At no time is freedom of speech more precious than when a man hits his thumb with a hammer. —Marshall Lumsden
Celebrating Community Collaboration
The "Developing Community Language Resources" project of the University of Wollongong together with the Association of Illawarra Community Languages Schools
The Project
For the past year some 24 Wollongong University students in their final year of their degree in Education, have been working with local Community Languages Schools developing a range of materials such a song books, story books, charts, games and other activities in nine different languages. The "Developing Community Language Resources" project was awarded funding by the University of Wollongong (UOW) under its Community Engagement Grants Scheme. The UOW Faculty of Education project leaders Dr Ken Cruickshank and Dr Lisa Kervin worked in collaboration with the Association of Illawarra Community Language Schools.
This project involved the development and sharing of skills, resources and expertise between Community Language Schools and Faculty of Education staff and students. Community Language Schools are non-profit groups run by parents and community members which aim to develop young children's knowledge and fluency in their heritage, language and culture. In the Illawarra there are 24 such schools catering for over 600 children in more than 17 languages. The project included workshops and development of reading resources, including the translation of a set of books into the various community languages for publication and distribution. Third year education students helped out in the school classes and learned about the running of the schools and the teaching of the children as part of a project-based subject.
One of the main issues facing the Community Languages Schools in Australia is the lack of resources. Resources from the countries of origin are generally too difficult and often not interesting enough. These materials are written for native speakers and not for children learning the language in Australia. There are very few Australian-made resources. This often means that children lose interest. At the age of 8 or 9, children start thinking more about their identity – is it 'Australian or the country where my family originated from?' Many children question the value of learning their home language and often adopt Australian identity in line with friends at day school. For many, this rejection of their language and culture increases until they leave school. It is then that they realise what they have lost.
The Making of the Resources
The Department of Education was fortunate in gaining a grant from the University of Wollongong in 2007 to support the development of resources in the Illawarra Community Languages Schools. The outcome was the production of a set of books and teaching resources and units of work for interested schools. These materials were translated and published in each language. A tentative plan was worked out and discussed with teachers in the workshops held term 1 2007.
This is what was proposed:
- From this meeting the schools were found who were willing to join the project. To be part of the project they needed two teachers who attended workshops and work with education students from the UOW Education faculty.
The Illawarra Community Language Schools involved were:
- Cringila Arabic School
- Cook Islands Maori Language School
- Macedonian School
- Skola Maltija of Wollongong (Maltese)
- South Coast Chinese Language School
- Wollongong Mandarin Chinese School
- Serbian Language School
- Emilia Romagna CoAsIt Italian Language School
- Wollongong Turkish Society School
- In March two workshops for teachers and university students were held. At these workshops were discussed and demonstrated different possible resources and how to use them. Teachers brought in the resources they use. There were collected resources in different languages on display and they investigated day school resources for teaching languages.
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At these workshops each school nominated their list of materials and resources to be developed for their language school. These materials were:
- books based on photographs taken by teachers and students; these books could also be computer-based;
- books made from traditional stories or stories written by teachers and children;
- translations of commercially-available books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar;
- adaptations of published stories and books from the countries of origin.
- Two education students were attached to work with each school. This was part of their study at university – they wrote up a case study on the community languages schools.
- There were meetings (four or five) in which the materials were planned and developed. These meetings were held at the community language school or at the university. UOW provided costs for travel and meals and resources. The materials will be copied and made for use in the schools. The education students also developed other resources to support the books.
- Each teacher had to trial the materials with his/ her class. The education students were there to help if needed.
- At the end of the classes, there was one more meeting to work out the final draft of the materials. These books and worksheets will be published professionally and printed.
The Launch
A launch of all the materials was held at the Wollongong City Art Gallery on Wednesday February 13th 2008, where students and Community Language teachers demonstrated the resources. The launch was officially opened by Hon. Linda Burney, Minister for Fair Trading, Youth and Volunteering. The MC of the evening was Prof. Paul Chandler, Dean of Education of the University of Wollongong. Speeches were held by Prof Rob Castle, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong and Stefan Romaniw OAM, Executive Director, Languages Australia. The Cook Island Maori School performed some of their traditional dances in colourful outfits. The launch was visited by more than a 120 people with various media taking photos and interviewing participants. Present was also the NSW Community Schools Board, who had held their meeting in the Art Gallery before the start of the launch. The success of the launch hopefully achieved one of its aims, to give more of a profile to the schools and to show their achievements and importance.
Please view the photos of all the resources on the link here to your right of the University of Wollongong.
Think Globally - Act Locally!
Ethnic Schools connect new and established Australian communities
5th National Ethnic Schools Conference 2007
"The current immigration debate together with the attempt to downgrade the role of languages education in Australian education shows we are beginning the ability to Think globally - Act locally Executive Director of Community Languages Australia and former Chairman of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Stefan Romaniw OAM said today. Over 200 community languages schools (ethnic schools) representatives from over 25 communities throughout Australia met in Canberra Saturday October 6, 2007 to discuss and plan further positive action to highlight the importance for Australia to Think globally - Act locally. They attended the 5th National Ethnic Schools Conference at the Centre for Teaching and Learning in Canberra. The theme was Connecting Communities. "It's not only about giving people the opportunity to arrive on these shores - It's about living, respecting and learning - All two way street activities. It's about understanding what has made Australia a recognized international player." Mr. Romaniw said. "We as a nation should be concerned in the current climate. Immigration patterns, languages education, and diversity are being constantly hammered and used to divide us. Some of our strong characteristics which are recognized as our national strengths are now slowly being eroded or substituted. These are the very elements that have contributed to building our harmonious society." Mr Romaniw said.
Community Languages Schools in Australia or Ethnic Schools as they are sometimes referred offer nearly 70 languages amongst them African, Asian, European and others. Over 100 000 students from all backgrounds learn not only their mother tongue and culture, but how to use them to benefit Australia, 'how to share what I have with other community groups and not to live in a ghetto.'
The current debates need to reflect on and refer to leading practices, where practical everyday results in community harmony and integration are practiced and worked well. "Knee jerk reactions to policy considerations make the population nervous, distracts them for building a nation." Mr Romaniw said. "The redefining of national values also now comes into question. What sort of Australia are we?" Mr Romaniw said.
Over half a million Australians from many backgrounds are directly or indirectly involved in programs on a weekly basis. "This is a block in the nation building process and often goes unrecognized because it works, it creates strong connections. The groups targeted in the immigration debate, and the languages being considered for second tier key learning areas in Australian education are successfully involved in this nation building exercise." Mr Romaniw said.
The conference brought together many people from many backgrounds and cultures. They are focused on education, bringing up children in the right frame of mind, with an Australian identity which allows them to feel, speak and share their languages and cultures with others. The Australian Federation of Ethnic Schools Association, the conference organizer, believes it has a model that works and has done so from the mid 1800's when the first ethnic schools were formed. "We must work together to restore confidence in a society and in policies that have justified themselves and defined us as a strong, fair and reasonable country who see the bigger picture." Mr Romaniw said.
Guest speaker Professor Michael Clyne highlighted the advantages of being bi-lingual and learning a second language.
- Cognitive benefits of learning languages
- Understanding of arbitrary language structures
- Understanding of the distinctions of form and content - divergent thinkers
- More flexible metalinguistic awareness - stronger interest in more languages
- Less prejudiced than one language exposed children
- Reduction of onset of dementia by at least 4 years
- Greater creativity
- Different ways of thinking and deduction
- Reading and writing readiness in young children earlier by 5 months
- Language transferal - you learn to read and write only once then transfer to other languages even languages with different scripts
"Australia is a multicultural society with a monolingual mindset." Prof. Clyne said. The reasons for learning or the upkeep of someone's language has also economic benefits and is significant for Australia's economic future. Many companies have already realized this asset and established themselves here in Australia, e.g. call-centres "Prof. Clyne said.
Sabine Hauth
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