such as how it feels and the particular behaviours they associate with speaking Arabic
[Key concepts: self, identity, belonging; Key processes: identifying, comparing]

Identify themselves as members of different groups, including the Arabic class, the school, and their family and community, describing their roles within these different groups
[Key concepts: membership, roles, belonging; Key processes: recognising, describing, connecting]

Systems of language

Recognise the letters and sounds of the Arabic alphabet and identify how letters are modified so they can be joined to form words
[Key concepts: phonic awareness, script, directionality (writing right to left); Key processes: recognising, distinguishing, listening]

Recognise parts of speech and frequently used words in familiar contexts, and understand the basic rules of word order in simple sentences, such as the role of verbs in a sentence; the masculine and feminine forms of nouns, verbs and adjectives; and simple possessive forms
[Key concepts: word order, gender variation; Key processes: noticing, selecting]

Recognise that language is organised as text, and that texts such as songs, stories and labels have different features
[Key concepts: textual features, form; Key processes: recognising, identifying]

Language variation and change

Recognise that there are variations in the language used by Arabic speakers in different situations, such as at home with family, and that the language used varies between different Arabic speakers
[Key concept: variation based on gender, age and context; Key processes: noticing, comparing, understanding]

Recognise that Australia has speakers of many different languages, including Arabic, and that languages borrow words from one another
[Key concepts: place, word-borrowing; Key processes: noticing, selecting]

Role of language and culture

Understand that the languages people use and the way they use them relate to who they are, where and how they live and what is important to them
[Key concepts: language, culture and identity; Key processes: noticing, understanding, making connections]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teacher and peers to exchange information about themselves, their family and friends, for example, إسمي هاني؛ أنا ليلى؛ عمري ست سنوات؛ أمي سميرة؛ أبي خالد؛ عندي أخ وأخت؛ صديقي رامي؛ صديقتي رنا , and initiate interactions by asking and responding to questions. They use repetitive language when participating in shared activities and transactions and responding to classroom instructions. When speaking, they use the sounds of the Arabic language, for example, حروف مثل خ؛ ح؛ ط؛ ظ؛ ص؛ ض؛ ع؛ غ؛ ق . They locate information about people, places and objects in simple texts, and share information in different formats, using illustrations and gestures to support meaning, for example, ما اسمك أين تسكن؛ كيف حالك؟ هل عندك أصدقاء؟ كم أخت عندك؟ ماذا يعمل أبوك؟ ما اسم مدرستك؟ من هي معلمتك؟ هل تحب المدرسة؟ . They make simple statements about favourite elements in response to imaginative experiences, and create own representations of imagined characters and events, using illustrations, familiar language and non-verbal forms of expression. Students identify specific parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs and adjectives, in spoken and written…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically, they have little to no experience of Chinese language and culture.

Chinese language learning and use

The systems of writing and speaking in Chinese are distinct. The sights and sounds of Chinese are also quite distinct from English. Students therefore are immersed as much as possible in the sounds and spoken words of Chinese, the meaning of which is made clear through participation in active listening and action-related talk, gestures, dramatisation and games. Students are introduced to common characters associated with routines and their immediate experience, and draw on explicit models to communicate.

Contexts of interaction

Students socialise in structured situations and activities in the classroom and at school, with a focus on topics such as self, home, family, and daily routines. They begin to explore Chinese language and culture by participating in experiences such as celebrations; where relevant, they identify similarities and differences between Chinese culture and their own and other cultures.

Texts and resources

Students engage with a variety of texts and text modes, including picture and caption books, songs, cartoons and movies. They hear the different sounds of Chinese in stimulus material such as stories read aloud, multimedia resources and internet sites.

Features of Chinese language use

Learners are immersed in listening to, viewing and reading Chinese. They become aware of Chinese as an alternative code to English and that other languages exist within their own classroom, their country and overseas. They begin to recognise the importance of tone in Chinese speech and observe that the sounds of Chinese can be encoded in Pinyin using familiar letters. Students view characters through appropriate text types that may be glossed in Pinyin. They learn to recognise characters that represent familiar objects and ideas and convey significant cultural meanings.

Level of support

Visual displays, gesture, and specific and concrete contextual clues are continuously used to support understanding. Teachers model correct language use, which provides the main source of students’ development in Chinese. Learners will experiment with various software and technologies as communication tools.

The role of English

English is used by teachers and learners as appropriate for clarification, reflection, questioning and explanation, to support learners to comprehend and acquire Chinese.

The place of the Chinese language and culture in Australia and the world

China’s official language is Modern Standard Chinese, or Putonghua (the common or shared language) in Chinese. The language is also referred to as Hanyu, the spoken language of the Han people, or Zhongwen, the written language of China. In Taiwan it is more usually called Huayu (Hwayu), the spoken language of people of Chinese ethnicity. This term is also used in Singapore.

A number of dialects remain in active use. In addition, the character system has undergone significant evolution, standardisation and simplification over time. In recent times, the need to create Chinese language texts in digital format has resulted in an international effort to standardise character forms and attribute a Unicode to each form so that computer operating systems internationally can generate and reproduce Chinese texts in both simplified and traditional/full-form characters. It is not common for new characters to be created. In contemporary overseas Chinese media, texts are commonly in either simplified or traditional/full-form characters, reflecting the diverse histories and preferences of these communities.

Communities of Chinese speakers are characterised by linguistic, cultural and geographic diversity and can be found in almost every country of the world. Many of these communities have a long tradition, and they are particularly strong on the Pacific coast of Canada and the USA, and in South-East Asia, Australia and some European countries. The history of the Chinese community in Australia extends back to the mid-1800s, and patterns of migration in recent decades have seen rapid growth in Australia’s Chinese population.

Current links between Australia and China are characterised by bilateral relationships in trade and investment, as well as educational exchanges, and research and development in science and technology. The movement of people and ideas, as well as economic, cultural and educational exchange, adds to the richness and complexity of this relationship.

The place of the Chinese language in Australian education

Chinese has been taught in Australian schools since the 1950s, and experienced rapid growth in the 1980s as China undertook a policy of open-door and economic reform. Chinese has always been taught as an additional language in Australia, but schools are now catering to increasingly varied cohorts of Chinese language learners, including overseas-born Chinese speakers. The population of Chinese teachers has also changed, with growing numbers of teachers from the People’s Republic of China now teaching in Australian schools.

Chinese is recognised as an important language for young Australians to learn as Australia progresses towards a future of increased trade and engagement with Asia.

The nature of Chinese language learning

For the purposes of the Australian Curriculum: Languages, ‘Chinese’ refers to Modern Standard Chinese, Pinyin Romanisation and simplified characters. Given the ongoing use of both forms of Chinese characters (simplified and full form) in the media, in education and in environmental print (advertisements and shop signs), some knowledge or awareness of both systems is an advantage, for Chinese speakers and Chinese learners alike. Although both writing systems and the range of dialects should be recognised in any Chinese language curriculum, the priority in education is Modern Standard Chinese and simplified characters as the internationally recognised ‘official form’ of Chinese.

English and Chinese have very different grammatical and vocabulary systems. The Chinese spoken language is characterised by a high number of homophones — tone-syllables that are used to represent more than one morpheme — each of which has its own particular character. The range of syllables in Chinese, while limited in comparison to English, does include some sounds unfamiliar to English speakers. The task of learning Chinese can be best addressed by a clear separation between learning to interact orally, supported by print materials in Pinyin, and learning to read and write, supported by texts and resources in characters.

Chinese characters are logographs composed of a number of components organised into a particular sequence within a square, parts of which are likely to suggest the sound and meaning of the whole character. Each character is a morpheme-syllable — it represents a syllable of sound and a unit of meaning. There are 3500 frequently used characters which are learnt by children in primary school in China. These characters are composed of approximately 500 distinct components which are used with varying degrees of frequency, and in different locations and for different functions. Literacy development (in terms of learning to read and write, and especially to map known oral vocabulary onto the appropriate written forms) is a time-consuming and challenging task. Additional characteristics of Chinese writing are that texts in Chinese characters do not display word-level spacing and texts may be written vertically and read from right to left down the page.

The Chinese spoken language is composed of approximately 400 syllables which may be used with one of four tones to create a total of approximately 1200 tone-syllables. Different systems have been developed to reproduce the sounds of the Chinese language using the Roman alphabet to assist learners who are already familiar with the Roman alphabet. Today the Pinyin system has international recognition as the principal means of representing the sounds of Chinese in alphabetic form. This system assists students of many language backgrounds to learn the correct sounds of Putonghua, and is an efficient means of text input when creating texts in characters using digital media. It is important to note that Pinyin is not recognised as a valid alternative to written expression in characters, as its readability is limited.

The diversity of learners of Chinese

Three pathways have been developed for Chinese, to cater to the three main cohorts of learners of Chinese in Australian schools. The Second Language Learner Pathway caters for students learning Chinese as a second or additional language. The Background Language Learner Pathway has been developed for students who have exposure to Chinese language and culture, and who may engage in some active but predominantly receptive use of Chinese at home. The First Language Learner Pathway caters for students who have had their primary socialisation as well as initial literacy development and primary schooling in Chinese, and who use Chinese at home. Schools will make decisions about which pathway best serves their students’ needs, and teachers will use the pathways to cater for all learners by making any appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences for their students.

Socialising

Chinese – Second Language Learner Pathway Years F–10 Sequence by rows – The Australian Curriculum v8.1
Participate in class routines, structured conversations and activities using teacher-modelled tones and rhythms
[Key concepts: self, family; Key processes: participating, imitating, listening]

Interact with simple written texts in familiar contexts to contribute to class discussions
[Key concepts: self, family; Key processes: reading, planning]

Informing

Locate information about family and familiar events from spoken and visual sources and convey this information in simple visual and oral texts.
[Key concepts: self, family, information; Key processes: describing, conveying]

Locate and present information about familiar objects, people and personal interests using visual and contextual cues
[Key concepts: self, family, home, routines; Key processes: obtaining, processing]

Creating

Respond to and create simple Chinese stories, songs and rhymes, reproducing rhythm and sound patterns to express feelings
[Key concept: imagination]

Create short imaginative written texts using images and copied characters
[Key concepts: morality; Key processes: illustrating, copying]

Translating

Identify equivalent or similar Chinese words or phrases for familiar objects or terms in English
[Key concepts: similarity, difference; Key processes: translating, connecting, interpreting]

Identify common Chinese characters and words in Pinyin using contextual cues
[Key concepts: self, family, home, routines; Key processes: interpreting, analysing, copying, tracing, shaping]

Reflecting

Notice aspects of Chinese language and culture that are ‘new’ or ‘interesting’, and observe how relationships influence language use and own identity
[Key concepts: self, family, home, routines; Key processes: observing, comparing]

Systems of language

Reproduce the four tones and recognise how they can change the meaning of words.
Recognise Chinese characters as a form of writing and Pinyin as the spelled-out sounds of spoken Chinese.
Understand that Chinese sentences have a particular word order.
Engage with familiar text types to predict meaning.

Language variation and change

Recognise that Chinese is a major community language in Australia.
Identify the features of formal language used in familiar contexts, such as at school.

Role of language and culture

Describe how people use different languages to communicate and participate in cultural experiences.

By the end of Year 2, students use spoken and written Chinese to communicate with teachers and peers. They participate in structured and routine interactions, such as using 谢谢， 再见， 请, using learnt sounds, formulaic phrases, and verbal and non-verbal responses. They respond to and receive information, for example, 你好， 你好吗？ They follow simple instructions, including 排队， 请坐， 不要说话.. They use the four tones of Chinese but not always with accuracy. Students respond to short predictable imaginative and informative texts, expressing simple likes and dislikes (喜欢， 不喜欢). They can match characters to the meanings and sounds of familiar words, including numbers (八…), colours (红…) and family members (爸爸， 妈妈). Students use strategies such as imitation and basic contextual cues for comprehension. They create simple informative and imaginative texts by selecting and practising learnt characters and familiar words and phrases to describe, list, label and caption.

Students recognise that Chinese is a major language in Australia. They identify its distinctive systems of writing and speaking. They recognise the tonal nature of Chinese and know that characters are formed by strokes. Students differentiate between the Pinyin and characters associated with familiar objects in their immediate environment. They recognise the use of tone marks in Pinyin. They are aware of the word order of simple sentences. They recognise the conventions for using Chinese to communicate with family, friends and teachers. They recognise the similarities and differences between Chinese and Australian contexts, language and culture. They can identify themselves as learners of languages.

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of French language and culture.

French language learning and use

French is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy. Learning in the two areas progresses at very different levels but each supports and enriches the other. French is used in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of visual and concrete materials, gestures and body language. At this stage, there is a focus on play and imaginative activities, games, music, movement and familiar routines, which provide scaffolding and context for language development. Oral language is developed through listening to the sounds, shapes and patterns of French through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games, and through imitating and repeating sounds modelled by the teacher and aural texts. Learners experiment with simple formulaic expressions and one- or two-word responses to prompts and cues. As they progress to using French for interactions such as greetings or asking and answering questions, they notice that language behaves differently in different situations and that French speakers communicate in some ways that are different to their own. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using French for purposeful interaction, for example, asking for help, sharing ideas, challenging each other or expressing surprise.

Contexts of interaction

Learners interact with each other and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Information and communications technologies (ICT) resources provide additional access to French language and culture experience, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of French-speaking children in different contexts. Students may also encounter ideas about France and the French language outside the classroom, through travel, the media or popular culture.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, visual and written texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in stories, songs, play and simple conversations. Written and digital texts include stories, wall charts and Big Books, and teacher-generated materials such as games, labels, captions and flashcards. Writing skills progress from tracing and copying high-frequency words to writing modelled words and sentences independently (for example, greeting cards, captions or labels) and co-creating shared resources such as word walls or storybooks.

Features of French language use

Students become familiar with the sound systems of the French language, including pronunciation, rhythm, pitch and stress. They learn to pronounce individual letters and letter combinations, including unfamiliar sounds such as -eau, -u, è, é, ou, r and g. They recognise and use the intonation patterns that distinguish between statements, questions and exclamations. They use simple basic sentence structure and learn to write single words and simple phrases, noticing the use of accents and how these change the sound of letters. They become familiar with the idea of grammatical gender and know how to use singular and plural forms. They notice similarities and differences between French and English and begin to develop curiosity around the idea of difference and culture.

Level of support

Rich language input characterises the first stages of learning. Learners are supported via the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable, with high levels of scaffolding and support. This includes modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher, providing multiple and varied sources of input and stimulus, regular opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing, and continuous cueing, feedback, response and encouragement.

The role of English

Learners are encouraged to use French whenever possible, with the teacher providing rich and supported language input. English is used as a medium of instruction and for explanation and discussion. This allows learners to talk about differences and similarities they notice between French and their first language(s) and culture(s), to ask questions about language and culture, and to consider how they feel when they hear or use French and about how they view different languages and the people who speak them. This introduction to the ‘meta’ dimension of intercultural learning develops the ability to consider different perspectives and ways of being.

The place of the French language and culture in Australia and in the world

French is a major world language, spoken as the first language in more than two dozen countries on five continents and as an official language in 33 countries. First language speakers include the 67 million inhabitants of mainland France; those living in the territorial communities of New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands, as well as in French overseas departments such as French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe and the island of Réunion; 80 percent of the inhabitants of Québec; and significant communities in Luxembourg, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are also many French-based creole languages, such as Haitian, developed through French colonial contact. French is a language of diplomacy, used by many international organisations, and is the dominant working language at the European Court of Justice. French culture has contributed to the shaping of global movements and traditions associated with domains such as the arts, cinema, philosophy and cultural theory, as well as fashion, design, food and wine.

Australia and the French-speaking world have significant shared history and strong contemporary connections. First French arrivals in the eighteenth century were explorers, followed by small numbers of prisoners, refugees and government officials who involved themselves in trade, commerce and agriculture. Migrants from maritime regions such as Aquitaine and Normandy arrived in the early nineteenth century, followed by French recruits to the Victorian gold rush (1852–71). Many stayed and settled as agriculturalists, winemakers, traders and tradesmen. By the beginning of the twentieth century there was an established French community in the colony, with its own chamber of commerce, French-language newspaper, major shipping interests and involvement in the growing wool trade. The ends of both world wars brought further migrants, including war brides of Australian servicemen, and people taking advantage of the government-assisted passage scheme at the close of World War II. The gaining of independence by French colonies in the 1950s and 1960s saw numbers of French families choosing to migrate to Australia rather than return to France. The past five decades have continued to see a steady movement of migrants between France and other French-speaking countries and territories and Australia, with approximately 0.5 percent of the Australian population identifying as having French ancestry.

Current links between Australia and the French-speaking world are strong, characterised by bilateral relationships in trade and investment, educational exchanges, research and development in science and technology, humanitarian and environmental initiatives, and communications, strategic and defence priorities. The Pacific region is a particularly important focus of bilateral engagement. France is a leading destination for Australian travellers, and a partner in work-exchange opportunities in hospitality, tourism and international relations. Large numbers of young Australians visit France and other French-speaking countries each year on student or working visas.

The place of the French language in Australian education

French has been taught in Australian schools and universities since the 1880s. Originally offered with Italian and German as a modern language option alongside classical languages, it was valued as an important academic and cultural discipline and a means of accessing the intellectual and cultural heritage of France. The move to communicatively based approaches to teaching in the 1970s, together with improved communications and travel opportunities, increased interest in French as an option for more learners. As Asian languages joined European languages in school programs, numbers of students learning French declined, but French continues to be studied at all levels across all states and territories and is currently the third most widely studied language in schools. Wider community interest in learning French is strong, as evidenced by enrolments in courses offered by regional branches of the Alliance Française and the proliferation of informal community-based French conversation groups and language clubs.

The nature of French language learning

French is an Indo-European language and belongs to the family of Romance languages derived from the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire. It is closely related to English, due to the shared influence of Latin and to the fact that French was the official language of the English court, administration and culture for 300 years after the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century. This involvement with French contributed significantly to the developing English language. There are more than 1700 words that are used in both languages (for example, danger, saint, magazine, tact). In this sense French is already partly familiar to English-speaking learners. This familiarity supports early stages of learning.

French uses the same Roman alphabet as English, although its pronunciation of the letters differs significantly and the use of accents on some letters is an additional complexity for English-speaking learners. There are many similarities between the two grammatical systems, such as the same basic subject-verb-object order, but also differences, such as in the use of tenses, the gendering of nouns and adjectives, the marking of plural forms of nouns and adjectives, and the use of articles and capital letters. The sound system is usually the main challenge for English-speaking learners, including as it does some novel sounds (such as the pronunciation of the letters r and u), letters which are silent, and unfamiliar liaisons and intonation and rhythm patterns.

The diversity of learners of French

French programs in Australian schools are offered to a range of learners, including some who are following immersion or partial immersion programs. Many are monolingual English speakers who are learning French as their first experience of another language. A relatively small number have existing connections with French, either as background speakers, second- or third-generation French Australians, or through professional, personal or other forms of connection. For learners from language backgrounds with very different grammatical and vocabulary systems such as Chinese or Korean, learning French will represent similar challenges to those which frame their experience of learning English as their language of schooling; but these learners have the advantage of having developed skills and understandings associated with learning and using additional languages.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages for French is pitched to second language learners; that is, to the dominant cohort of learners in the current Australian context for whom French is an additional language. It has been developed according to two main learning trajectories for these learners, Foundation to Year 10 Sequence and Years 7–10 (Year 7 Entry) Sequence. Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences for these students.

For students learning French for the first time in a school language program, a key dimension of the curriculum involves understanding the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by the language. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language learning orientation to enable students to participate meaningfully in intercultural experiences, to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world, and to understand more about themselves in the process.

Socialising

Interact with each other and the teacher using simple language and gestures for exchanges such as greetings and farewells, thanks and introductions, and for talking about self and family
[Key concepts: self, family, home, friendship; Key processes: interacting, greeting, thanking, describing]

Participate in guided group activities using simple repetitive language in songs, rhymes, games and transactions
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning, exchange; Key processes: participating, performing, taking turns, requesting]

Recognise and respond to classroom interactions such as opening and closing of lessons, transition activities, and giving and following instructions
[Key concepts: roles, routines, rules, interactions; Key processes: listening, observing, cooperating, responding]

Informing

Identify key points of information in simple texts
[Key concepts: text, meaning, context; Key processes: decoding, guessing, making meaning]

Convey factual information about self, family, friends and possessions, using simple statements, gestures and support materials
[Key concepts: self, family, school; Key processes: naming, labelling, showing, describing]

Creating

Engage with a range of imaginative texts through action, dance, drawing and other forms of expression
[Key concepts: imagination, response, character, expression; Key processes: responding, acting, dancing, expressing]

Participate in shared performance and presentation of stories, songs or nursery rhymes, playing with sound patterns, rhyming words and non-verbal forms of expression
[Key concepts: rhythm, expression, pronunciation; Key processes: chanting, miming, drawing, dancing]

Translating

Translate simple French words, phrases and gestures for family and friends, noticing how they may have similar or different meanings in English or other known languages
[Key concepts: language, vocabulary, meaning; Key processes: demonstrating, explaining, comparing]

Create simple print or digital texts that use both French and English, such as labels, word banks, wall charts or ID cards
[Key concepts: vocabulary, translation, meaning; Key processes: naming, comparing, copying]

Reflecting

Notice how using French feels and sounds different to using own language(s) and involves behaviours as well as words
[Key concepts: language, culture, difference; Key processes: noticing, considering, comparing]

Describe themselves, the people they are close to and the ways they communicate, using simple statements and gestures
[Key concepts: identity, self, communication; Key processes: describing, explaining, presenting]

Systems of language

Recognise and reproduce the sounds and rhythms of spoken French, noticing how they are produced and how they are represented in words and symbols
[Key concepts: pitch, stress, intonation, letters, pronunciation; Key processes: listening, distinguishing, reading, recognising]

Understand some first elements of French grammar, such as simple verb and gender forms, definite articles, pronouns and prepositions
[Key concepts: words, sentences, grammar, patterns, rules; Key processes: recognising, naming, selecting]

Understand that language is organised as ‘texts’, which take different forms and use different structures and features to achieve their purposes
[Key concepts: genre, text, meaning; Key processes: noticing, applying]

Language variation and change

Understand that French speakers use language differently in different situations, such as in playground games, at home with the family or in the classroom
[Key concepts: language as social practice, language conventions; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Understand that all languages continuously change through contact with each other and through changes in society
[Key concepts: language, change, word borrowing; Key processes: noticing, comparing, listing]

Recognise that Australia is a multilingual society with speakers of many different languages, including French
[Key concepts: multilingualism, culture, community; Key processes: discussing, observing, mapping]

Role of language and culture

Understand that people use language in ways that reflect their culture, such as where and how they live and what is important to them
[Key concepts: language, culture, meaning; Key processes: noticing, asking questions, reflecting, explaining]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with teachers and each other through action-related talk and play. They exchange greetings such as Bonjour! Comment ça va? Très bien, merci and respond to question cues with single words or set phrases such as Qu’est-ce que c’est? Un éléphant. Tu veux un croissant? Non, merci. They choose between options when responding to questions such as Tu veux le rouge ou le bleu? They make meaning using visual, non-verbal and contextual cues such as intonation, gestures and facial expressions. They mimic French pronunciation, approximating vowel sounds and consonant combinations with some accuracy. They identify key words in spoken texts, such as names of people, places or objects. They use modelled examples and formulaic language to convey factual information at word and simple sentence level, such as making statements about themselves, their class and home environment, the weather or date. They write simple texts such as lists, labels, captions and descriptions. Students use some pronouns, prepositions and simple present tense forms of regular verbs.

Students identify ways in which spoken French sounds different to English and know that it uses the same alphabet when written. They identify words that are written the same in both languages but pronounced differently. They know that French is the language used in France and also in many other regions of the world. They know that language is used differently in different situations and between different people. They identify differences and similarities between their own and other’s languages and cultures.

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of German language and culture.

German language learning and use

At this stage, games, music, movement, familiar routines, and imaginative activities such as role-plays provide essential scaffolding and relevant contexts for language development. Learners engage with the sounds, shapes and patterns of German through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. They identify and use simple formulaic expressions, one- or two-word responses to prompts and cues, and non-verbal German communication strategies. They learn to write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to write words and simple sentences independently using modelled language, for example, by matching pictures with single words, labels or captions.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context of interaction is the language classroom, as learners interact with the teacher and with one another. Their use of German relates primarily to classroom routines and activities, draws on curiosity about the world around them, and engages their interest in play, movement and games.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, written and digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas, and join in stories, songs, play and simple conversations. Physical, virtual and digital resources provide access to additional German language and cultural interactions, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of their peers in other German-speaking contexts.

Features of German language use

Learners become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of German, approximating the pronunciation and phrasing of single words and short phrases, including distinctive sounds such as ch, r, th, u and z, and diphthongs such as au, ei, eu and ie. They use simple basic sentence structures and familiar vocabulary for everyday functions such as greetings, asking and answering questions, responding to instructions, and participating in games, performances and simple shared tasks. They learn to write single words and simple phrases, noticing the use of the Eszett and how an Umlaut changes the sound of vowels. They notice similarities and differences between German and English. They use modelled language to produce their own short texts and to interact. They begin to notice that language behaves differently in different situations and that German speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. As they communicate about differences and similarities, they begin to understand that they are part of a connected world. This introduction to the reflective dimension of intercultural language learning begins to develop an understanding of culture.

Level of support

Support is provided through visual and tactile materials such as pictures, realia, objects and charts, and through the use of gesture and movement. The teacher provides prompts, cues, and opportunities for repetition and recycling to help learners identify and remember frequently used words and simple phrases. Learners rely on modelled language, scaffolded tasks, feedback and encouragement to build their language capability.

The role of English

Learners are encouraged to use German whenever possible, particularly when engaging in classroom interactions and routines. The teacher uses German as much as possible for instruction. English is used for explanation and discussion, allowing learners to communicate about differences and similarities they notice between German and their own language(s), to ask questions about language and culture, and to consider their experience of learning German.

The place of the German language and culture in Australia and in the world

German is an official language of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Belgium, Luxembourg and in South Tyrol in Italy. It is also used as an official regional or auxiliary language in a number of other countries in Europe, and in Namibia in Africa. As one of three procedural languages for the European Union and the first language of 120 million Europeans, the German language showcases the cultural diversity and range of these German-speaking communities. In particular, the interplay between culture and language can be seen in the global influence of the past and contemporary achievements of German-speaking communities in architecture, the arts, engineering, philosophy, recreational pursuits, and scientific innovations, particularly those related to environmental sustainability. The conceptual understandings that sit behind this influence are reflected in the selection of text types and key concepts through which students will have opportunities to use German actively.

The place of the German language in Australian education

German has been taught in schools, universities and communities in Australia since the mid-1800s and by the 1930s was a well-established part of the Australian educational landscape. As well as being a core element of the tradition of a broad humanistic education, German can also be seen as a cultural marker of the waves of immigration from Western Europe. Migration from German-speaking countries is ongoing, thus continuing the contribution that German speakers have made in shaping Australian culture from the time of the first German settlements.

Strong partnerships have developed with organisations such as the Goethe-Institut, the German Embassy, the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Bavarian Youth Ring student exchange organisation (BJR) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), to provide solid support for the teaching and learning of German in Australia.

The nature of German language learning

German and English are both derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family and share many similar lexical items (cognates) as well as grammatical features. Consequently, a native speaker of English has some immediate access to spoken and written German, and from an early stage learners can engage with authentic texts. Modern German also borrows from modern English, for example, der Computer, as does English from German, for example, ‘kindergarten’. German is a pluricentric language with different standards and regional varieties.

German is a largely phonetic language with many of the same sounds as English, and the same Roman alphabet. In addition to the standard 26 letters, there is the use of the Umlaut (Ä/ä, Ö/ö and Ü/ü) and the Eszett (ß). A major difference in orthography from English is the capitalisation of all nouns, a feature that assists the comprehensibility of written texts.

German is well known for its morphological creativity in forming long words through compounding. The German language has two different forms of address, formal and informal, dependent on the relationship between the communicators. German speakers generally rely more heavily than native speakers of Australian English on the use of the imperative to effect action, thus sometimes appearing to be more direct.

Other distinctive features of German are noun gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) and the case system. Changes in the articles of nouns and in pronouns and adjective endings mark the four cases, indicating subject and direct and indirect objects, as well as possession. Marking cases in this way leads to flexibility in word order which is not possible in English. Sentences may appear long to English users, but the case markers and clear and consistent punctuation rules aid comprehension.

The diversity of learners of German

The cohort of learners of German in Australian schools generally comprises students who are second language learners.

Within this pathway, learners demonstrate a range of degrees of exposure to and experience in German. Some learners will have little familiarity with German, although they will most likely have experience of English, another Germanic language; others will have German heritage or a family member who has knowledge of German and/or connections with German-speaking countries.

There are a number of different types of schools in Australia that cater for a range of pathways. In addition, community-driven early-years playgroups are growing in number. Mainstream school provision for background learners is limited, although there are some notable examples of bilingual programs which also cater for non-background students. There are also several complementary providers for German, including distance education and community schools.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages, Foundation to Year 10 – German is pitched to second language learners; that is, to the dominant cohort of learners of the language in the current Australian context. Teachers will make appropriate adjustments to the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds and differentiate learning experiences for these students.

Socialising

Interact and socialise with peers and teacher to exchange greetings and information about self and family, and express likes and dislikes
[Key concepts: self, family; Key processes: interacting, greeting, thanking]

Participate in guided group activities using simple repetitive language in songs, rhymes, games and transactions
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning; Key processes: participating, taking turns]

Recognise and respond to instructions and questions about activities, games and classroom routines, and make polite requests
[Key concepts: roles, routines; Key processes: following instructions, participating, listening]

Informing

Identify key words and information in simple shared texts related to personal worlds
[Key concepts: literacy, text; Key processes: locating, matching, ordering]

Convey factual information about self, family and possessions through pictures, labels, captions and short descriptions, using familiar words and modelled language
[Key concepts: identity, belonging; Key processes: naming, labelling, describing]

Creating

Engage with a range of imaginative texts through action, dance, singing, drawing, shared reading and collaborative retelling
[Key concepts: imagination, performance, setting; Key processes: participating, responding]

Express ideas and experiences in a variety of ways using familiar words and modelled language, such as through imaginative role-play, mime, drawing, oral discussion or scaffolded writing activities
[Key concepts: role-play, discussion, imagination; Key processes: performing, expressing]

Translating

Share with peers and family what they know in German, identifying different words and expressions, moving between languages depending on the audience
[Key concepts: representation, difference; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Create print or digital texts such as labels, posters, word banks and wall charts for the immediate learning environment in both German and English
[Key concepts: vocabulary, representation; Key processes: sorting, matching, noticing]

Reflecting

Notice similarities and differences when using German compared to own language, such as how it feels, sounds and looks, and involves behaviours as well as words
[Key concepts: language, culture, difference; Key processes: noticing, comparing, observing]

Express aspects of self, such as family, school/class, age and language(s), noticing how these are part of one’s sense of identity
[Key concepts: self, identity; Key processes: expressing, describing, noticing]

Systems of language

Recognise and reproduce the sounds and rhythms of spoken German, including distinctive sounds
[Key concepts: pronunciation, intonation; Key processes: listening, imitating, recognising]

Understand some first elements of German grammar, such as simple verb forms, definite articles and pronouns, to identify and describe people and objects in the family and school domains
[Key concepts: word order, connections, gender; Key processes: noticing patterns, making connections, selecting]

Understand that language is organised as ‘texts’, which take different forms and use different structures and features to achieve their purposes
[Key concepts: structure, form; Key processes: noticing, recognising, comparing]

Language variation and change

Recognise that in German, as in English and other languages, there are different ways of greeting and interacting with people
[Key concepts: register, language conventions, social practice; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Recognise that Australia has speakers of many different languages, including German, and that German and English borrow words and expressions from each other
[Key concepts: multilingualism, culture, community; Key processes: observing, exploring, recognising]

Role of language and culture

Notice that the languages people use relate to who they are and where and how they live
[Key concepts: place, culture; Key processes: noticing, exploring]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with teachers and peers through action-related talk and play. They introduce themselves, exchange greetings and farewells, for example, Ich heiße … Auf Wiedersehen! and express likes and dislikes. When interacting, they use short formulaic expressions, for example, Morgen! Danke! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Frohe Weihnachten! Guten Appetit! and make simple statements, such as Das ist … Ich wohne in … Ich mag … They use repetitive language and respond to simple instructions when participating in games, shared activities and classroom routines. They use visual, non-verbal and contextual cues such as intonation, gestures and facial expressions to help make meaning, and reproduce some distinctive sounds and rhythms of spoken German, including ch, u, r and z. Students identify specific words and information, such as names of people, places or objects, in simple shared texts related to personal worlds. They convey factual information about self, family and possessions at word and simple sentence level. They respond to and create simple spoken and written texts, using modelled examples and formulaic language. They use short phrases and…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically, they have little to no experience of Modern Greek language and culture.

Modern Greek language learning and use

Modern Greek is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy. While the learning of Modern Greek differs from the learning of English, each supports and enriches the other. Modern Greek is used in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of materials and resources, gestures and body language. At this stage, there is a focus on play, imaginative activities, games, music, dance and familiar routines, which provide scaffolding for language development. Learners listen to the sounds and patterns specific to the Modern Greek language and try to reproduce them through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Repetition and consolidation help learners to identify high-frequency words and simple phrases, and to recognise the purpose of simple texts. Learners identify and use Modern Greek non-verbal communication strategies, including gestures, and experiment with one- or two-word responses and simple expressions when prompted. They progress to using Modern Greek for functions such as greeting, asking and answering questions (Πώς σε λένε; Τι κάνεις; Τι κάνετε;), responding to directions (έλα, έλατε, κάθισε, καθίστε, σήκω, σηκωθείτε), singing songs, and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks. There is a natural transition from spoken to written language. Learners use a variety of cues, including images, context and frequently used word patterns, to comprehend texts and communicate.

Contexts of interaction

Learners interact with each other and the teacher within the learning environment. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) enriches the experience of Modern Greek language and culture by providing alternative modes of learning, numerous resources and opportunities to access authentic language in different contexts.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, written and visual texts such as traditional children’s songs and nursery rhymes, stories from big books, plays and interactive resources. Writing skills progress from alphabet recognition to tracing, labelling and copying letters, then to constructing simple, short texts using familiar vocabulary.

Features of Modern Greek language use

Learners become familiar with the sound system of the Modern Greek language, such as syllables using consonants and vowels, and new sounds, such as the guttural γ, ρ and γκ and ξ and ψ in words. They learn to identify and write letters, words and simple sentences using the Greek alphabet, making comparisons with the English alphabet. They begin to notice that Modern Greek speakers may communicate in ways which are different to their own, and that language can be used in a variety of ways.

Level of support

Rich language input characterises the first stages of learning. Learning experiences are supported by the teacher through scaffolding, modelling, cueing, monitoring, feedback and encouragement. Multiple and varied sources of input and stimulus are used, including visual cues and resources such as pictures, realia, objects, maps and charts.

The role of English

Modern Greek is used whenever possible as the medium for class interaction. English is used for discussion and explanation. This allows learners to share ideas about differences and similarities between Modern Greek and other languages and cultures, and how language and culture are interconnected, giving them opportunities to consider perspectives other than their own and to reflect on their learning.

The place of the Modern Greek language and culture in Australia and the world

Modern Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus. It is spoken throughout the world – wherever there are Greek-speaking communities. One of the major characteristics of the extensive Greek Diaspora is the maintenance of the Greek language and culture, especially in Australia, the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, countries of Latin America and Africa, and areas around the Black Sea, the Balkans, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Modern Greek is also one of the official languages of the European Union.

The Hellenic civilisation and language have significantly shaped Western civilisation, particularly in the areas of science, the arts, architecture, medicine, mathematics, literature, politics and philosophy. Modern literature and thought in particular have been influenced by the works of Homer and the ancient Greek playwrights, philosophers and historians. The Greek language gives expression to a rich and varied culture and tradition and is still used widely in many fields to coin new terms. The study of the etymology of English words with Greek origins helps in not only the understanding of English and other languages, but also a broad range of other areas of study.

The first Greek people who came to Australia arrived in the 1820s and since then there have been waves of Greek migration to Australia, in particular throughout the early 1900s and prior to World War II. The largest periods of mass migration occurred between the 1950s and 1970s. The migrants’ need to maintain Greek identity through language, culture and religion contributed towards the Greek language flourishing in the home and in the delivery of Greek in after-hours school settings.

Historically, Greeks have made and continue to make a significant contribution to the development and enrichment of Australian society, not only in the areas of commerce, agriculture, industry, trade, education, the arts, medicine, law, politics, government and scientific research, but also in cultural and lifestyle influences.

The place of the Modern Greek language in Australian education

After the early settlement of Greeks in Australia, after-hours community schools were set up to teach the language, predominantly to children of Greek immigrants. From the 1970s, due to government policies supporting multiculturalism, Modern Greek programs were introduced at all levels in the Australian education system, including tertiary level, offering all students regardless of their background the opportunity to study Modern Greek.

Modern Greek is currently taught across all school sectors and contexts.

The nature of Modern Greek language learning

The modern standard version of Modern Greek (Neoelliniki: Νεοελληνική) is the demotic form of the written and spoken language and is the official language taught worldwide. It is an alphabetic (non-Roman) language, with 24 letters, and has remained relatively unchanged since ancient times. Modern Greek is a phonetic language, with a simple form of accentuation and highly structured grammar and syntax. Although many English words are derived from Greek, the language structure is very different. There are, for example, marked differences in the use of articles, gender agreement for adjectives and nouns, verb conjugations, declensions of nouns and variations in word order. These distinctive features influence how Modern Greek is taught in the classroom. They will be seen through the key text types and processes chosen as a vehicle to develop learners’ understanding of them and in the context for interactions through which learners will develop the skills for their sustained use.

The diversity of learners of Modern Greek

Due to the passage of time, shifting trends in migration and the changed nature of the learner, Modern Greek is no longer the exclusive domain of students of Greek background. Learners of Modern Greek in Australian schools come from a diversity of backgrounds, including learners for whom this represents a first experience of learning Modern Greek. Learners of Modern Greek may also be background speakers or second-, third- or fourth-generation Australians who may have connections to the customs and traditions of their heritage but whose linguistic knowledge may be limited or non-existent.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages for Modern Greek is pitched to second language learners, the dominant cohort of learners in the Australian context. There are two learning pathways for students: the Foundation to Year 10 Sequence and the Years 7–10 (Year 7 Entry) Sequence. Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to personalise learning experiences.

For students learning Modern Greek for the first time in a school language program, a key dimension of the curriculum involves understanding the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by the language. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language learning orientation to enable students to participate meaningfully in language and cultural experiences, to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world, and to understand more about themselves in the process.

Socialising

Interact with peers and teacher using simple language and gestures for exchanges such as greetings and farewells, thanks, introductions and sharing information about self and family
[Key concepts: self, relationship, social exchange, naming; Key processes: greeting, interacting, introducing]

Participate in guided activities and simple exchanges, such as songs, rhymes, and games, using simple repetitive language
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning, exchange; Key processes: participating, performing, taking turns]

Participate with teacher and peers in class routines and activities, such as following instructions and taking turns
[Key concepts: routine, sharing; Key processes: shared reading, following instructions]

Informing

Identify key words and information with guidance, in simple written, spoken, digital and visual texts
[Key concepts: language, texts; Key processes: listening, gathering, naming, grouping]

Share and present information about self, family, friends and possessions, using gestures, labels, pictures and modelled language
[Key concepts: self, family, friends; Key processes: naming, labelling, showing, describing]

Creating

Participate in shared imaginative activities and respond in a variety of ways such as through predicting, singing, chanting, play-acting and movement
[Key concepts: character, story; Key processes: action learning, participating in shared reading]

Create and participate in shared performances and imaginative activities using familiar words, phrases, captions and language patterns
[Key concepts: imagination, expression; Key processes: performing, captioning]

Translating

Translate familiar words or phrases using visual cues or word lists, explaining the meaning of particular words, gestures or expressions
[Key concepts: language, vocabulary, meaning; Key processes: demonstrating, explaining, comparing]

Create simple print or digital texts in Greek and English, such as captions and labels, for the immediate learning environment
[Key concepts: meaning, equivalence; Key processes: labelling, displaying]

Reflecting

Reflect on what sounds, looks or appears similar or different to own language and culture when interacting in Greek
[Key concepts: communication, difference, respect; Key processes: noticing, comparing, reflecting]

Describe aspects of self, such as family, school/class and language/s, recognising how these are part of one’s identity
[Key concept: self; Key processes: describing, noticing]

Systems of language

Recognise and reproduce the sounds and letters of the Greek alphabet, identifying how they are represented in words, and read vowel–consonant combinations, including the most common digraphs/diphthongs such as oυ and μπ
[Key concepts: stress, intonation, letters, pronunciation; Key processes: listening, reading, recognising]

Understand elements of grammar such as word order, verb forms and personal pronouns related to questions, commands and short sentences, and develop vocabulary to describe self, friends and family
[Key concepts: grammar, sentence, word order; Key processes: naming, noticing patterns]

Recognise features of familiar spoken, written and visual texts, such as songs, labels and captions
[Key concept: text; Key processes: recognising, identifying]

Language variation and change

Recognise that in Greek, greetings and forms of address vary according to such things as the time of day, age, gender and relationship of participants
[Key concepts: register, relationships; Key processes: selecting, noticing]

Recognise that Australia has speakers of many different languages, including Greek, and that languages borrow words from each other and sometimes use the same alphabet symbols and vocabulary
[Key concepts: language, change, word borrowing; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Role of language and culture

Recognise that the languages people use reflect their culture, such as who they are, where and how they live, and find examples of similarities and differences between Greek and their own ways of communicating
[Key concepts: norm, culture; Key processes: making connections]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with teachers and peers through action-related talk and play. They introduce themselves, (for example, Καλημέρα, Mε λένε Γιώργο) and their family and exchange greetings, farewells, (for example, Γεια σου, Kαληνύχτα) and express thanks such as Eυχαριστώ πολύ. They use simple, repetitive language when participating in shared activities and simple exchanges, respond to simple instructions such as, Έλα εδώ, and imitate frequently used classroom language, for example, Όλοι μαζί, Mπράβο, Kλείσε την πόρτα. When speaking, they reproduce distinctive sounds and letters of the Greek language such as, γ-γάτα, ρ-νερό, μπ-μπαμπάς, ξ-ξέρω, ψ-ψάρι, ου-μου. Students identify specific words, such as names of people (for example, Ο Γιάννης), places (for example, το σχολείο) or objects (for example, η γόμα), in simple spoken and written texts and respond to imaginative experiences through singing and performing. They present information about themselves (for example, Το σκυλάκι μου), their family (for example, Να η γιαγιά μου), friends (for example, οι φίλοι μου) and possessions such as, το βιβλίο μου, using gestures and modelled language. They create…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of learners

Children in this pathway enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in Hindi, English and sometimes other languages or dialects. There will be variation in terms of proficiency in Hindi, depending on variables such as home language environment, generational language shift and parental cultural and linguistic background. Children will have varying degrees of literacy capability in both/either Hindi and/or English, and share the experience of belonging to worlds in which languages play a key role. Cognitive and social development at this stage is exploratory and egocentric. The curriculum builds on children’s interests, sense of enjoyment and curiosity, with an emphasis on active learning and confidence building. Hindi is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy, which for some children will be being learnt as a second or additional language. Learning in the two areas differs significantly but each supports and enriches the other.

Hindi language learning and use

Rich language input characterises the first stages of learning. Children are familiar with the sounds and patterns of Hindi, and their fluency and accuracy are further developed through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Children identify and use high-frequency expressions and phrases, and recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts. They use culturally appropriate non-verbal strategies, and produce statements and expressions in response to prompts and cues. They are supported to use Hindi for different language functions, such as asking and responding to questions, expressing wishes, responding to directions, and taking turns in games and simple shared learning activities. They notice that the languages that they know are used differently in different situations and that they themselves communicate differently in some situations when using Hindi, English or other languages. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using Hindi for purposeful interaction in some less familiar contexts.

Contexts of interaction

Children interact with each other and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Information and communications technology (ICT) resources provide additional access to Hindi language and associated cultural experience, connecting children’s social worlds with those of Hindi-speaking children in communities other than their own. Hindi is the dominant language used in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of English when required. The early stage of language and literacy development is supported by use of concrete materials and resources, gestures and body language. Play and imaginative activities, games, music, movement and familiar routines provide essential scaffolding and context for language development.

Texts and resources

Children engage with a variety of spoken, visual, written and digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in songs, rhymes, stories and chants, and various forms of play and simple conversational exchanges. Written and digital texts include stories, shared Big Books, wall charts and teacher-generated materials, such as games, labels, captions and flashcards.

Features of Hindi language use

Children’s familiarity with the spoken form of Hindi supports their introduction to the written form of the language. They make connections between speech and writing, and are introduced to the Devanagari script, recognising and reproducing written forms of the 13 sounds classified as vowels and the 33 consonant sounds. They become familiar with the syllabic structure of the script and the use of matra and conjunct forms of consonants. They recognise basic elements of grammar, such as the subject-object-verb order of sentences, the placing of adjectives before nouns, सुंदर लड़की, छोटा बच्चा, रंग-बिरंगी तितली, agreements for number and gender, मैं, हम, मेरा, तुम्हारा, variable use of pronouns and postpositions and the use of simple verbs to describe actions, गाना, खाना, खेलना, दौड़ना. Writing skills progress from labelling and copying familiar words and phrases to co-constructing simple texts using familiar vocabulary, language features and sentence structures. As children learn to adjust language to suit different purposes and situations, they begin to understand how culture shapes language use. They compare how they feel when they use different languages and how they view different languages and people who use them. This introduction to the meta-dimension of intercultural learning develops the ability to ‘decentre’, to consider different perspectives and ways of being, and to become aware of themselves as communicators and cultural participants.

Level of support

Learning is supported via the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing; and continuous cueing, feedback, response and encouragement.

The role of English

While learners are encouraged to use Hindi whenever possible, English is used when appropriate for discussion, comparison, reflection and explanations. Mixing the two languages is common at this level; it reflects children’s experience in their home communities.

The place of the Hindi language and associated cultures in Australia and the world

Hindi is an official language of India and Fiji. It is the most widely spoken language of the Indian subcontinent and is also widely spoken throughout the world in countries that include the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mauritius, the Gulf countries and Australia. The language and associated cultures have evolved over time due to processes such as colonialism, globalisation and technological change, and to India’s geopolitical and historical position in the world.

The languages of India belong to several language families. Modern Hindi evolved into a distinct language in the New Indo-Aryan Period (from the 11th–12th century). Current understandings of the language are based on the idea of there being a Modern Standard Hindi (मानक हिंदी), based on the Khari Boli dialect spoken in the Delhi area and written in Devanagari script. More broadly, the notion of Hindi also includes a variety of dialect forms that are not covered by this curriculum, such as Braj Bhasa (ब्रज भाषा) and Avadhi (अवधी), which have their own distinctive grammatical standards. Following independence in 1947, the Indian Government instituted a standardisation of grammar, using the Devanagari script to standardise orthography and bring about uniformity in writing. The Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the Official Language of the Union on 14 September 1949, now celebrated each year as Hindi Day.

Hindi follows a consistent set of grammatical standards that derive from the same roots as classical Sanskrit. Its vocabulary includes elements not only from Sanskrit but also from Persian, Arabic, Dravidian, other Indian languages and from world languages such as Turkish, Portuguese and English. The lexicon comprises of words taken directly (तत्सम words) and derived from Sanskrit (तद्भव words), as well as other languages. Like all languages, Hindi has multiple registers and freely uses loan words in different registers of speech and writing. Popular everyday registers incorporate many words derived from Persian and Arabic and increasingly incorporate English loan words and expressions.

Hindi is the first language of a large proportion of the population of India and is spoken by more than half the overall population. It is an official language in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. By virtue of its role as a lingua franca, Hindi has also developed regional dialects, such as Bambaiya Hindi in Mumbai, Dakhini in parts of Telangana and Bangalori Urdu in Bangalore, Karnataka. Hindi’s role as a lingua franca is evidenced in many forms of popular culture, such as music and film.

Hindi has been an important element of Indian educational systems, both as a first and second language and as a language of instruction. In non-Hindi states, Hindi may be learnt as the third language.

Significant Indian migration to Australia began in the 1980s and continued through the 1990s. The majority of migrants come to Australia through family connections, and the number of skilled migrants continue to grow. According to the Australian Census, in 2011 there were 111,352 Hindi speakers in Australia. Most Indians are multilingual and Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the Australian Indian community.

The place of the Hindi language in Australian education

The community’s commitment to maintain and to express Hindi identity through language, culture and religion is reflected in the strength of Hindi language use in home and community contexts and in well-established after-hours Hindi school programs. Since 2007, there has been an increase in numbers of students learning Hindi, primarily in community language schools and weekend language schools in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Some programs are now offered in mainstream schools, including programs that cater for second language learners. Total student numbers are relatively low, but increasing enrolments reflect the growing Indian community in Australia and the Australian Government’s commitment to support linguistic diversity in the community and to develop capabilities in the languages of the region, including Hindi (Australia in the Asian Century white paper 2012).

The nature of Hindi language learning

Hindi language learning in the context of this curriculum reflects the profile of the cohort of learners for whom it is designed. They are background language learners, with different levels of familiarity with the language and associated cultures. For many, this existing capability is more oral than literacy-based, and initial challenges associated with learning relate primarily to literacy development. Modern Standard Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which is also used for Sanskrit, Marathi and Nepali. It is a phonetic script, which accurately represents the sounds and syllabic structure of Hindi. Study of the script involves learning the 13 sounds classified as vowels in their long and short forms and the 33 consonant sounds, distinguished between unaspirated and aspirated consonants and of retroflex and dental ‘ta’ and ‘da’ sounds. There are five Persian and Arabic consonant sounds used in Hindi and represented in script, as well as two ‘flapped’ forms of retroflex ‘r’ sounds. The syllabic structure of Hindi is represented in Devanagari by a system where vowels following consonants are represented by symbols called matra, and two or more consonants can be combined in a syllable without intervening vowels by conjunct forms of consonants.

Learning the Hindi grammatical system is supported by the regularity of key elements. These include a normative subject-object-verb sentence structure and the use of postpositions that impact on agreements with nouns, pronouns and adjectives. Sociolinguistic aspects of Hindi-speaking communities are reflected in aspects of the grammar, such as the system of three levels of pronouns for ‘you’ and linguistic variations that indicate levels of respect. Hindi is a highly inflected language. All nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine, so adjectives agree with nouns, and verbs show agreement for both number and gender. Actions are distinguished not only by time and manner of performance but also through a distinction between habitual actions and actions completed at a particular time. Learning Hindi involves some complexities at higher levels of study, as learners need to understand complex combinations of verbs and the use of causative verb forms, and to recognise ways in which Hindi draws on Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic in the formation of complex compound words in higher registers of speech.

The Hindi language used in the Australian Curriculum reflects the use of Hindi in contemporary times, engaging learners in the full range of contexts in which the language is presently used in India and Australia.

The diversity of learners of Hindi

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Hindi is pitched to background language learners, the dominant cohort of learners in the Australian context. Students vary significantly in terms of language and cultural experience, variability being defined in part by home language environments, generational language shifts and parental cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Learners may be first-, second- or third-generation Australians. Some may have established literacy skills in Hindi; others will use Hindi in the home or community alongside other languages; others will extend their use of it to social or friendship groups. Others may have learnt the language in large part from forms of mass media, such as Bollywood productions, music and popular fiction. Some have more receptive than productive language capabilities.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – HIndi has been developed according to two learning sequences: Foundation – Year 10, and Years 7–10 (Year 7 entry). Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences for these students.

The intercultural language learning orientation of the curriculum explores the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by languages. Background learners of Hindi already have lived experience of this relationship, ‘living between’ Hindi and English in the Australian context. The curriculum provides opportunities for analysis, explicit focus and reflection on this lived experience and further opportunities for students to participate in intercultural experiences, to extend their ways of perceiving and being in the world, and to understand themselves and others as culturally, bi-culturally and inter-culturally situated.

Socialising

Interact with teacher and peers to exchange greetings, talk about themselves and their families, to express thanks, wishes, feelings and preferences
[Key concepts: self, family, home, wishes; Key processes: interacting, greeting, describing]

Participate in guided activities, such as songs, games, simple tasks and transactions, using movement, gestures, pictures and concrete materials to support meaning
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning; Key processes: participating, playing, describing]

Recognise and respond to classroom routines and interactions, such as opening and closing of lessons, transition activities, following instructions and taking turns
[Key concepts: routines, directions, interactions; Key processes: listening, responding, interacting]

Informing

Locate specific phrases and points of information in simple texts such as charts, lists, stories and songs, and use the information to complete guided oral and written tasks
[Key concepts: information, meaning, context, text; Key processes: making meaning, predicting, identifying]

Use simple statements, gestures and support materials to convey factual information about self, family, friends and the immediate environment
[Key concepts: self, interests, environment; Key processes: naming, labelling, describing, presenting]

Creating

Participate in imaginative texts such as stories, rhymes, puppet shows, lullabies or action songs, and respond through singing, dancing, drawing, movement and action
[Key concepts: rhythm, expression, character, response; Key processes: singing, responding, drawing, evaluating; Key text types: stories, songs, poems, rhymes]

Play with sound patterns, rhythm and rhyme to interpret and adapt Hindi stories, poems and songs that involve familiar language and non-verbal forms of expression
[Key concepts: performance, rhythm, expression; Key processes: performing, imagining, creating, presenting; Key text types: songs, plays, mime, puppet shows, drawings, poems]

Translating

Explain the meaning of simple Hindi words, phrases and gestures, noticing similarities or differences with English or other known languages
[Key concepts: language, meaning, translation; Key processes: noticing, comparing, translating, explaining]

Create simple spoken, print or digital texts for the classroom that combine Hindi and English, such as songs, captions, picture dictionaries, wall charts or labels
[Key concepts: bilingualism, vocabulary, translation; Key processes: creating, comparing, matching, comparing]

Reflecting

Notice and describe ways in which they use Hindi and English and how these involve different words and behaviours
[Key concepts: meaning, culture, difference; Key processes: noticing, comparing, reflecting, describing]

Use simple statements, gestures and support materials to identify themselves as members of different groups, including their family, community and school
[Key concepts: identity, self, community, culture; key processes: describing, representing, comparing, reflecting]

Systems of language

Recognise the relationship between the sounds and patterns of pronunciation and elements of the Devanagari script, including the representation of long and short vowels, consonants and conjuncts
[Key concepts: pronunciation, characters, writing; Key processes: listening, distinguishing, reciting, writing]

Understand elements of Hindi grammar, such as the subject-object-verb sentence structure, question, answer and statement forms, agreements for gender and number, the use of pronouns and postpositions and of verbs in relation to actions and commands
[Key concepts: grammar, sentences, patterns, rules; Key processes: noticing, identifying, explaining]

Understand that language is organised as ‘texts’ that take different forms and use different structures to achieve their purposes
[Key concepts: text, meaning, language features; Key processes: recognising, comparing, describing]

Language variation and change

Recognise that different words, expressions and gestures are used by Hindi speakers to interact with different people in different situations
[Key concepts: language variation, respect, difference; Key processes: noticing, selecting, adapting]

Recognise that all languages change over time and borrow words and expressions from each other
[Key concepts: language change, word-borrowing; Key processes: noticing, comparing, identifying]

Recognise that Australia is a multicultural society with communities of speakers of many different languages including Hindi
[Key concepts: culture, multiculturalism, diversity, family, community; Key processes: observing, noting, describing, comparing]

Role of language and culture

Understand that people use language in ways that reflect their culture, such as where and how they live and what is important to them
[Key concepts: language, culture, meaning; Key processes: noticing, comparing, reflecting]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teacher and peers to exchange greetings and talk about themselves and their families, for example, नमस्ते, आप कैसे हैं?, मेरा नाम गीता है, आप का क्या नाम है? मेरे घर में चार लोग हैं। मेरा एक भाई है। मेरी एक बहन है। ये मेरे पिताजी हैं। ये बहुत अच्छे हैं। ये मेरी माता जी हैं। ये बहुत सुन्दर हैं। ये मेरे बड़े भाई हैं। यह मेरी छोटी बहन है। इसका नाम सुधा है। यह पाँच साल की है. They express thanks, likes and dislikes, feelings and wishes, for example, मुझे आइस क्रीम अच्छी लगती है। आप को क्या अच्छा लगता है? मैं आप से नाराज़ हूँ। मुझे खेलना पसंद है। मुझे किताबें पढ़ना पसंद नहीं है। मैं उदास हूँ । मैं बहुत ख़ुश हूँ. They use repetitive language when participating in guided activities and responding to classroom routines, for example, नमस्ते, बच्चो बैठ जाओ, किताब खोलो। जी अच्छा, ठीक है। अपनी किताबें निकालो। पाठ ख़त्म हुआ। अब तुम सब जा सकते हो। कल मिलेंगें। नमस्ते। धन्यवाद. When speaking, they use the sounds and patterns of the Hindi language, for example, त ,थ ,ग ,घ ,ट,ठ ,द ,ध.They identify words and phrases in simple texts and locate and share specific points of information about their immediate environment using illustrations and…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of Indonesian language and culture.

Indonesian language learning and use

In these years there is an emphasis on developing learners’ oral language to enable them to participate in class activities such as shared reading, chants, rhymes, songs and games. They repeat sounds, particularly of vowels, the letter c (ch) and r (trilled), as modelled by the teacher and aural texts. Learners use formulaic language and single-idea phrases. They will recognise the same alphabet as they are learning for writing English and need to observe that some letters have different sounds (for example, c = ch). Learners write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to write words and sentences independently using modelled language, for example, matching pictures with single words, labels and captions.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context for interaction is the language classroom, with the teacher of Indonesian, and peers or buddy classmates. Learners’ use of Indonesian primarily relates to classroom routines and activities, drawing on their curiosity about the world around them and their interest in play, movement and games.

Texts and resources

Written texts include children’s stories and big books, and teacher-generated materials such as pictures with labels and descriptions. Learners listen to, read and view texts, including digital forms such as videos, songs and children’s programs. They respond to teacher generated resources such as cloze, substitution or matching exercises, and produce texts such as captions and recounts using formulaic language, for example, Pada hari…, saya…

Features of Indonesian language use

Students are learning the sounds and written form of Indonesian. They are noticing similarities and differences between Indonesian and English, such as similar vocabulary and word order and differences in the position of adjectives and possessive pronouns Learners ask questions in English about Indonesia and Indonesians. With teacher support, they discuss language and culture in terms of what is the same or different and compare with ‘what is said and done’ in their own language and culture.

Level of support

Support is provided through visual and tactile materials, such as pictures, realia, objects and charts, and the use of gesture and movement. The main source of support is the teacher’s talk, such as questions and statements, explanations, prompts, recycling of language, stories and feedback. Learners rely on modelled language and scaffolded tasks to create their own texts, for example, choosing words to complete sentences or using pictures to sequence captions.

The role of English

Indonesian is used in class interactions and daily routines such as opening and closing of lessons. Indonesian is used by the teacher to model new language, process texts and guide interaction, for example, Ini siapa?, Di mana Hasan? English is used when describing aspects of language and culture such as word order and cultural practices.

The place of the Indonesian language and culture in Australia and in the world

The languages of the Indonesian archipelago have been used in Australia since contact several centuries ago between the peoples of the islands now known as Indonesia and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of northern Australia. Trade between these peoples left lasting effects on languages, cultures and communities, such as in Makassar and Arnhem Land, which continue to this day.

Indonesian — or Bahasa Indonesia as it is known by Indonesian speakers — is spoken by approximately 230 million people throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Closely related dialects of the same language, usually called Malay, are used in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and southern Thailand. Modern Indonesian and Malay trace their origins to Old Malay, which was used in the Srivijayan empire during the seventh century and later in the powerful trading kingdom of Malacca. As a language of trade, Malay spread throughout the archipelago. The colonial rulers of the Dutch East Indies used Malay for treaties, administration and, from the late nineteenth century onwards, education of the local people.

In 1928, Indonesia’s nascent nationalist movement declared that there would be a single national language as the language of Indonesian unity. Following independence in 1945, Bahasa Indonesia was adopted as the new nation’s official language; it became the medium of instruction and an area of study in all schools. Successive generations of Indonesians have now been educated in Indonesian, and for the majority it is one of a number of languages that are used for communication.

Following the countries’ experience of being allies during World War II, close ties were forged between Indonesia and Australia, and many Indonesians arrived in Australia to study as part of the Colombo Plan, which was designed to educate a professional class in order to advance a stable, democratic Indonesia. A number of Indonesians settled in Australia and formed small communities in various capital cities. These communities currently remain small but are steadily growing, with numbers of tertiary students and families from Indonesia living and studying in Australia.

The ties between Australia and Indonesia continue to develop, with an increasing number of Australians (almost one million in 2012) travelling to Indonesia, for leisure, business and education purposes; numbers of Indonesians visiting Australia are also increasing. Indonesia currently has Australia’s largest overseas diplomatic presence, and Australia is the only country outside of Indonesia to host two specialist Indonesian language and cultural centres, known as Balai Bahasa; these provide Indonesian language study for the Australian community.

The place of the Indonesian language in Australian education

Indonesian has been taught in Australian schools and universities since the 1950s. Today Australia is the largest provider outside of Indonesia itself of Indonesian language education for school-aged children. In fact, Australia is recognised as a world leader in expertise on the Indonesian language and Indonesian language education.

Historically the demand for Indonesian language study in Australian schools has been driven by the Australian Government rather than as a direct response to the language maintenance needs of local speakers of the language. Since its introduction, a number of government policy initiatives have supported the teaching of Indonesian, largely for economic and national security reasons. The introduction of Indonesian language studies in 1955 was in response to the Australian Government’s concerns about regional stability in Asia. During the 1990s, with growing national interest in trade with Asia, the Australian Government introduced the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy, which enabled a major expansion of Indonesian in schools, particularly in the primary sector. Indonesian rapidly became the third most studied foreign language in Australian schools. The NALSAS ended in 2002; however, its aims to encourage young Australians to study one of four targeted Asian languages were reignited through the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (2008–2012), which renewed an economic and strategic focus on Asia. In recent years, the commitment of the Australian Government to the teaching and learning of Indonesian in schools has continued, as reflected in documents such as the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper (2012) and election policy announcements.

The nature of Indonesian language learning

Indonesian is a standardised language that is the official language of government, education, business and the media. It has been and continues to be shaped (for example, in terms of lexicon, grammatical structures and idiomatic usage) by other languages, most significantly Javanese, Dutch, Arabic and English. Colloquial forms of Indonesian, such as bahasa sehari-hari and bahasa gaul, are used for informal daily interactions.

Indonesian is written using the Roman alphabet, and there is a clear correlation and a degree of consistency between its sound and its written form. This feature generally makes it easy for speakers of English as a first language to predict how to say, read or write Indonesian words. It has a number of sounds that require learning, such as the trilled r, the ch sound of the letter c, the combined vowel sounds ai and au, the distinction between ng and ngg, and the glottal stop k when it is a final syllable.

Indonesian grammar is characterised by a system of affixation where prefixes and suffixes attached to base words form new words belonging to different word classes or with changed grammatical function. The most common among these that are relevant to this curriculum are the noun and verb forms using the prefixes ber-, me-, pe- and ke-, and the suffixes -kan, -i and -an.

There is a significant distinction between oral and written, as well as formal and informal, Indonesian. Written language, for example, follows grammatical rules of affixation, whereas spoken language often drops affixes, and vowels are often reduced to single sounds; for example, the formal hijau often appears informally as ijo. Spoken language is also frequently meshed with local languages and slang forms.

A major feature of Indonesian is its extensive pronoun system, which can be quite simple in its initial stages (for example, saya, Anda, kamu) but becomes increasingly complex, with multiple forms according to situations and contexts of use. In addition, the use of object-focus construction is marked, and it is frequently used in both spoken and written contexts to create distance between the agent and the action.

Language features are strongly embedded in the cultural worldview that underpins and shapes the language. For example, Indonesia is a unified nation within which there are multiple languages; cultural, religious and ethnic groups; and geographical and political regions. The sense of diversity is reflected in the national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (‘Unity in Diversity’).

The diversity of learners of Indonesian

Most recent figures show that there are approximately 190 000 learners of Indonesian in Australian schools, with the majority in primary schools: F–6 (123 538), 7–10 (64 333) and 11–12 (3713). These figures reflect a relatively strong base for Indonesian in primary schools in particular. The majority of students who study Indonesian at primary school do not continue with the language at secondary school due to factors such as lack of availability of the language or opting to study a different language. Secondary school also represents a new entry point for learners who have not previously studied Indonesian.

The majority of learners of Indonesian in Australian schools are second language learners, with smaller numbers of background learners and first language learners. The Australian Curriculum: Languages for Indonesian is pitched for the majority of the cohort of learners of Indonesian for whom Indonesian is an additional language (referred to in the Australian Curriculum as second language learners). The curriculum has been developed according to two main learning sequences for these learners, Foundation to Year 10 Sequence and Years 7 to 10 (Year 7 Entry) Sequence.

For students learning Indonesian for the first time in a school language program, a key feature of learning the language is understanding the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by the language. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language learning orientation to enable students to participate in intercultural experiences, develop new ways of perceiving and being in the world, and understand themselves in the process.

Socialising

Participate in structured play and class activities, exchanging with peers and teacher greetings and information about self, family and interests
[Key concepts: self, family; Key processes: playing, imitating]

Participate in guided group activities such as games, songs and simple tasks, using movement, gesture and pictures to support meaning
[Key concept: play; Key processes: singing, chanting, drawing]

Participate with teacher and peers in class routines and activities, including following instructions and taking turns
[Key concepts: routine, sharing; Key processes: shared reading, following instructions]

Informing

Locate specific words and familiar phrases in texts such as charts, lists and songs, and use information to complete guided oral and written tasks
[Key concepts: literacy, numeracy; Key processes: selecting, sorting, matching]

Give factual information about self, family and significant objects using labels, captions and descriptions
[Key concepts: self, favourite; Key processes: describing, showing]

Creating

Participate in shared reading and play-acting, and respond through singing, chanting, action and movement
[Key concepts: character, story; Key processes: playing, choral reading; Key text types: fairy tale, fable, comic, cartoon, song, rhyme]

Use familiar words, phrases and patterns to create captions and participate in shared performances and games
[Key concept: performance; Key processes: performing, singing, dancing; Key text types: chant, song, poster, puppet show]

Translating

Translate familiar words and phrases, using visual cues and word lists, noticing how words may have similar or different meanings
[Key concepts: similarity, difference; Key process: noticing]

Create captions, labels and statements for the immediate learning environment in both Indonesian and English
[Key concepts: etiquette, respect, equivalence; Key processes: labelling, displaying]

Reflecting

Notice what may look or feel similar or different to own language and culture when interacting in Indonesian
[Key concepts: communication, respect; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Describe aspects of self such as family, school/class, gender and language/s, noticing how these are part of one’s identity
[Key concept: self; Key processes: describing, noticing]

Systems of language

Reproduce the sound and spelling of the vowels and the letters c (ch) and trilled r, and recognise that Indonesian is written using the Roman alphabet
[Key concept: pronunciation; Key processes: reading aloud, mimicking]

Recognise questions, commands and simple subject-focus sentences, and develop vocabulary for people, places and things in their personal world
[Key concepts: possession, word order; Key processes: naming, noticing patterns]

Understand that language is organised as ‘text’, and recognise features of texts such as songs, chants, labels and captions
[Key concept: text; Key processes: recognising, identifying]

Language variation and change

Recognise that ways of greeting and addressing others may change according to cultural norms
[Key concepts: appropriateness, respect; Key processes: noticing, selecting]

Develop awareness that Indonesian and English borrow from each other.
[Key concept: borrowing; Key process: observing]

Role of language and culture

Notice that the languages people use and the way they use them relate to who they are and where and how they live.
[Key concepts: norm, culture; Key process: making connections]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with teachers and peers through play- and action-related language. They use greetings such as Selamat pagi/siang and respond to instructions such as Berdirilah, Masuklah through actions. Students pronounce the vowel sounds, and c (ch). They respond to questions (for example Apa? Siapa? Berapa?) with responses that include ya/tidak, verbs such as ada/mau/suka/bisa/boleh, and/or names and numbers (up to ten). They identify specific words or items in oral and written texts such as names of objects and people, and respond by using actions or drawing or labelling a picture. They present factual information at word and simple sentence level, such as lists, labels, descriptions and sharing/news reports, relying on formulaic language and modelled examples. They show comprehension and create simple texts such as a description, story or comic by matching pictures and captions. They use vocabulary related to their class and home environments. Students use simple verbs such as lari, main, makan and use the pronouns saya, kamu and Pak/Bu to address others. Students comment on similarities and differences in meanings of words, noticing that some cannot…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of Italian language and culture.

Italian language learning and use

Students use Italian for social interactions such as greetings, asking and answering simple questions, responding to instructions, singing songs, and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks. The focus is on listening to the sounds, shapes and patterns of Italian through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Repetition and recycling help children to identify frequently used words and simple phrases, and to recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts. They identify and use Italian non-verbal communication strategies and experiment with formulaic expressions and one or two-word responses to prompts and cues. Through creative play and action-related talk, children begin to notice that language can behave differently in different situations and that Italian speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. Students are encouraged to notice that they are part of a connected world which includes many languages and cultures, and they begin to become aware of themselves as communicators in particular cultural contexts and communities.

Contexts of interaction

Children interact with each other and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Virtual and digital resources provide access to additional Italian language and cultural experiences, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of Italian-speaking children.

Texts and resources

The transition from spoken to written language is scaffolded through shared exploration of simple texts and language features. Children progress from supported comprehension and a small number of high-frequency and personally significant sight words and phrases to more elaborated simple texts which include a context, purpose and audience. They use grapho-phonic, grammatical, cultural and contextual cues to comprehend texts and communicative interactions. Writing skills progress from labelling and copying words, to writing simple texts using familiar vocabulary, and language structures and features. Written texts that students experience include children’s stories, big books, descriptions, recounts and labels.

Features of Italian language use

Students focus on the sounds of the alphabet, in particular the vowel sounds, and ‘c’ (ciao) and ‘ch’ (Chi?), and on intonation patterns and the use of accents. Students are also introduced to nouns and pronouns. They learn simple sentence structure using subject–verb–object order as well as how to form questions. They explore the idea of masculine and feminine gender, how to use singular and plural forms, the negative form non and the placement of adjectives.

Level of support

Students’ learning is highly experiential and activity-related, and is supported by the use of concrete materials and resources, visual supports, gestures and body language. Scaffolding includes modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing; and continuous cues, feedback and encouragement.

The role of English

Children are encouraged to use Italian whenever possible. They use English to talk about differences and similarities they notice between Italian, English and other known; about how they feel when they hear or use Italian; and about how they view different languages and the people who speak them. English is used by both the teacher and learners for talking about the language and about learning, and for noticing, questioning and explaining.

The place of the Italian language and culture in Australia and the world

Italian, also known as Standard Italian or italiano standard, is the official language of Italy, the Vatican City, San Marino and parts of Switzerland. It is also an official language of the European Union, and a major community language in countries such as Australia, Luxembourg, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, and in parts of Africa.

Italian is, and has been for many years, one of the major community languages in Australia.

The place of the Italian language in Australian education

Italian has been taught in Australian schools and universities since the 1930s. Initially it was offered alongside French and German as a ‘language of culture’, and Italian curricula borrowed a strong literary and grammatical emphasis from the precedent of Latin. Italian was an important area of academic study providing access to the rich literary, musical and artistic heritage of Italy, with less attention paid to actual communication or contemporary culture. The distance between this academic approach to Italian learning and the real-world experiences of Italian-speaking communities was considerable.

In addition to the presence of Italian learning in schools, in the 1960s the Italian community established extensive Saturday morning schools to provide Italian language learning for their children. In the 1980s, Italian learning and teaching in Australia increased significantly, especially in primary schools, as a result of policies supporting multiculturalism, in particular the release of the National Policy on Languages (1987), which strongly promoted linguistic and cultural pluralism. In this decade, Italian community organisations established ‘insertion’ programs, hosted within regular day schools, to supplement the weekend and after-hours classes directly run by communities. This coincided with a new emphasis in all language teaching and learning on linking school language learning directly to language use in communities, moving away from traditional grammar- or literature-oriented to more communicatively oriented programs. The focus in these communicative programs was on learning language for use in ‘real’ everyday interactions.

The nature of Italian language learning

Italian belongs to the Romance family of languages and is closely connected to its ‘sibling’ languages of Spanish, Portuguese and French. It also has many commonalities and connections with English, sharing many Latin-derived words and using the same Roman alphabet. The meaning of many Italian words can be instantly recognised through their similarity to English. There are points of difference between Italian and English grammars — for example, variations in word order, tense use, the use of articles, and the gendering in Italian of nouns and adjectives — but overall the Italian language is not linguistically or culturally ‘distant’ for English-speaking learners. Phonologically, Italian is relatively accessible to the English-speaking learner. It is a mostly phonetic language, pronounced generally as it is written, which is especially helpful in the development of listening and speaking skills. There is clear emphasis on all syllables, and intonation follows regular rhythms and patterns.

As Italian is widely spoken in Australia, many opportunities exist to hear and use the language in real-life situations, as well as through the Italian media in Australia and in actual and virtual connections with Italian communities in Italy and beyond.

There are also regional dialects of Italian that are used in local contexts both in Italy and beyond. Some students may bring their experience of the use of regional dialects to the Italian classroom.

The diversity of learners of Italian

Learners of Italian in Australian schools come from a wide range of backgrounds, and include learners for whom this represents a first experience of learning Italian; learners who have existing connections with Italian, most directly as background Italian speakers, as second- or third-generation Italian Australians; and learners who may have experience in a related variety of Italian or another Romance language.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages — Foundation–Year 10 Italian is pitched to second language learners as the dominant group of learners of the Italian language in the Australian context. Teachers may use the Italian F–10 curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments.

Socialising

Interact with the teacher and peers to greet, to introduce themselves, and to name and describe favourite things, friends, family members and special talents, through action-related talk and play
[Key concepts: self, family, friendship; Key processes: participating, playing, observing]

Participate in shared action with peers and teacher, contributing ideas through key words, images, movement and song
[Key concept: exchange; Key processes: sharing, deciding together]

Participate in real or simulated transactions using simple language and gestures in activities and games involving buying and selling
[Key concept: exchange; Key processes: exchanging, describing]

Participate in classroom routines, games, instructions and shared activities
[Key concepts: routine, play, sharing, reward; Key process: expressing preferences]

Informing

Locate specific items of information in texts using early literacy skills
[Key concepts: text, observation, number, meaning; Key processes: noticing, decoding, selecting]

Give factual information about known people, everyday objects, family celebrations and personal experiences
[Key concepts: self, ownership/possession, celebration; Key process: conveying information]

Creating

Participate in shared reading/viewing of short imaginative texts and respond by drawing, miming, performing and other forms of expression
[Key concepts: story, imagination, response, character; Key processes: participating, responding, predicting, performing; Key text type: narrative/story]

Create stories and perform imaginary experiences
[Key concepts: performance, expression; Key processes: miming, performing]

Translating

Share with others what they can express in Italian, and explain how meanings are similar or different
[Key concepts: code, translation; Key processes: comparing, explaining]

Create a personal or shared record of ‘interesting’ words in Italian
[Key concepts: similarity, difference; Key process: comparing]

Reflecting

Begin noticing what is ‘new’ or ‘interesting’ in Italian language and culture and recognising similarities and differences between Italian and Australian cultural practices and related language use
[Key concepts: self, other, respect; Key processes: noticing, identifying]

Identify and describe aspects of self in relation to others
[Key concepts: family, self, identity; Key processes: connecting, relating, observing]

Systems of language

Reproduce the sounds of the Italian language.

Notice and use some aspects of the Italian language system, including gender forms, simple sentence structures and the placement of adjectives.

Understand that language is organised as texts.

Language variation and change

Recognise that different words are used in Italian to address and greet different people according to relationship, setting and time of the day.

Recognise that Italian and English borrow words from each other.

Understand that Italian is one of many community languages spoken in Australia including Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, Asian languages and world languages.

Role of language and culture

Notice and reflect (mainly in English) on different cultural practices and the specific ways of using language in different cultures.

By the end of Year 2, students use Italian to communicate with their teacher and peers through action-related talk and play. They demonstrate comprehension by responding both verbally and non-verbally. They imitate simple words and phrases. They respond to familiar games and routines such as questions about self and family (for example, Come ti chiami? Dove abiti?), and choose among options, for example, in response to questions such as Vuoi il gelato o la caramella? They produce learnt sounds and formulaic expressions (for example, È bello! Non mi piace), or partial phrases, often providing only part of the required response in Italian or using a key word to convey a whole idea. They experiment with and approximate Italian pronunciation, for example, producing vowel sounds and ‘c’ and ‘ch’ pronunciation with some accuracy. They differentiate between statements and questions according to intonation. They make meaning using paralinguistic and contextual support such as pictures, gestures and props. They write descriptions, lists, labels and captions, using familiar words and phrases selected from modelled language, for example, rearranging sentence…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate worlds of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of Japanese language and culture.

Japanese language learning and use

The initial focus is on listening to the sounds and patterns of Japanese through language-rich activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Repetition and recycling help children to identify frequently used words, simple phrases and non-verbal communication strategies employed in greetings and other social interactions. Learners experiment with simple responses to prompts and cues.

They are introduced to the scripts through initial exposure to high-frequency kanji, focusing on their ideographic nature before learning the associated Japanese sounds. They learn hiragana using a play-based approach that incorporates chanting, the use of mnemonics and a focus on the creative and crafted process of writing Japanese kana. As they learn to read hiragana they draw on first language literacy skills such as predicting the meaning of unfamiliar elements using contextual cues or by linking them to known elements.

Reading skills begin with recognition of single kanji or hiragana and progress to reading whole words and familiar phrases. Writing skills progress from labelling pictures with single kanji and tracing and copying words in hiragana to scaffolded writing of words and short phrases.

As they progress to using Japanese for functions such as asking and answering questions, responding to classroom instructions, singing songs, and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks, children begin to notice that language behaves differently in different situations and that Japanese speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. They practise and repeat formulaic expressions and gestures such as bowing that differ in Japanese from ways of communicating in English. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using Japanese for purposeful interaction.

Contexts of interaction

Children use Japanese to interact with one another and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Information and communications technology (ICT) resources provide additional access to Japanese language and cultural experiences.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, visual and written texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas, and join in stories, songs, plays and simple conversations. Written and digital texts include stories, wall charts, Big Books, and teacher-produced materials such as games, captions and flashcards.

Features of Japanese language use

Learners become familiar with the sound systems of the Japanese language, including pronunciation and rhythm. They learn to pronounce individual sounds and sound combinations. They understand basic word order in simple sentences, indicate affirmative or negative responses, respond to requests, and notice different levels of formality when addressing friends, family and teachers. They discuss similarities and differences that they notice between Japanese and their first language(s) and culture(s), such as adjective–noun patterns, adding か to ask a question, and ways of showing respect.

Level of support

Learning is supported through the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling and monitoring by the teacher, provision of rich and varied sources of input, opportunities for recycling and reviewing, and regular cues, feedback, response and encouragement. At this stage, play and imaginative activities, music, movement and familiar routines provide the essential scaffolding for language development.

The role of English

While children are encouraged to use Japanese whenever possible, with the teacher providing rich and varied language input, English is used as a medium of instruction, and for explanation and discussion. This allows learners to discuss differences and similarities they notice between Japanese and their own language(s) and culture(s), to ask questions, and to express their reactions to the experience of learning and using an additional language.

The place of Japanese culture and language in Australia and in the world

Japanese is the official language of Japan, Australia’s northern neighbour in the Asia region. It is also widely used by communities of speakers in Hawaii, Peru and Brazil, and learnt as an additional language by large numbers of students in the Republic of Korea, China, Indonesia and Australia.

Australia has a significant number of Japanese national residents, particularly in the major cities on the eastern seaboard. Japanese culture influences many areas of contemporary Australian society, including the arts, design, technology, fashion, popular culture and cuisine. Japan has been a close strategic and economic partner of Australia’s for more than 50 years, and there is ongoing exchange between the two countries in the areas of education, trade, diplomacy and tourism. Japan is an important nation within Asia and a significant contributor to economic, political and diplomatic relations in the region.

The place of the Japanese language in Australian education

Japanese has been taught in Australia for more than 100 years and is widely taught as a second language in Australian schools. The 1960s saw significant growth in the learning of Japanese, with the establishment of many university programs that produced graduate language teachers who worked alongside native-speaking teachers to establish school-based programs. Increased trade and tourism activity between Japan and Australia in the following decades strengthened interest in Japanese-language learning, and government funding such as the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy (1994-2002) and the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP, 2008-12) contributed to growth and further development in both the primary and secondary sectors. The strong relationship between Australia and Japan has led to many collaborative projects in education and intercultural exchange. The Japanese government and private foundations support the teaching and learning of Japanese in Australia through funding professional learning and resource development centres and through involvement in educational exchanges.

The near-parallel time zones and the geographical proximity of Japan to Australia facilitate access, interaction and communication between the two countries. Student exchanges, community engagement such as sister-school and city relationships, and connections developed through other curriculum areas such as art, design and literature provide opportunities for Australian learners of Japanese to interact with Japanese people and to engage in cultural experience. Increasing numbers of students benefit from exchanges and in-country experience. Technology provides many additional opportunities for interaction and exchange with Japanese-speaking people and cultures.

The nature of Japanese language learning

Japanese is the language used by the Japanese for education, business and media communication. Some dialect variations are used in spoken interactions in different regions of the country.

Japanese is a phonetic language. Pronunciation is predictable, and new words can be pronounced easily upon mastery of hiragana characters.

Japanese uses three scripts for writing: hiragana, the basic phonetic script representing the sounds of Japanese; katakana, the companion phonetic script that is largely used for loan words; and kanji, Chinese characters that represent meaning rather than sound (ideographs). The three scripts are used interdependently. Hiragana is typically the first script learnt, with katakana and kanji first introduced in context then taught systematically, contributing to script knowledge and competence. The many loan words from other languages expressed through katakana reflect the impact of globalisation, technology and popular culture on Japanese language and culture.

Japanese grammar is relatively uniform, with few irregularities, no grammatical gender, and predictable and systematic conjugation of adjectives and verb tenses. There are some differences between Japanese and English elements and patterns, such as the Japanese word order of subject–object–verb. This order forms the basis of sentences that can then be enhanced by the addition of details usually placed before the main items. Pronouns can be omitted and it is not always necessary to articulate the subject of a sentence. Counting and numbering in Japanese involve using classifiers that reflect the nature of the item. Particles are used to mark sentence elements and to indicate the nature of verbs.

An element of the language that may be unfamiliar to some Australian learners is the system of plain and polite forms, which reflect hierarchical relations, social and business-related positioning and issues of respect and status. Plain and polite forms are represented differently in both spoken and written language. Conversational Japanese can be less formal than written Japanese, using shortened sentences, abbreviated plain forms and some omitted particles.

Another feature of Japanese culture reflected in language use is the importance accorded to expressing humility and maintaining harmony. Refusing or deflecting praise of self or family, deferential behaviour and avoidance of direct disagreement or refusal are common characteristics of communicative interactions.

A key aspect of the curriculum involves understanding the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by Japanese language. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language learning orientation to enable students to participate meaningfully in intercultural experiences, to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world, and to understand more about themselves in the process.

The diversity of learners of Japanese

While learners of Japanese in Australian schools vary in terms of language backgrounds, cultural experience and prior learning experience, they are predominantly second language learners. Classes may include students with a background in Japanese or in a script-based Asian language. Some students will have had exposure to Japanese language and culture through social interactions, travel or exchange experiences.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Japanese is pitched for the majority of the cohort of learners of Japanese for whom Japanese is an additional language (referred to in the Australian Curriculum as second language learners). The curriculum has been developed according to two main learning sequences for these learners, Foundation to Year 10 Sequence and Years 7 to 10 (Year 7 Entry) Sequence.

Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for the range of different learner backgrounds described above by making appropriate adjustments to personalise learning experiences for these students.

Socialising

Exchange greetings and introduce and share information about self with the teacher and peers using simple language and gestures
[Key concepts: self, interaction, politeness, preferences; Key processes: greeting, interacting, introducing, describing]

Participate in guided group activities such as games, songs and simple tasks, using movement, gestures and pictures to support understanding and to convey meaning
[Key concepts: play, action learning, collaboration; Key processes: participating, turn-taking, interacting]

Participate in classroom routines such as addressing and responding to the teacher, opening and closing of lessons, transition activities, following instructions, thanking and asking for help, using appropriate gestures and behaviour
[Key concepts: routines, rules, interactions; Key processes: participating, responding, requesting, apologising]

Informing

Locate items of information in simple texts such as charts, songs, rhymes, video clips and anime to complete guided tasks
[Key concepts: information, meaning, text, context; Key processes: listening, identifying, demonstrating, making meaning]

Convey factual information about self, family, friends and significant objects, using simple statements, gestures and support materials
[Key concepts: self, family, immediate environment; Key processes: naming, labelling, presenting, describing]

Creating

Participate in shared listening to, viewing and reading of imaginative texts, and respond through singing, chanting, miming, play-acting, drawing, action and movement
[Key concepts: imagination, response, expression; Key processes: responding, performing, sharing, expressing]

Participate in shared performances and presentations of stories, songs, chants and rhymes
[Key concepts: performance, narration, image, rhythm; Key processes: acting, creating, composing, expressing]

Translating

Translate words and familiar phrases used in everyday situations from Japanese into English and vice versa, noticing how some words are shared between Japanese and English
[Key concepts: meaning, translation, explanation; Key processes: translating, demonstrating, interpreting]

Create simple print or digital bilingual texts for the classroom environment, such as captions, labels and wall charts
[Key concepts: meaning, vocabulary, bilingualism; Key processes: creating, matching, selecting]

Reflecting

Notice and describe some ways in which Japanese language and communicative behaviour are similar or different to own language(s) and cultural forms of expression
[Key concepts: language, culture, similarity and difference, respect; Key processes: noticing, comparing, considering]

Use simple statements and gestures to express aspects of self, such as membership of family, friendship, gender, school/class or cultural groups
[Key concepts: identity, self, group, communication; Key processes: describing, explaining, identifying]

Systems of language

Recognise sounds and rhythms of spoken Japanese, and learn how sounds are produced and represented in the three different scripts
[Key concepts: mora, rhythm, intonation; Key processes: listening, distinguishing, recognising]

Recognise and copy some hiragana and a few high-frequency kanji
[Key concepts: script, kana, kanji, phonemic awareness, meaning; Key processes: recognising, tracing, copying]

Understand the structure of basic sentences in Japanese and recognise some key elements of Japanese grammar
[Key concepts: grammar, vocabulary, syntax; Key processes: recognising, describing, indicating]

Understand that language is organised as ‘text’, and that different types of texts, such as storybooks, songs, chants, labels or rhymes, have different features
[Key concepts: text, meaning, genre, metalanguage; Key processes: recognising, identifying, describing]

Language variation and change

Recognise that there are differences in how language is used in different cultural and social contexts, such as ways of greeting and addressing people
[Key concepts: variation, context, culture; Key processes: exploring, identifying, comparing]

Recognise that Japanese and English borrow words and expressions from each other and from other languages
[Key concepts: language, change, word borrowing; Key processes: noticing, recognising, classifying]

Role of language and culture

Understand that language and culture are closely connected
[Key concepts: language, culture, meaning; Key processes: noticing, reflecting, questioning]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teacher and peers through play- and action-related language. They use formulaic expressions and appropriate gestures in everyday interactions such as exchanging greetings and farewells, for example, おはようございます、おはよう、こんにちは、さようなら、また、あした, thanking and apologising, and giving and receiving, for example, どうぞ、どうも. They use visual, non-verbal and contextual support such as pictures, gestures, facial expressions and props to make meaning of simple texts. When listening to simple repetitive spoken texts, they identify key words such as names or numbers of objects or people, and demonstrate comprehension by actions, drawing or labelling. They respond to instructions through actions, for example, きいて　ください。みて　ください 。, and respond to questions, for example, だれなに どこ with single words and set phrases and by selecting images or objects, for example, いぬ　です　か。ねこ　です　か 。. They present information about themselves, their family, friends and favourite things at word and simple sentence level, using formulaic and modelled language. They describe people and objects using adjectives to indicate colour, shape and size, for example, あかい　りんご、おおきい、まるい….

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically, they have little to no experience of Korean language and culture.

Korean language learning and use

Korean language learning at this stage is focused on developing learners’ oral language and familiarising learners with the language through interaction involving enjoyment, imagination and action. Through classroom routines and action-related activities such as playing games, dancing, singing and chanting, students learn and use Korean to socialise with others and explore the primary world around them. Non-verbal expressions such as miming, movement and gestures are an important part of students’ learning. Children begin to hear single words, phrases and short simple texts in Korean, relating them to concrete objects and people seen and known in their immediate environment, to what they feel and do, and to topics about self, home, family, and classroom activities. They listen to, use and experiment with simple formulaic language for routines such as greetings, introductions and classroom language, and become familiar with meaningful sounds in Korean. With the introduction of Hangeul, children become further aware of the relationships between sounds and letters, and between syllables and syllable blocks in Korean speech and script. As their phonological awareness increases, they begin to develop literacy in Korean, identifying simple Korean words in short texts through activities such as shared/supported reading or sight word games. They start to write Hangeul by copying or tracing words, and later co-construct longer texts such as chants and rhymes. Through the repeated use of simple patterns where basic key particles, verb endings and honorific elements are used, children notice that some Korean grammatical elements and rules are different from those of English. As students use simple language patterns with culturally appropriate gestures or body language, they recognise elements of Korean culture such as politeness embedded in the Korean language and its use, and become aware that there are different ways to communicate using languages other than their own.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context for students’ interaction is the language classroom, with the teacher of Korean language and peers. Students may have some access to Korean-speaking peers in wider school or community settings. Their use of Korean primarily relates to classroom routines and activities, drawing on their interest in play, movement and games and on their curiosity about the world around them.

Texts and resources

Learners have exposure to a variety of spoken, visual and written/digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, and take part in songs, play, stories and simple conversations. Written and digital texts include picture books, wall charts, Big Books and teacher-generated materials such as games, labels, captions and flashcards. Writing development is supported through tracing and copying simple words as sight words and short modelled sentences in texts such as greeting cards or captions, and through co-creating shared resources such as word walls or storyboards.

Features of Korean language use

Students become familiar with the sound system of the Korean language, recognising Korean pronunciation as being different from that of their own language/s. They learn to pronounce syllable blocks as part of sight words, recognising the association between simple vowel and consonant sounds with their corresponding letters. They recognise, use and distinguish simple Korean intonation patterns for statements and questions. They become familiar with and use the pattern of simple basic sentences such as those with –요 at the end, and notice similarities and differences between Korean and English. They begin to develop curiosity about Korea and Korean people and about different ways of making meaning using Korean.

Level of support

Children need rich language input and their learning is supported with the ample provision of scaffolding and language modelling. They need opportunities to build and test hypotheses about the Korean language and culture, to review, recycle and revise them, and to adjust their use of the Korean language and understanding of Korean culture. Attention to diversity in students’ learning needs and backgrounds, and to the provision of continuous encouragement, cues, feedback and opportunities for learners to reflect, support these hypothesis building and testing processes. As the main source of target language input, the teacher provides ample models and examples of the Korean language and culture with the support of visual cues and resources such as pictures, realia, objects and charts.

The role of English

While the teacher and learners are encouraged to use Korean wherever possible, English is used for discussion, reflection, questions and explanations relating to complex ideas or aspects of languages or cultures, and in tasks which involve moving between the two languages, such as bilingually naming objects or images.

The place of the Korean culture and language in Australia and the world

Korean is the language of one of Australia’s important neighbours in the Asian region and is spoken by around 80 million people in the Korean Peninsula and worldwide. With the rapidly growing popularity of and interest in Korean culture across the world, the number of people learning Korean is also growing fast in many countries in Asia, Oceania, the North and South Americas, Europe and Africa. In Australia, Korean is spoken by more than 150 000 people, and the presence of the Korean culture and language, together with Korean brands of high-technology products, is increasingly evident in various sectors of society.

Australia and the Republic of Korea have established and reinforced people-to-people relationships through cultural and educational exchanges for more than half a century. The first recorded contact between Australia and Korea took place in the late 19th century through Australian missionaries visiting the Korean Peninsula. In the early 20th century, there was a period when contact between the two countries was not possible due to the Japanese colonial rule over Korea. With the end of World War II and Australia’s participation in the United Nations Commissions on Korea (UNCOK) in 1947 and in the Korean War (1950–1953), the two countries formed a strong bond and have established a strong trade partnership. With an increasing awareness of the need to expand the partnership to other sectors, awareness of the need to better understand the country and culture, and to learn the language, has also increased as opportunities for exchanges and collaborations are expanding to education, science and technology, culture, media, sports, leisure, tourism and community activities. Visitors from Korea, including primary-aged students on study trips, may provide young Australian learners of Korean with opportunities for rich cultural and linguistic experiences.

The place of the Korean language in Australian education

There have been a number of government policy initiatives that have supported the teaching of Korean in Australian education since it was introduced to Australian schools in the early 1990s. During the 1990s, with growing national interest in trade with Asia, the Australian Government introduced the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy. Later, the aims of NALSAS were reignited through the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program, which ran from the late 2000s until the early 2010s with a renewed economic and strategic focus on Asia, encouraging young Australians to study Korean, one of four targeted Asian languages. In recent years, the commitment of the Australian Government to the teaching and learning of Korean in schools has continued as is evident in documents such as South Korea: Country Strategy (Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2013).

With the support of the Australian Government for learning and teaching Korean in Australian schools and growing interest in Korean culture and opportunities to encounter Koreans and Korean products, there is an increasing demand for Korean language education from the community. Among young learners in Australia, there has been a significant increase in the popularity of Korean culture, including traditional and youth/pop culture, as seen in frequent performances of traditional Korean dance and music and in the surge of popularity of K-pop (Korean pop). There is also an increasing awareness of possible career opportunities for those who have attained a high level of proficiency in the Korean language and a sound intercultural understanding.

The nature of Korean language learning

The Korean language has its own alphabetic writing system called Hangeul. Hangeul consists of 24 basic letters, comprising 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. Learning Hangeul involves learning how to combine consonants and vowels to produce a syllable in Korean, which corresponds to a syllabic block in its written form. As students learn Hangeul, they also learn about its philosophical, scientific, linguistic and cultural underpinnings, where the three elements of vowel letters (•, ㅡ, ㅣ) symbolise the three respective elements in oriental cosmology – heaven, earth and human – and consonant letters symbolise the shapes of the speech organs: lips, teeth, tongue and throat. Students’ learning is enhanced by understanding the importance of Hangeul’s creator, King Sejong the Great, who, in the 15th century, believed that his people’s wellbeing was directly related to literacy and could be enhanced through the creation of a writing system that would represent their spoken language.

Korean is an agglutinative language. Students learn how to agglutinate various particles or suffixes to nominals or verb stems to express a range of grammatical, semantic or pragmatic information. The word order of Korean is subject–object–verb (SOV); however, learners also learn that word order in Korean is flexible as long as the verb-final rule is observed, and that contextually understood elements may be left unexpressed in Korean discourse. Honorifics are one of the important features of Korean. Students learn how to use Korean to express their thoughts with cultural bearing through the systematic use of honorifics and through non-verbal behaviour that corresponds to the chosen honorific. The Korean language easily incorporates words from other languages. Students learn about Korean culture as well as how to use the language in culturally appropriate ways.

The diversity of learners of Korean

Australian students have multiple, diverse and changing needs that are shaped by different individual, personal and learning histories as well as personal, cultural and language backgrounds. Learners of Korean in Australia can be identified in three major groups: second language learners (learners who are introduced to learning Korean at school); background language learners (learners who may use Korean at home, not necessarily exclusively, and have knowledge of Korean language and culture to varying degrees); and first language learners (learners who have had their primary socialisation as well as initial literacy development in Korean, and use Korean at home as their first language).

The Australian Curriculum: Languages, Foundation to Year 10 for Korean is pitched to second language learners. The curriculum has been developed according to two main learning sequences for these learners: Foundation – Year 10, and Years 7–10. Teachers will use the Korean F–10 curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences for these students.

For students learning Korean for the first time in a school language program, a key component of their learning is to understand the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by the language. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language learning orientation to enable students to participate meaningfully in intercultural experiences, to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world and to understand more about themselves in the process.

Socialising

Interact and socialise with peers and teacher to greet, introduce themselves and give basic personal information
[Key concepts: self, family; Key processes: greeting, playing, imitating]

Engage in guided group activities and simple exchanges such as playing games;group singing or dancing; contributing ideas through key words, images, mimes
[Key concepts: play, group; Key processes: singing, chanting, observing, drawing]

Interact in familiar classroom routines and follow simple classroom instructions
[Key concepts: routines,interactions; Key processes: observing, responding]

Informing

Locate specific words and expressions in simple texts such as signs, titles and captions, and use information to complete guided oral and written tasks
[Key concepts: text, meaning; Key processes: locating, noticing,matching]

Share simple information about themselves, known people, everyday objects and places of interest
[Key concepts: self, preference; Key processes:describing, showing]

Creating

Participate in chants,choral and shared reading of short imaginative texts in audio-visual, print and digital media such as cartoons, stories or rhymes, and responding through play-acting, illustrating, miming or making short statements
[Key concepts:character, story; Key processes: playing, choral reading]

Create captions to images for individual presentation and participate in shared performances and imaginative activities using familiar words, phrases and language patterns
[Key concepts: performance; Key processes:drawing, singing, dancing]

Translating

Translate familiar words and phrases, using visual cues and word lists, explaining the meaning of particular words, gestures and expressions
[Key concepts: similarity, difference; Key processes: noticing]

Create labels, captions or short statements in Korean and English for the immediate learning environment and for familiar objects or images
[Key concepts: counterpart; Key processes: naming, labelling,matching]

Reflecting

Notice aspects of Korean language and culture that are ‘new’, sharing how interacting in Korean can be different to interacting in own language/s
[Key concepts: respect, acceptance; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Recognise themselves as members of different groups, including the Korean class, the school, their family and community, and consider their roles within these different groups
[Key concepts: self, role; Key processes:noticing]

Systems of language

Recognise the sounds of the Korean language and the forms of Hangeul syllable blocks, and understand that the syllable block is the basic unit of writing in Korean, associating individual syllable blocks with their pronunciations
[Key concepts: phonic awareness, meaningfulness, unit of writing; Key processes:recognising, discriminating, mimicking]

Recognise some basic features of the Korean grammatical system, such as the verb- final rule, the sentence-final –요,and notice chunks in which a noun or pronoun is combined with a case marker as part of a sentence
[Key concepts: word order, politeness; Key processes: noticing, selecting]

Notice and use simple vocabulary to identify familiar objects and to describe simple actions, states or qualities in familiar contexts
[Key concepts: word, meaning, name; Key processes: noticing, selecting]

Notice and identify different types of simple spoken,written and digital texts used for different purposes in familiar contexts
[Key concepts: text; Key processes:recognising, identifying]

Language variation and change

Recognise that there are different words and expressions used by Korean speakers to address and greet people in different contexts and situations
[Key concepts: appropriateness, respect; Key processes: noticing,

Recognise that languages change continuously and borrow words from each other
[Key concepts: word-borrowing; Key processes: noticing, selecting]

Recognise that Korean is one of many languages spoken in multicultural Australia and in the world
[Key concepts: multilingualism, community; Key processes: noticing, naming]

Role of language and culture

Understand that ways people use language reflect their culture, such as where and how they live and what is important to them, finding examples of similarities and differences between Korean and Australian ways of communicating
[Key concepts: language, culture, meaning; Key processes: noticing, making connections]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with peers and teachers through play- and action-related talk, exchanging greetings and introducing themselves (for example, 안녕하세요?; 안녕?; 저는 …이에요/예요 used as a set phrase) with gestures. They respond to question cues (such as 뭐예요?) by naming objects with single words (for example, 눈! 코! 입! 고양이!) or using short, simple sentences as set phrases (for example, 눈이에요, 고양이예요). They respond to teacher instructions such as 따라 하세요, 일어나세요 by imitating the teacher’s actions or speech, and to the teacher’s simple closed-ended questions by giving short answers such as 있어요/없어요 or 네/아니요. They make simple requests using … 주세요 and thank each other or the teacher using 고맙습니다 with appropriate gestures. They mimic and approximate Korean pronunciation of simple words, and locate and read specific words such as names of people or objects provided in familiar types of short texts. Students present simple information relating to themselves, their friends or everyday objects, using simple words and set phrases. They create and perform their own simple texts using modelled examples and formulaic language. Students use vocabulary related to their class and…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of Spanish language and culture.

Spanish language learning and use

The initial focus is on listening to the sounds and patterns of Spanish through language-rich activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Repetition and recycling help children to identify frequently used words and simple phrases and to recognise the purpose of simple texts. Children identify and use non-verbal communication strategies employed by Spanish speakers in greetings and other social interactions and experiment with simple responses to prompts and cues. As they progress to using Spanish for functions such as asking and answering questions, responding to instructions, singing songs, and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks, they begin to notice that language can behave differently in different situations and that Spanish speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. They practise and repeat sounds (such as j, ll and r) which differ in Spanish from those in English. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using Spanish for purposeful interaction, for example, asking for help or expressing surprise.

The transition from spoken to written language is scaffolded through shared exploration of simple texts. Children progress from supported comprehension and use of a small number of personally significant sight words to more elaborated simple texts. Writing skills progress from labelling pictures and copying words to constructing simple texts using familiar vocabulary and structures. As children learn to adjust language to suit different purposes and situations, they begin to learn the important role of culture in shaping language use.

Contexts of interaction

Learners use Spanish to interact with one another and with the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Information and communication technologies (ICT) resources provide additional access to Spanish language and cultural experience, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of Spanish-speaking children in different contexts.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, visual and written texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in stories, songs, play and simple conversations. Written and digital texts include stories, wall charts, Big Books and teacher-produced materials such as games, captions and flashcards. Writing skills progress from tracing and copying high-frequency words to independently writing modelled words and sentences (for example, greeting cards or labels) and co-creating shared resources such as word walls or storybooks.

Features of Spanish language use

Learners become familiar with the sound systems of the Spanish language, including pronunciation, rhythm, pitch and stress. They learn to pronounce individual letters and letter combinations, and recognise and use the intonation patterns that distinguish between statements, questions and exclamations. They use simple basic sentence structures and learn to write single words and simple phrases. They become familiar with the idea of grammatical gender and plural forms. They discuss differences and similarities they notice between Spanish and their first language(s) and culture(s), as well as how they feel when they hear or use Spanish and how they view different languages and the people who speak them. They begin to develop curiosity around the idea of difference, culture and communication.

Level of support

Learning is supported through the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling and monitoring by the teacher, provision of rich and varied sources of input, opportunities for recycling and reviewing, and regular cues, feedback, response and encouragement. At this stage, play and imaginative activities, music, movement and familiar routines provide the essential

The place of the Spanish language and the cultures of Spanish speakers in Australia and in the world

Spanish is a global language spoken by approximately 500 million people across the world. Spanish evolved from Latin on the Iberian Peninsula in around the ninth century, and travelled from Spain to the Caribbean and to North, Central and South America as a result of the expeditions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The language has been enriched by many other languages, including Arabic, Basque, Greek, French, English and the indigenous languages of the Americas.

Today, most Spanish-speaking countries are plurilingual, and the indigenous languages of these countries – such as the Guaraní language of Paraguay, and Quechua, Aymara and more than 30 other languages in Bolivia – are co-official with Spanish. Spain also has other official languages besides Spanish, including Catalan, Galician and Basque/Euskera.

The migration of Spanish speakers to Australia began in the nineteenth century and increased during the twentieth century with people migrating from countries such as Spain, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru and Guatemala. Patterns of migration of Spanish speakers to Australia during the twentieth century were influenced by a variety of factors, including economic and political circumstances. Migration from Spanish-speaking countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Ecuador continues in the twenty-first century and is currently influenced by interest in tertiary education and employment opportunities presented by trade agreements in sectors such as mining, agriculture, defence, technology and education. Due to this steady history of migration from Spanish-speaking countries to Australia, Spanish remains an important community language throughout Australia.

The place of the Spanish language in Australian education

The universities were the first Australian educational institutions to undertake the formal teaching of Spanish. By the end of the 1960s, Spanish language departments had been established in a number of Australian universities.

Spanish language programs are currently available in all states and territories at all levels of schooling. Programs are offered across all educational sectors, including community language schools and other after-hours providers. Many university and school Spanish programs provide opportunities for Australian students to enrich their language learning through travel to Spanish-speaking countries.

The work of Spanish-speaking artists, musicians, writers and scientists is studied in a range of learning areas across the curriculum in Australian schools. These works inform the selection of key types of texts and learning experiences offered to students through the Spanish language curriculum. These cross-curricular links make language learning more meaningful for students.

The nature of Spanish language learning

As Spanish belongs to the family of Romance languages, derived from Latin, it has many lexical and structural connections with English as well as other European languages. As a result of this relationship, knowledge of Spanish can facilitate the learning of other languages from the Romance family, such as Catalan, Galician, Italian, French, Portuguese and Romanian.

Distinctive characteristics and features of the Spanish language guide the teaching and learning of the language in schools. The close correspondence between the written and spoken forms of Spanish assists with spelling and the development of literacy in general as well as with speaking and listening skills.

Although the Spanish alphabet and writing system are similar to those of English, there are some differences in these features that present challenges for Australian students. These features include the use of accents, inverted question and exclamation marks at the beginning of questions and exclamations, and the distinctive letter ñ.

Word order in Spanish differs from English, most noticeably in the positioning of adjectives after nouns. Subject pronouns are often omitted in Spanish where they would be required in English. It is not necessary to invert the subject and the verb to form a question, or to use auxiliary verbs in negative and interrogative constructions, hence intonation and stress are important for making meaning.

The diversity of learners of Spanish

The majority of learners of Spanish in Australia are studying it as a second or additional language. There are also a number of background learners of Spanish, who have varying degrees of prior knowledge of the language. Most students from Spanish-speaking backgrounds are second or third generation, and in many cases several languages are spoken in their home environment. Despite having some exposure to Spanish at home, students may have varying levels of language and literacy skills. The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Spanish Foundation to Year 10 has been developed for second language learners but is flexible enough that teachers can adapt it to suit the varying needs of the full range of other learners in the classroom.

Socialising

Interact with teacher and peers to introduce self, greet and farewell others and describe friends, family and favourite things
[Key concepts: self, family, friendship, belonging; Key processes: greeting, introducing, participating]

Participate in guided group activities and simple transactions such as games, performances, songs and rhymes, using modelled repetitive language
[Key concepts: play, action, exchange; Key processes: participating, performing, turn-taking]

Recognise and respond to classroom interactions such as opening and closing of lessons, transition activities, answering simple questions and following classroom instructions
[Key concepts: routines, roles; Key processes: following instructions, responding]

Informing

Locate specific words and expressions in simple print, spoken and digital texts such as charts, lists, songs, rhymes and stories, and use information to complete guided spoken and written tasks
[Key concepts: literacy, numeracy; Key processes: locating, selecting, sorting]

Present factual information about self, family, friends and everyday objects using simple statements and support materials
[Key concepts: self, family, favourite; Key processes: naming, labelling, showing]

Creating

Participate in shared reading, or viewing or listening to short imaginative texts and respond through mime, drawing and dance
[Key concepts: character, story, imagination; Key processes: acting, expressing, choral reading]

Create and perform simple imaginative texts that involve repetitive language, experimenting with sound patterns, rhymes and non-verbal forms of expression
[Key concepts: rhythm, expression, performance; Key processes: chanting, drawing, singing, dancing]

Translating

Translate frequently used words and simple phrases using visual cues and resources such as word lists
[Key concepts: similarity, difference; Key processes: identifying, noticing]

Create simple print or digital texts that use both Spanish and English, such as labels, captions, wall charts and picture dictionaries
[Key concept: equivalence; Key processes: labelling, captioning]

Reflecting

Recognise what aspects of songs, stories, rhymes and pictures from Spanish-speaking cultures may look or feel similar or different to own language(s) and culture(s)
[Key concepts: language, culture, difference; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Recognise themselves as belonging to groups, for example, ‘my friends’, ‘my class’, ‘my school’, ‘my family’ and ‘my community’
[Key concepts: self, identity, family, community; Key processes: noticing, describing]

Systems of language

Recognise and reproduce the sounds and rhythms of simple spoken Spanish, noticing how they are produced and how they are represented in writing
[Key concepts: phonic awareness, pronunciation; Key processes: reading aloud, listening, mimicking]

Notice and apply grammatical rules such as those relating to gender, simple verb forms and definite articles when describing people, places, things and relationships
[Key concepts: syntax, word order; Key processes: naming, noticing patterns]

Understand that language is organised as ‘text’ and recognise features of familiar texts such as charts, labels, rhymes and stories
[Key concepts: text, meaning, structure; Key processes: recognising, identifying]

Language variation and change

Recognise that in Spanish different words and language forms are used to address and greet people according to relationship, context and time of day
[Key concepts: language as social practice, context; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Understand that the English and Spanish languages borrow words from each other
[Key concept: word borrowing; Key processes: noticing, listing]

Recognise that Spanish is one of many languages spoken around the world and in Australia
[Key concepts: multiculturalism, culture; Key processes: mapping, discussing]

Role of language and culture

Notice some differences and similarities in cultural practices between Spanish speakers and Australian-English speakers
[Key concepts: behaviours, cultural similarities and differences; Key processes: noticing, asking questions, making connections]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with teachers and peers through action-related talk and play. They introduce themselves and exchange greetings such as Buenos días/tardes/noches, and farewells (for example, hasta pronto). They use simple repetitive language and respond to simple instructions when participating in classroom routines, games and shared activities, for example, Sal de aquí, Párate en la puerta. They use visual, non-verbal and contextual cues such as intonation, gestures and facial expressions to help make meaning, and reproduce distinctive sounds of the Spanish language, including the sounds for the letters ll, ñ, rr/r g/j, c and y. Students identify specific words and expressions in simple texts, such as names of people, places or objects. They convey factual information about self, family, friends and favourite things at word and simple sentence level, for example, Mi casa es grande, Nuestro ordenador es pequeño, Tu celular es nuevo. They respond to and create simple spoken and written texts using modelled examples and formulaic language. Students use gender (for example, el pastel/la torta), simple verb forms (for example, estudiar, comer, dormir),…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children in this pathway enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in Turkish, English and sometimes other languages or dialects. There will be variation in terms of proficiency in Turkish depending on variables such as home language environment, generational language shift and parental cultural and linguistic background. Children will have varying degrees of literacy capability in both/either Turkish and/or English, and share the experience of belonging to worlds in which languages play a key role. Cognitive and social development at this stage is exploratory and egocentric. The curriculum builds on children’s interests, sense of enjoyment and curiosity, with an emphasis on active learning and confidence building. Turkish is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy, which for some children will be being learned as a second or additional language. Learning in the two areas differs significantly but each supports and enriches the other.

Turkish language learning and use

Rich language input characterises the first stages of learning. Children are familiar with the sounds and patterns of Turkish and their fluency and accuracy is further developed through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. Children identify and use high-frequency sentences and phrases, and recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts. They use culturally appropriate non-verbal strategies, and produce statements and expressions in response to prompts and cues. They are supported to use Turkish for different language functions, such as asking and responding to questions, expressing wishes, responding to directions, and taking turns in games and simple shared learning activities. They notice differences between the languages they know and use, and differences in how they communicate in some situations when using Turkish or English. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using Turkish for purposeful interaction in some less familiar contexts.

Contexts of interaction

Children interact with one another and the teacher, with some access to wider school and community members. Information and communications technology (ICT) resources provide additional access to Turkish language and cultural experience, connecting children’s social worlds with those of Turkish-speaking children in communities other than their own. Turkish is the dominant language used in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of English when required. The early stage of language and literacy development is supported by use of concrete materials and resources, gestures and body language. Play and imaginative activities, games, music, movement and familiar routines provide essential scaffolding and context for language development.

Texts and resources

Children engage with a variety of spoken, visual, written and digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in songs, rhymes, stories and chants, and various forms of play and conversational exchanges. Written and digital texts include stories, shared Big Books, walls charts and teacher-generated materials, such as games, labels, captions and flashcards.

Features of Turkish language use

Children’s familiarity with the spoken form of Turkish supports their introduction to the written form of the language. They become familiar with the Turkish alphabet and writing conventions, and are introduced to the sound–letter correspondence of the 21 consonants and eight vowels that make up the alphabet. Writing skills progress from labelling and copying high-frequency words to co-constructing simple texts using familiar vocabulary, language features and structures such as subject–object–verb word order. They apply this order to simple statements, imperatives and questions such as Ali gel. Ali okula gel. Ali okula geldi. Ali okula geldi mi? They learn to describe things, such as colour, mavi, size, büyük/küçük, and shape, üçgen, and recognise that adjectives come before nouns. They use cardinal numbers such as bir-yüz and ordinal numbers such as birinci, ikinci, and use the ending -ler/-lar to express plurality with countable nouns such as çocuklar, ördekler. They form affirmative and negative responses, such as evet, hayır, değil, doğru, yanlış, and use simple suffixes and subject and possessive pronouns, for example, ben/benim, sen/senin, o/onun and evim/evimiz, evin/eviniz, evi/evleri. They describe actions using simple verbs, such as otur, kalk, elini kaldır, koş, yürü, gel, git, oku, yaz. As children learn to adjust language to suit different purposes and situations, they begin to understand how culture shapes language use. They are supported to talk about differences and similarities they notice between Turkish, English and other languages they know, and also between cultural behaviours and ways of communicating. They talk about how they feel when they use different languages, and how they view different languages and the people who use them. This introduction to the meta- dimension of intercultural learning develops the ability to ‘decentre’, to consider different perspectives and ways of being, and to become aware of themselves as communicators and cultural participants.

Level of support

Learning is supported via the provision of experiences which are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing; and continuous cueing, feedback, response and encouragement.

The role of English

While learners are encouraged to use Turkish whenever possible, English is used, when appropriate, for discussion, comparison, reflection and explanations. Mixing the two languages is common at this level and reflects children’s experience in their home communities.

The place of the Turkish language and culture in Australia and the world

Turkish is the official language of the Republic of Turkey and one of the official languages of Cyprus.

It originated many centuries ago in the Northern Siberian Altay Mountain Range. Nomadic people brought the language with them as they expanded out to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and a number of other countries. Today, Turkish is the most commonly spoken Turkic language worldwide.

The first written records of the Turkish language date back about 1,300 years, and originate from central Asia. Turkish is also called Istanbul Turkish or Anatolian Turkish. As the language was developing, it was influenced by the language spoken during the Ottoman Empire. Eventually, in 1928, the Ottoman alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The new alphabet made reading and writing of the language easier and resulted in significant increases in literacy levels in Turkey. The Turkish Language Association, founded in 1932, worked to reform the language and to officially standardise it among Turkish speakers. In the process, many loan words from other languages were removed and many old Turkish words that had not been used for centuries were reintroduced.

Turkish Cypriot migration to Australia began in the late 1940s, the first migrants coming for work opportunities. Numbers grew from 1963 onwards as a result of the conflict in Cyprus. Larger scale migration from Turkey began once a bilateral agreement was signed in 1967 between the Turkish and Australian governments. Migration from Turkey continued in the 1980s, involving family reunion programs and an increase in general skilled and educational migration. While more than half of the migrant population settled in Victoria, mostly in Melbourne, significant numbers also settled in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), and smaller numbers in other states and territories. Turkish is a strong community language in many major Australian cities and in regional centres, such as Mildura and Shepparton in Victoria.

According to the Australian Census, in 2011 there were 59,624 Turkish speakers in Australia. The Turkish-speaking community in Australia includes people from Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Western Thrace and smaller groups from other Turkic backgrounds.

The campaign of the Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I laid the foundations of what later developed as strong, steadily growing Australian–Turkish connections. Tens of thousands of Australians, including Turkish Australians, visit Gallipoli each year to pay tribute and to gain understanding of shared Australian–Turkish history. The two countries enjoy strong contemporary connections, characterised by productive and steadily developing economic and bilateral trade relationships, cultural exchange and consular cooperation.

The place of the Turkish language in Australian education

Turkish has been taught in Australian schools since the 1950s. Originally offered by community-based organisations, it became part of the mainstream school curriculum in Victoria and NSW in the early 1970s.

Enrolments in Turkish language classes in some government and non-government schools and in community language school programs in Victoria and NSW have increased in recent years. Some students from non-Turkish backgrounds now learn Turkish as a second language in school, and community-based organisations such as the Council of Adult Education offer Turkish language classes for adult learners wishing to develop their language skills in particular domains of Turkish language use.

The nature of Turkish language learning

Turkish is a phonetic language with 29 letters derived from the Latin alphabet. Each letter represents only one sound. The decoding of Turkish words is assisted by a familiarity with English or other languages that use the Latin alphabet. Learning Turkish is also aided by the regularity of the grammatical system and the agglutinated nature of the language (that is, the addition of suffixes to root words regulates grammatical elements and generates new words and meanings, for example, the root word gör (see) becomes görmek (to see) and gördüm (I saw)).

While Turkish uses the same Latin alphabet as English, the pronunciation of some letters differs significantly. The use of diacritics on some letters represents an extra complexity. While the grammatical system is comparatively regular, there are differences between it and languages spoken by some learners, for example, the lack of gender forms and articles such as ‘the’ in English. The Turkish word order is subject + object + verb; however, this may change in spoken language or when there is variation in required emphasis or meaning, as when the word that is emphasised in terms of meaning is placed closest to the verb.

The diversity of learners of Turkish

The Australian Curriculum: Languages, Foundation – Year 10 (F–10) for Turkish is pitched to background learners, the dominant cohort of learners in the current Australian context for whom Turkish is a background but not necessarily the first language. Some students speak Turkish at home and have strong connections to mainland Turkey, Cyprus and Turkic countries; others are second- or third-generation Turkish Australians, with varying degrees of knowledge of Turkish language and culture; others are members of bicultural families, who may use some Turkish at home.

Small numbers of students from other language backgrounds may be studying Turkish in schools. For such learners, Turkish will represent similar challenges to those which frame their experience of learning English as their language of schooling. Teachers will use the Turkish F–10 curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences for these students.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Turkish has been developed according to two learning sequences: Foundation – Year 10, and Years 7–10 (Year 7 entry). Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences for these students.

The intercultural language learning orientation of the curriculum explores the cultural dimension that shapes and is shaped by languages. Background language learners of Turkish already have lived experience of this relationship, ‘living between’ Turkish and English in the Australian context. The curriculum gives students opportunities for analysis, explicit focus and reflection on this lived experience and further opportunities to participate in intercultural experiences, to extend their ways of perceiving and being in the world, and to understand themselves as culturally, biculturally and interculturally situated.

Socialising

Interact with the teacher and with peers to exchange greetings and share information about themselves, noticing ways of using language that are similar or different at home and at school
[Key concepts: self, family, home; Key processes: interacting, greeting, describing]

Participate in guided activities such as songs, games, tasks and transactions, using movement, gestures, pictures and concrete materials to support meaning-making
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning; Key processes: participating, playing, describing]

Recognise and respond to familiar classroom routines, such as the opening and closing of lessons, transition activities, following instructions and taking turns
[Key concepts: routines, directions, interactions; Key processes: responding, requesting, participating]

Informing

Locate key phrases and points of information in simple texts such as messages, announcements, charts, lists or illustrated reference materials, and use the information to complete guided oral and written tasks
[Key concepts: information, meaning, context; Key processes: identifying, matching, creating]

Convey factual information about themselves, their family, friends and experiences using simple phrases, gestures and support materials
[Key concepts: family, community, interests; Key processes: presenting, describing]

Creating

Listen to, view and participate in readings of stories, rhymes or action songs, and respond through singing, drawing, gesture and action
[Key concepts: story, imagination, response; Key processes: participating, responding, performing; Key text types: story, puppetry, rhyme]

Express imaginative experience in stories, songs, rhymes and puppet performances using sound patterns, familiar language and non-verbal forms of expression
[Key concepts: character, rhythm, imagination; Key processes: composing, performing, presenting; Key text types: story, songs, rhymes]

Translating

Explain in English the meaning of everyday Turkish words, phrases and gestures, noticing which are similar or different to equivalent words in English or other known languages
[Key concepts: translation, meaning, similarity, difference; Key processes: noticing, translating, comparing, explaining]

Create simple bilingual print or digital texts, such as captioned picture dictionaries, wall charts, labels for the classroom or ID cards
[Key concepts: meaning, code; Key processes: comparing, matching, translating]

Reflecting

Notice how using Turkish and English involves some different ways of communicating and behaving
[Key concepts: communication, culture, self, difference; Key processes: noticing, comparing]

Identify themselves as members of different groups, including their family, community and school, using simple statements, gestures and support materials
[Key concepts: self, family, community, communication; Key processes: identifying, describing]

Systems of language

Recognise and reproduce the sounds and spellings of Turkish-specific phonemes, /ı/, /ğ/, /ö/, /ü/ /ş/ and /ç/ and make connections between spoken language, alphabetic elements and written forms of the language
[Key concepts: pronunciation, letters, sounds; Key processes: listening, distinguishing, reciting]

Recognise parts of speech and frequently used words in familiar contexts and understand the basic rules of word order in simple sentences
[Key concepts: sentences, grammar, patterns; Key processes: recognising, naming, applying]

Understand that language is organised as ‘texts’ that take different forms and use different structures to achieve their purposes
[Key concepts: text, meaning; Key processes: recognising, selecting]

Language variation and change

Recognise that different words, expressions and gestures are used by speakers of Turkish to address and greet people in different contexts and situations
[Key concepts: variation, context, relationship; Key processes: noticing, comparing, adapting]

Recognise that different languages, including Turkish, borrow words and expressions from each other
[Key concepts: language change, word borrowing; Key processes: noticing, comparing, identifying]

Role of language and culture

Understand that people use language in ways that reflect their culture, such as where and how they live and what is important to them
[Key concepts: culture, meaning, language; Key processes: noticing, identifying, explaining]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teacher and peers to share information about themselves and to exchange greetings, for example, Merhaba! Günaydın! Tünaydın! İyi günler! İyi akşamlar! İyi geceler! Hoşça kal! Güle güle! Hoş geldiniz! Hoş bulduk! They describe familiar objects and experiences that are important to them, for example, Benim bir köpeğim var. Onun adı Minnoş. Benim en sevdiğim oyuncak, Bugün benim doğum günüm, and compare likes and dislikes, for example, Ben çileği çok severim, Ben elmayı hiç sevmem. They use repetitive language when participating in guided activities and use movement, gestures, pictures and objects to support meaning-making, for example, by singing and performing actions to songs such as Mini mini bir kuş donmuştu. They respond to familiar classroom routines, such as the opening and closing of lessons, and transition activities. They interact in classroom routines, by following instructions, for example, Ayağa kalkın! Oturun! Konuşmak için elinizi kaldırın! Sıraya girin! Defterlerinizi açın,Tabletlerinizin ekranını açın, and taking turns. When interacting, they reproduce the sounds of Turkish and use intonation to distinguish…

Foundation Year to Year 2

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with varying degrees of early literacy capability in Vietnamese and/or English. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people in settings outside the home, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school.

Vietnamese language learning and use

Vietnamese is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy, with each supporting and enriching the other. Vietnamese is used at home and in familiar Vietnamese-speaking settings, and in classroom interactions, routines and activities, supported by the use of materials and resources, gestures and body language. At this stage, there is a focus on play, imaginative activities, games, music, dance and familiar routines, which provide scaffolding for language development. Repetition and consolidation help learners to identify familiar and new words and simple phrases, and to recognise the purpose of simple texts. Learners use Vietnamese for functions such as greeting, asking and answering questions (for example, Em chào thầy/cô. Chào bạn. Bạn tên là gì? Tôi tên là Mai), responding to instructions (for example, Các em ngồi xuống. Mở vở ra đọc với cô), and taking turns in games and simple shared tasks. There is a natural transition from spoken to written language. Learners use a variety of cues, including images, context and frequently used word patterns, to comprehend texts and to communicate.

Contexts of interaction

The primary contexts for interaction in Vietnamese are the immediate environments of home and the classroom. Learners use Vietnamese to interact with each other and the teacher within the learning environment at school and with immediate family members at home. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) enriches the learning of Vietnamese language and culture by providing alternative experiences, a range of resources, and opportunities to access authentic language in different contexts.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, written and visual texts such as children’s songs and nursery rhymes, stories from Big Books, plays and interactive resources. Writing skills progress from identifying the alphabet and tone markers to tracing, labelling and copying letters, and then to constructing simple, short texts using familiar vocabulary.

Features of Vietnamese language use

Learners become familiar with how the sounds and tones of the Vietnamese language are represented in words and symbols. They practise pronunciation through activities such as singing Vietnamese folk songs (đồng dao, ca dao), and experiment with sounds, single vowels, consonants, syllables, simple phrases and sentences relating to pictures, objects and actions, for example, M cho mẹ, má, mèo, mua and H cho hoa hồng, hát, học. Đây là cái nhà. Em bé đang ngủ. They learn to recognise the letters of the Vietnamese alphabet and tone markers, making comparisons with the English alphabet, and write letters, words and simple sentences, for example, Con thích ăn cơm. They share similarities and differences between the ways they communicate in Vietnamese and English, and begin to recognise how language use changes according to speakers and context.

Level of support

The classroom is a new context for communication, where learners rely on the teacher to assist their learning. The teacher uses scaffolding, modelling, cueing, monitoring, feedback and encouragement to support learning experiences. Multiple and varied sources of input and stimulus are provided, for example, bilingual Big Books and picture books, subtitled cartoons and video programs, realia, objects, maps, charts and gestures.

The role of English

Vietnamese is used as the medium for class interaction and to demonstrate and model new language acquisition. English may be used to explain features of language and aspects of culture. Both English and Vietnamese may be used when learners communicate about similarities and differences between Vietnamese and other languages and cultures and reflecting on how they communicate and behave in Vietnamese- and English-speaking contexts.

The place of the Vietnamese language and culture in Australia and in the world

Vietnamese is the official language of Vietnam. It is spoken by approximately 90 million people in Vietnam and approximately four million Vietnamese people living in other countries around the world, with the majority residing in the United States, Cambodia, France, Taiwan and Australia.

Vietnamese language and culture have evolved and continue to change over time due to processes such as globalisation and technological change and in responsParagraphe to Vietnam’s geopolitical and historical position in the world. The lasting influence of historical contact and exchanges between Vietnamese, Chinese and French people can be seen in the Vietnamese lexicon, for example, Sino-Vietnamese words (từ Hán Việt) such as phụ nữ, phi trường and hàng hải, and Vietnamese words of French origin such as cà rốt, xếp and ga lăng. Chinese allusions (điển tích) are also common in classical Vietnamese literature. Westernisation, globalisation and technological advances have also enriched the Vietnamese vocabulary, with new words such as Tây hóa, lai căng, tự do cá nhân, nhật ký điện tử, mạng lưới toàn cầu and điện thoại thông minh.

In Australia the place of Vietnamese culture and language is defined by patterns of migration. The first major wave of Vietnamese migration to Australia began in the mid-1970s with the arrival of large numbers of refugees following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. In more recent years, the vast majority of Vietnamese migrants have come to Australia through family connections, and there are growing numbers of skilled migrants. The migrants’ need to maintain Vietnamese identity through language, culture and religion contributed to the Vietnamese language flourishing in the home and being delivered in after-hours Vietnamese school settings.

Vietnamese language and culture represent an important part of the linguistic and cultural diversity of Australia. Vietnamese people have made and continue to make a significant contribution to the development and enrichment of Australian society in areas such as commerce, agriculture, industry, health, the arts, education, hospitality, tourism and international relations.

The place of the Vietnamese language in Australian education

Since the 1990s, the place of the Vietnamese language in Australian education has benefited from expanding diplomatic and trade relationships between Australia and its Asian neighbours. Since that time, there has been an increase in the number of students studying Vietnamese in primary and secondary schools and in after-hours Vietnamese language schools run by Vietnamese community organisations. The dramatic increase of students studying Vietnamese reflects the growing Vietnamese community in Australia, as well as government policies supporting multiculturalism.

The nature of Vietnamese language learning

The modern standard version of Vietnamese is Tiếng Việt. Vietnamese is a tonal language written in the Roman alphabet with additional diacritics for tones. The tone system is a distinctive characteristic of Vietnamese phonology; for example, a word may be repeated with any one of six tones to indicate six different meanings (ma (ghost), má (mother), mà (but/that), mã (horse), mả (grave) and mạ (rice seedling)). Consequently, pronunciation and intonation play a key role in the learning of Vietnamese, with a clear correlation between sound and writing systems.

The importance of intercultural awareness in language learning is illustrated by distinctive features of Vietnamese such as the complex system of personal pronouns, which is vital to building and defining relationships, with use of the personal pronouns em, anh, chị, cô, ông, bà, con and cháu contingent on the relationships between speakers in contexts of communication. The frequent use of idioms, proverbs, similes and metaphors in both daily interactions and literature is another key feature of Vietnamese language use.

The diversity of learners of Vietnamese

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Vietnamese is pitched to background language learners, the dominant cohort of learners of Vietnamese in the Australian context.

The background language learner pathway has been developed for students who have been exposed o Vietnamese language and culture, and who may engage in active but predominantly receptive use of Vietnamese at home. The range of learners within the Vietnamese background language learner pathway is diverse, defined for the most part by different waves of migration. Learners may be first-, second- or third-generation Australians, and their use of Vietnamese may extend beyond the home to involvement in community organisations and events and to everyday interactions with Vietnamese friends. Other learners may have been born in Vietnam, where they may have completed some education.

A key dimension of the Australian Curriculum: Languages – Vietnamese involves understanding the interrelationship between language and culture. The curriculum is designed with an intercultural language-learning orientation to enable students to participate meaningfully in language and cultural experiences, to develop new ways of seeing and being in the world from a bilingual perspective, and to understand more about themselves in the process.

Socialising

Interact with peers and the teacher by introducing themselves and expressing needs, wishes, likes and dislikes
[Key concepts: belonging, preferences; Key processes: greeting, expressing preferences]

Participate in guided group activities such as songs, rhymes, games and transactions, using modelled repetitive language
[Key concepts: play, performance, action learning; Key processes: giving and following instructions, active listening, speaking]

Interact in classroom routines and activities by responding to questions, following instructions and asking for permission
[Key concepts: roles, routines; Key processes: following instructions, listening, observing]

Informing

Identify key words and specific information related to their personal world in simple spoken, written,digital and visual texts
[Key concept: personal world; Key processes: listening, viewing, identifying, locating]

Share information about self, family, school and friends, using modelled sentence structures and illustrations to support meaning
[Key concepts: self, family, school, friends; Key processes: describing, presenting]

Creating

Participate in shared reading, viewing of or listening to imaginative texts and respond through miming, acting, matching pictures with text or answering questions
[Key concepts: imagination, response; Key processes: participating, listening, matching]

Create and perform simple imaginative texts such as chants, songs and stories, using familiar language and non-verbal forms of expression
[Key concepts: performance, expression; Key processes: experimenting, labelling, captioning]

Translating

Translate and interpret familiar Vietnamese words, phrases and expressions
[Key concepts: language, meaning; Key process: translating]

Create bilingual texts in both Vietnamese and English for the immediate learning environment such as labels, captions, wall charts and other resources
[Key concepts: representation, equivalence; Key processes: labelling, captioning]

Reflecting

Share opinions and ways of behaving when using Vietnamese in home and school contexts
[Key concepts: identity, membership; Key processes: identifying, comparing]

Identify themselves as members of different groups, including the Vietnamese class, the school, their family and the community, describing their roles within these groups
[Key concepts: self, roles, belonging; Key processes: recognising, connecting, describing]

Systems of language

Recognise the sounds and tones of spoken Vietnamese, and notice how they are represented in words and symbols
[Key concepts: sound systems, writing systems; Key process: recognising]

Understand some first elements of Vietnamese grammar, such as personal pronouns, frequently used nouns, adjectives, verbs and prepositions, and basic rules of word order in simple sentences
[Key concepts: syntax, vocabulary; Key process: recognising]

Explore different types of familiar texts, such as captions, labels, songs, rhymes and fairy tales, noticing similarities and differences between text types
[Key concept: familiar texts; Key process: recognising]

Language variation and change

Recognise that there are variations in the way Vietnamese speakers greet and address different people
[Key concept: register; Key process: recognising]

Recognise that Australia is a multilingual society and that Vietnamese is one of the major community languages in Australia
[Key concept: language power; Key processes: understanding, recognising, comparing]

Role of language and culture

Understand that the ways in which people use language reflect their cultures, and relate to where and how they live and what is important to them
[Key concepts: language, culture, identity; Key processes: understanding, noticing]

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teacher and peers through action-related talk and play. They introduce themselves and others, and express thanks, likes and dislikes, needs and wishes, for example, Tôi tên là Lan. Cảm ơn bạn. Tôi thích/ không thích … Tôi muốn ăn cơm. Chúc bạn sinh nhật vui vẻ. They use modelled repetitive language when participating in games and shared activities, and interact in classroom routines by responding to questions, following instructions and asking for permission, for example, Dạ, em xong rồi. Các em hãy đọc theo cô. Thưa cô cho em đi uống nước. When interacting, they use the sounds and tones of Vietnamese and distinguish between questions, such as Ai? Ở đâu? Khi nào? Có … không?, and commands, for example, Đứng lên. They identify information and key words, such as names of people, for example, cô An, bạn Hải; places, for example, trường, lớp; or objects, for example, cái bàn; and convey information about themselves and their family, friends and school using modelled sentences and illustrations. They respond to imaginative experiences through miming, acting, and answering questions, and create and perform simple imaginative…