Editorial.
Morgan, Anne-Marie
Welcome to another issue of Babel. In this issue, there is a focus
on bilingualism and bilingual language teaching and learning. While
semantic discussions about distinctions between bilingual, multilingual,
plurilingual and even polylingual usefully continue in the research
literature, all are about the use of more than one language (or
translanguaged mixes of more than one) within at least one--and
potentially many --cultural contexts of use. Bilingualism can be
considered in relation to an individual, a small community or a whole
society; indeed, even a diaspora, distributed around the world.
Educationally, bilingualism is being argued as the way forward for
ensuring all learners have access to multiple language and culture
resources, can function in a multilingual and multicultural world, and,
critically, recognise that this is the global norm rather than the
exception. As Ofelia Garcia argues, bilingual education is 'the
only way' to educate children in the 21st century (Garcia, 2009,
p.5).
In Australia, the need for increased opportunity for bilingual
education is paramount. Busting what Michale Clyne (2005) described as
the 'monolingual mindset', the deceptive and suppressing
veneer of pretension that Australia is an English (only) speaking
nation, and that English is enough for our young people, is critically
important. It has long been important, but the imperative to act is even
greater now that we are so intrinsically located with a burgeoning Asian
region, and are increasingly isolated not by geographical distance, but
by limited linguistic resources at the national level.
In this issue, Russell Cross provides us with a guide to Content
and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), as pedagogy for bilingual
programs, drawing on European experiences, and early data from a
Victorian education context.
Ruth Fielding and Lesley Harbon provide insights into progress in
introducing bilingual programs into schools, in their article reporting
on a pilot study in New South Wales. As a model for ongoing uptake of
bilingual programs, the insights of teachers involved In the program are
timely and salient reminders of the complexities of such introduction,
especially In regard to 'bringing on board' the whole school
community. Margaret Sims and Liz Ellis take us into the community to
look at how bilingual families manage the challenges of retaining all
household languages, as resources and opportunities for their children,
and as significant influences on their identities and heritage. The
implications of their work impact on how we approach the teaching and
learning of languages in schools, and on considering how bilingual
education, especially in the early years when 'mother tongue'
instruction is so critical, might and must be addressed.
Collectively, these three articles give glimpses into what might be
possible in Australia, to advance bilingualism and bilingual education.
This issue also includes a review of Challenging the Monolingual
Mindset, a new book edited by John Hajek and Yvette Slaughter, of the
Research Unit for Multilingualism and Cross-Cultural Communication
(RUMACCC), at The University of Melbourne. The volume addresses the
Michael Clyne notion of the monolingual mindset, picking up many of the
themes explored in the articles in this Issue, and takes the reader into
local and international perspectives of considering bi/multilingualism
and its challenges. Authors of chapters In this text have all had a
connection with Michael Clyne and his work, and this volume speaks of
the concern, scholarship and potential arising from his legacy, which
continues to be pursued by Australian academics, and those who have
worked with these leading Australian scholars. What a volume like this
indicates is that Australia possesses rich intellectual as well as
practical resources that can work to redress the language imbalance in
Australia; and speak to the rest of world, as it also deals with the
complexities of multi/plurilingualism.
The AFMLTA, as the voice of language educators in Australia,
provides further avenues for consideration of plurilingualism. The 2015
conference, to be held in Melbourne in July, takes the possibility of a
plurilingual Australia as its theme. International and
internationally-renowned Australian speakers and panels will address the
theme of pedagogies for a plurilingual Australia, and teachers from
across Australia will present their research and practice, in what is
always a rich and diverse celebration and challenge of languages
education. Registration is open to the conference (see the flyer on the
back cover of this issue).
In considering AFMLTA conferences, the final article in this issue
interrogates the benefits of conferences as professional learning (PL)
for teachers of languages. Matthew Absalom, Andrew Scrimgeour and I
compare the evaluation of the 2013 conference in Canberra with the 2011
conference in Darwin, and situate conference attendance as PL within
current literature and as part of the requirements for teachers as
defined by professional standards and AITSL accreditation.
I wish you happy reading.
REFERENCES
Garcia, O. 2009. Bilingual education in the 21st Century: A global
perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.
Hajek, J. & Slaughter, Y. (Eds.) 2014. Challenging the
Monolingual Mindset. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Anne-Marie Morgan
University of New England
