Despite funnelling funding towards the study of Asian languages over a twenty year period, consecutive federal governments in Australia have lamented the low number of students graduating with a language from Australian schools, around 12-14%. Successful outcomes for languages education is hindered, in part, due to differing languages policies at the state and territory level, as well as the imposition of federal initiatives intended to catapult participation in certain languages. Besides the mismatch between many state and federal policies, we argue that policies such as the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) and the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP), designed to assist to study of certain Asian languages, are misguided and contribute to some of the underlying problems in languages education. With the development of a national curriculum for languages underway, it is vital that weaknesses in provision of languages education are addressed so that there is genuine potential for the area to thrive in the education system.
This paper outlines a number of the underlying weakness in languages education, including misguided language policies noted above, the quality of programs and time provided for the language acquisition, a shortage of languages teachers and structural issues which limit the ability of students to actually continue with languages study, despite wishing to. Specific reference will be made to Victoria, where around 25% of students currently graduate from school with a language, well above the national average. Victoria has had strong language education policies in place since the 1970s. Detailed data on languages education has been collected for many years in Victoria and has been vital to policy development and in identifying strengths and weaknesses in languages provision. We will draw on this data to illustrate strengths and weaknesses in languages provision but we will also explore possible solutions to some of the issues vexing languages education. This will include outlining Content and Languages Integrated Studies (CLIL), a methodology which maximises exposure to language; the benefits of complimentary providers of languages education; the potential of biliteracy and initiatives in place to expand the teacher cohort for languages. Given the amount of data available and the history of language education policy in the state, Victoria serves as an informative case study for other States and territories in Australia, as well as the federal government.