Message from academic chair, AFMLTA 2009.

Moloney, Robyn

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A language conference is a highlight that presents us with rich opportunities to engage with friends and colleagues, and with new work in research and teaching. This issue of Babel features four articles which were presented as refereed papers at the successful 17th biennial AFMLTA conference in Sydney, July 2009. Just as delegates were enthusiastic about the 'Discourse, Dialogue, and Diversity' represented in the program, I am pleased that this initiative of Babe/makes these four papers, as well as Professor Lo Bianco's Horwood address, available to a wider audience and further dialogue.

These diverse articles edition explore questions of how to exploit the resources we have as educators, in different contexts, to maximise student learning and teacher skills.

The papers move from a macro to a micro perspective on aspects of student learning and teacher practice, and are evenly balanced in their respective focus on primary and secondary teaching. An intimate insight into development of young children's thinking through intercultural questioning is presented in Anne-Marie Morgan's article. Her exploration of Indonesian pronouns with Year 1 children is a study of the crucial question-making which elicits intercultural understanding. Teacher practice and beliefs are explored in the articles by Nicola Daly, and by Anne- Marie Morgan and Nives Mercurio. Nicola Daly's research asks what it means to be a teacher of languages in a New Zealand primary school. Anne Marie Morgan and Nives Mercurio offer an interesting and innovative staffroom model of teachers working across languages, to develop an approach for a critical investigation of common cultural elements in language textbooks, in order to maximise their understanding of the values involved. Marietta Rossetto and Antonella Chiera-Macchia present their work on the heightened engagement and improved creative writing outcomes that are possible for students through combining written and visual texts in Italian.

All four articles portray the commitment and vision of our professional language community and contribute to extending our understanding of teaching and learning.

Robyn Moloney

Macquarie University