Understanding TCL FAQs

Coming soon 

Why is it important to retrieve the language every session? 

It is really important that the language being learnt is frequently used throughout the day. Regularly retrieving the language from the previous units will increase student retention of language. In your classroom and across the school, look for opportunities to maximise language use. 

Encourage your students and colleagues to  use French to communicate throughout the day. 

What could  embedding French look like in your classroom?

• Teacher greeting students in French throughout the day and students greeting each other 

• Students responding to the roll in French 

• Students asking questions to each other or the teacher in French 'Je peux avoir...?' Can I have....?

• Students negotiating turn taking or other responsibilities in French 

• Students asking each other 'Comment ça va?' and respond with bien, mal etc. 

• Students using a word/phrase/sentence they know in French

• Students seeking permission from teacher in French - 'Excusez-moi, est-ce que je peux aller boire s’il vous plait?' 

• Teacher attention cues such as 'Un, deux, trois, les yeux sur moi; un, deux, trois, les yeux sur toi'

Will learning another language be confusing for children?

• No. Many primary school language programs are designed based on the assumption that only time spent on English literacy will lead to improved literacy outcomes. As noted by Liddicoat (2001), Lo Bianco (2001) and McKay (2000), this is an extremely narrow view of literacy.

• Sustained international research on second language acquisition, bilingualism and bilingual education demonstrates that learning a second language enhances and enriches children’s language experiences, and offers them unique insights and opportunities for the development of cognitive skills which are unavailable to the monolingual learner (Fernandez, 2008).

What are the benefits of learning a language? 

• There are many. Learning a language means learning about language and exploring what it means to be literate. There is a wide body of academic research which illustrates that learning another language not only improves our knowledge of how languages work but also enhances our thinking skills (Derewianka, 2016).

• What we learn to do in one language helps us with any other language we might encounter. This means that our first language and other languages we speak or use, work in partnership to strengthen and enrich our repertoire of literacy practices. Learning languages allows us an opportunity to better appreciate that literacy is also about culture and distinctive ways of thinking and being (NALSAS, 2003).

What are the links between language, literacy and numeracy?

• Literacy is developed across all areas of the curriculum. As such, all teachers are responsible for supporting the literacy development of their students. There are many examples of explicit literacy teaching that occurs in Languages classrooms through authentic and engaging activities. Similarly to primary classroom teachers, Languages teachers regularly:

  1. 1. explicitly teach systems of language, including types of texts, grammar and vocabulary;

     2.  discuss grammatical features, sentence construction and the appropriateness of language for different contexts;

     3.  encourage students to compare and reflect on similarities and differences between languages; and

     4. explore language devices, register, tone, mood and inferred meaning (these are all aspects of literacy in any language)

• Language learning also provides a range of rich opportunities to engage students in numeracy and develop their numeracy skills. Students can use the target language to:

  1. 1.  communicate in a range of situations, using numbers for counting and measuring;

     2. role-play shopping situations in class, negotiating details such as size, quantity and price;

     3. use expressions of time to sequence events, and create calendars to share information about class routines or birthdays;

     4. examine volume through using recipes and concepts of measurements; 

     5. describe animals, people and objects through length, height or shape;

     6. interpret data and statistics from multimodal sources; and

     7. engage with skills of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. 

Reference: Literacy and Numeracy in Languages, NSW Department of Education (2020)

How can learning a language help with a student's own literacy ability in English?

It is a common myth that students who have difficulties with literacy in English will struggle learning another language. On the contrary, evidence suggests that learning a second language can enhance English literacy. When studying another language, students have the opportunity to:

• compare features of their first language with those of other languages;

• better understand the structure and workings of English;

• develop their skills and strategies for decoding and making meaning from words;

• develop flexibility and competence in dealing with language concepts.

For learners who find English challenging, learning another language can provide new beginnings and opportunities to experience success. This is not only beneficial for their English language development but also their confidence and self-esteem.

Fielding and Harbon (2020) recently conducted a study of four bilingual programs in New South Wales government schools which focused on comparing and measuring student NAPLAN results in Years 3 and 5, before and after student participation in the bilingual programs. All four schools identified the evident links between literacy in the additional language and student literacy development in English. Teachers observed clear metacognitive and metalinguistic developments and improvements in students. The data also demonstrated that students can learn through an additional language and perform at a higher or equal level in their English literacy measurement. This was also shown when the most academically able students were removed from the bilingual class, illustrating that students of all ability levels can perform highly in a bilingual program.

A study of two Melbourne primary schools by Yelland, Pollard and Mercuri (1993) also found that children who participated in a 60 minute per week Italian program demonstrated increased levels of ‘word awareness’, a metalinguistic skill linked to reading readiness, than those who did not participate in a Languages program (Fernandez, 2008).

In a report on Victorian school Languages programs, Fernandez (2008) identified that academic and cognitive skills transfer readily between languages. While there may be differences in the vocabulary, grammar and writing systems of languages, the reader must still learn to make meaning from the text. For example, ‘scanning, skimming, contextual guessing of words, skipping unknown words, reading for meaning, making inferences, monitoring, recognizing the structure of texts, using previous learning and using background knowledge about the text’ are all strategies used by readers whether the text is in English, German, French or Spanish. These skills can be transferred easily from one language to another. 

What is the relationship between the Languages curriculum and Intercultural Capability? 

The Languages curriculum provides an excellent opportunity for students to explore the connections between language, communication and culture.

In Languages, students have an opportunity to reflect, compare and contrast intercultural exchanges, and cultural and linguistic differences. To embed the Intercultural Capability effectively, students should be encouraged to “explore their own linguistic, social and cultural practices as well as those associated with the target language” (Victorian Department of Education and Training, 2019). In other words, students should reflect on and get to know their own, and another culture to develop skills about how to work between, and across both.

Classroom teachers could work together across year levels to seek opportunities to identify possibilities for Intercultural Capability to be taught and explored across the curriculum in a meaningful way.

For further information on Intercultural Capability:

• NSW Department of Education Intercultural Communicator Website 

• VCAA Intercultural Capability Teaching Resources

• Department of Education, Tasmania & Derewianka, B. (2016). Learners First. Good Teaching. Literacy 7-10. 

• Fernandez, S. (2008). Teaching and learning languages other than English in Victorian schools. Office for Policy, Research and Innovation, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

• Fielding, R., & Harbon, L. (2020). Dispelling the monolingual myth: exploring literacy outcomes in Australian bilingual programmes, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2020.1734531 

• Liddicoat, A. (2001). Learning a language, learning about language, learning to be literate. Babel. 35(3), 12-15.

• Lo Bianco, J. (2001). One literacy or double power? Babel. 35(3), 4–11.

• McKay, P. (2000). Language learning and literacy development. Babel. 35(2), 10–19.

• National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools Strategy. (2003). Linking Languages and Literacy. Retrieved from https://www1.curriculum.edu.au/nalsas/about.htm 

• New South Wales Department of Education. (2021). Learning across the curriculum. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/key-learning-areas/languages/s4-5/latc#Numeracy4