Students stop taking Asian languages in senior years

Senior students are refusing to take a language as a subject, studies show. The number of HSC students taking Chinese dropped by 27 per cent from 2010 to 2012. This year’s data shows that only 902 students took it this year, another 5 per cent drop. It was hypothesized that the reason for this was because learning a language for the HSC didn’t seem as advantageous as it once did. As the world globalizes, being able to speak English is becoming a norm for other countries. It is common knowledge that you can go to almost any country and still get by with just speaking English. This year a historic 8 percent took a foreign language as a subject for their HSC.

Another reason for students being de-motivated to study a language was because they had to compete with students that grew up speaking that specific language. It was reported that there were students who wished to study a certain language but didn’t in fear of it jeopardizing their marks for the HSC. Also some languages have more complex structures than others and are more difficult to understand than others. But Dr. Orton encourages parents to encourage their children to learn another language as it expands their creative and cognitive ability.

And so it was introduced that students who studied a foreign language could be eligible for extra marks. It was also suggested that languages, like in universities, be offered in different levels of difficulty, from beginners to heritage speakers. It was an attempt by the NSW Board of Studies to raise the low levels of language study. Board president Tom Alegounarias said that it was to show the importance of language acquisition as a national priority.

While 100 hours of compulsory language class is required of students from year 7-8, only 30-40% of primary schools offer any language programs. This was said to be an influence of a lack of qualified teachers. Hence the Board is making movements to 'create and satisfy an appetite for learning languages''.

References:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/students-stop-taking-asian-languages-in-senior-years-20131007-2v4cu.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/bonus-points-plan-to-raise-low-levels-of-language-study-20131008-2v6e3.html