Page 43 - Languages Victoria December 2019

Languages Victoria
Languages in Victorian government schools, VSL and CLS, 2018
by Dr. Yvette Slaughter
Although the study of languages continues to face ongoing challenges across Australia, Victoria has had strong and supportive policies to support the study of a wide range of languages for many decades. In 2018, students studied an extraordinary total of 70 languages through mainstream schools, the Victorian School of Languages and Community Languages Schools. In Victoria, we are fortunate to be able to access a wide range of statistics such as these due the annual collection of data by DET. In fact, the Victorian government has collected data and published annual reports, since the mid-1990s, which document the state of languages education for Victorian government schools. This data provides an invaluable source of information which can help us identify strengths and weaknesses in the delivery of languages programs, as well as provide evidence to inform policy development. This article provides an overview of some of the key features of the 2018 report – Languages provision in Victorian government schools, 2018 (DET, 2019) which can help languages teachers understand ongoing strengths and challenges, as well as provide information to promote languages learning in schools.
Overview
In 2018, 89.4% of Victorian government schools offered a languages program, including 88.1% of primary schools and 88.7% of secondary schools. Within government schools, 24 languages were taught to 413,975 students, with 52 languages taught through the Victorian School of Languages (VSL) to 18,869 students. At Community Languages Schools, 36,458 students studied 40 languages. Overall, students studied 70 languages across these three types of education settings and enrolments have continued to grow at the primary and secondary levels since around 2012 (Figure 1).
In 2018, students studied an extraordinary total of 70 languages through mainstream schools, the Victorian School of Languages and Community Languages Schools.
Volume 23 Number 1
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