Page 7 - Accents December

Accents
In regards to shaping future practice, the renewed focus on authentic learning experiences and assessment in the new NSW Languages syllabus proved sessions such as Professor Martin East’s ‘Task-Based Language Teaching as innovation: Implications for school classrooms’, Melissa Gould- Drakeley’s ‘Programming real-life learning experiences for Languages students’ and Kathleen Duquemin’s ‘When a game is not a game’ invaluable, not only in their plethora of recommended digital tools, but also the personal insight of the presenters themselves, with the overview of each tool or task being peppered with evaluative comments drawn from their own experimentation in the classroom. I was also particularly inspired by Marnie Foster’s novel approach to assessment as the Head Teacher of Newington College and Kati Varela’s feedback and error correction strategies for student writing, both of whom emphasise the importance of self-identified student goals and individual progress by monitoring student growth and achievement across successive writing drafts or a digital speaking portfolio.
Another highlight was undoubtedly the three keynote addresses of the conference, which included a timely reminder from Professor Rafael Núñez of how cultural practices – and even topography – shape language, with different reference systems of space and temporality and capacity for number and arithmetic reflecting the need to acknowledge diverse ways of thinking and being embodied by different languages and their speakers.
The dangers of a monolingual mindset were similarly echoed by Professor Joseph Lo Bianco and Professor John Hajek from the University of Melbourne, who reiterated multilingualism as ‘the default human condition and arguably our primal human state’ (Nicholas Evans, 2017) and the importance of intercultural and interpersonal capabilities for success in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world respectively.
One particular quote from Professor Hajek has stuck with me since the conference: ‘The opportunity to learn two languages changed my life’. As a German teacher who had no exposure to the language prior to her first German lesson in Year 7, I often reflect on the wealth of experiences and opportunities learning a foreign language has afforded me and am more inspired than ever to broaden my own students’ worldviews and possibilities by helping to foster their love and mastery of a foreign language (or two, or three, or four!).
Herzlichen Dank to the AFMLTA for this wonderful opportunity.
Volume 23 Number 1 Page 7