Brinbeal News

Language at Brinbeal Secondary College

Introduction of Language Education in 2025

In 2025, Brinbeal Secondary College will be adding language education to its core curriculum for all Year 7 & 8 students in 2025. Learning languages broadens students’ horizons about the personal, social, cultural and employment opportunities that are available in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. The interdependence of countries and communities requires people to negotiate experiences and meanings across languages and cultures. 

 

Learning languages:

  • contributes to the strengthening of the community’s social, economic and international development capabilities.
  • extends literacy repertoires and the capacity to communicate; strengthens understanding of the nature of language, of culture, and of the processes of communication.
  • develops intercultural capability, including understanding of and respect for diversity and difference, and an openness to different experiences and perspectives.
  • develops understanding of how culture shapes and extends learners’ understanding of themselves, their own heritage, values, beliefs, culture and identity.
  • strengthens intellectual, analytical, and reflective capabilities, and enhances creative and critical thinking.

The Languages curriculum aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that students:

  • communicate in the language they are learning.
  • understand the relationship between language, culture and learning.
  • develop intercultural capabilities.
  • understand themselves as communicators.

When selecting an appropriate language for students to study, it is important for schools to ensure students are, where possible, provided equal access to the language selected and students are not put in an advantageous or disadvantage, therefore schools should aim to select a language that is not commonly spoken/used within its current community.

 

Through student consultation, the college has narrowed its language selection down to the following three options, all of which are VCE languages, allowing them to continue language education all the way through to year 12 in the future if they wish:

Auslan

Auslan is the primary signing language used by Australia's Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Auslan is a visual language with its own grammatical structures, which are different from those found in English. The formal study of Auslan contributes to the overall intellectual and social enrichment of both first language and second language learners by providing:

  • opportunities for engagement with the Deaf community and insight into its rich cultural heritage
  • opportunities to develop intercultural capabilities, understanding and respect for others, appreciation of diversity and openness to different perspectives and experiences.

The Auslan curriculum provides direction for an integrated, inclusive and meaningful approach to language education. Learning Auslan:

  • broadens students’ understanding that each language is an integrated, evolving system for the framing and communication of meaning; and encourages understanding of the role of language as an expression of cultural and personal identity and a shaper of perspectives
  • contributes to the overall curriculum intent by providing distinctive real-life and intellectual opportunities for students to expand their engagement with the wider world and to reflect on the cultural and social assumptions that underpin their own world view and language use. Such awareness of different perspectives is an integral part of effective communication
  • contributes to the development of critical thinking and the ability to adapt to change and equips students with learning strategies and study habits that are the foundation not only for lifelong learning but also for any subsequent language learning.

Spanish

Students acquire communication skills in Spanish. They develop understanding about the role of language and culture in communication. Their reflections on language use and language learning are applied in other learning contexts. Spanish is a language spoken by approximately 500 million people across the world. Spanish evolved from Latin on the Iberian Peninsula in around the ninth century, and spread from Spain to the Caribbean and to North, Central and South America as a result of the expeditions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

 

Distinctive characteristics and features of the Spanish language guide the teaching and learning of the language in schools. The close correspondence between the written and spoken forms of Spanish assists with spelling and the development of literacy in general as well as with speaking and listening skills.

Japanese

Students acquire communication skills in Japanese. They develop  understanding about the role of language and culture in communication. Their reflections on  language use and language learning are applied in other learning contexts. Japanese is the official language of Japan, a nation of islands located in the East Asia region. The Japanese language is also widely used by communities of speakers in Hawaii, Peru and Brazil, and learnt as an additional language by large numbers of students in the Republic of Korea, China, Indonesia and Australia.

 

Japanese is the language used by the Japanese for various purposes, including education, business and media communication. Some dialect variations are used in spoken interactions in different regions of the country. Japanese is a phonetic language. Pronunciation is predictable, and new words can be pronounced easily upon mastery of hiragana characters.

Feedback:

Families have an opportunity to provide feedback on the above selected language by completing the below linked form on Microsoft teams. All feedback should be submitted by Friday June 14th 2024.

 

https://forms.office.com/r/2fXQnEYqZ5

 

Kind Regards, 

Mr. Simon Haber

College Principal