The (Im)possibility of Breaking the Cycle of Rippling Circularities Affecting Australian Language Education Programs: A Queensland Example
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| Title: | The (Im)possibility of Breaking the Cycle of Rippling Circularities Affecting Australian Language Education Programs: A Queensland Example |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Díaz, Adriana R. (ORCID |
| Source: | Language Learning in Higher Education. 2023 13(1):29-49. |
| Availability: | De Gruyter Mouton. Available from: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. 121 High Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Tel: 857-284-7073; Fax: 857-284-7358; e-mail: service@degruyter.com; Web site: http://www.degruyter.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 21 |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Education Level: | Secondary Education Higher Education Postsecondary Education Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Language Planning, Second Language Programs, Secondary School Students, Educational History, Educational Policy, Higher Education, Language Enrollment, Administrator Attitudes, Geographic Regions, Teacher Attitudes, Language Teachers, Teacher Recruitment, Language Attitudes, School Schedules, Teaching Skills, Elementary School Students, Articulation (Education) |
| Geographic Terms: | Australia |
| DOI: | 10.1515/cercles-2023-2002 |
| ISSN: | 2191-611X 2191-6128 |
| Abstract: | The state of language education in Australia has long been described as paradoxical. Oscillating between periods of increased attention and seeming invisibility, over the last thirty years, the language learning sector has been punctuated by a succession of aspirational declarations and funding injections with little long-term impact on its overall standing. Despite the increasingly multilingual makeup of Australian society, language education at all levels has largely remained stuck amidst monolingualising education policies and alarmist discourses. The latest instance of this paradoxical condition is a fee-reduction incentive for university students to study a language, which, in practice, stands to further weaken the language offerings in many Higher Education institutions. In this paper, we use the imagery of circularities and ripples to explore the challenges facing language education across sectors in Australia. Through data collected in Queensland secondary schools, we discuss how these challenges transcend the traditional delineation of macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of language policy and planning. We argue that challenges go both in circles within the same level (circularity) and flow outwards to other levels (ripples), which include Higher Education. For this reason, siloed approaches to funding and scholarly research contribute to a wicked state of inertia and, ultimately, diminish opportunities to break free from these cycles in the future. We conclude by acknowledging our complicit roles and ethical responsibilities as Higher Education scholars in the perpetuation of these cycles, as but a first step in engaging productively with the possibilities of leveraging these rippling circularities. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2023 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1380557 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The state of language education in Australia has long been described as paradoxical. Oscillating between periods of increased attention and seeming invisibility, over the last thirty years, the language learning sector has been punctuated by a succession of aspirational declarations and funding injections with little long-term impact on its overall standing. Despite the increasingly multilingual makeup of Australian society, language education at all levels has largely remained stuck amidst monolingualising education policies and alarmist discourses. The latest instance of this paradoxical condition is a fee-reduction incentive for university students to study a language, which, in practice, stands to further weaken the language offerings in many Higher Education institutions. In this paper, we use the imagery of circularities and ripples to explore the challenges facing language education across sectors in Australia. Through data collected in Queensland secondary schools, we discuss how these challenges transcend the traditional delineation of macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of language policy and planning. We argue that challenges go both in circles within the same level (circularity) and flow outwards to other levels (ripples), which include Higher Education. For this reason, siloed approaches to funding and scholarly research contribute to a wicked state of inertia and, ultimately, diminish opportunities to break free from these cycles in the future. We conclude by acknowledging our complicit roles and ethical responsibilities as Higher Education scholars in the perpetuation of these cycles, as but a first step in engaging productively with the possibilities of leveraging these rippling circularities. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2191-611X 2191-6128 |
| DOI: | 10.1515/cercles-2023-2002 |
