Intercultural Approaches to Teaching Chinese: A basis for pedagogical innovation. The nation in general will benefit by having a better prepared and more competent population of Chinese teachers, learners and professionals, whose exposure to Chinese language and culture will encompass the multiplicity of identities in a contemporary, multicultural society. This research will establish Australia as a major innovator in Chinese language pedagogy and will equip Australians to better understand our ....Intercultural Approaches to Teaching Chinese: A basis for pedagogical innovation. The nation in general will benefit by having a better prepared and more competent population of Chinese teachers, learners and professionals, whose exposure to Chinese language and culture will encompass the multiplicity of identities in a contemporary, multicultural society. This research will establish Australia as a major innovator in Chinese language pedagogy and will equip Australians to better understand our region and our world. A unique feature of the project is the provision for assessment of cultural awareness derived from study of language, ensuring that students who do not persevere with Chinese language will have a 'surrender value' declaration, recording competency in knowledge of Chinese culture.Read moreRead less
Improving engagement in learning and transition to mainstream schooling for newly-arrived Sudanese youth in the middle years of schooling. The 'new wave' of Sudanese refugees (48.3% of 2003 intake) with disrupted educational and social/emotional backgrounds is currently challenging Australian schools' expertise and resources. Using frameworks that draw on cultural theory, identity and language, the study will explore the social capital needs (skills and capacities, and resource needs) of Sudanes ....Improving engagement in learning and transition to mainstream schooling for newly-arrived Sudanese youth in the middle years of schooling. The 'new wave' of Sudanese refugees (48.3% of 2003 intake) with disrupted educational and social/emotional backgrounds is currently challenging Australian schools' expertise and resources. Using frameworks that draw on cultural theory, identity and language, the study will explore the social capital needs (skills and capacities, and resource needs) of Sudanese middle-schooling students enabling successful, productive and engaged transition from their on-arrival program into mainstream secondary schooling. The resulting model and web-based materials will provide a framework for educating other groups likely to follow from Africa/elsewhere, and meet the National Priority Goal: strengthening Australia's social fabric.Read moreRead less
Tackling the issues of low numbers of Australia's advanced users of Japanese: Reasons and strategies. A sound relationship between Australia and Japan is critical to Australia. Their key relations in trade, foreign policy and cultural exchange require an advanced understanding of Japanese. However, Australia is not producing sufficient numbers of advanced users of Japanese. This project creates and implements strategies to develop more Australian learners into advanced users of Japanese, thus c ....Tackling the issues of low numbers of Australia's advanced users of Japanese: Reasons and strategies. A sound relationship between Australia and Japan is critical to Australia. Their key relations in trade, foreign policy and cultural exchange require an advanced understanding of Japanese. However, Australia is not producing sufficient numbers of advanced users of Japanese. This project creates and implements strategies to develop more Australian learners into advanced users of Japanese, thus contributing to Australia's knowledge base in language education and applied linguistics. The PhD project will train a well-rounded Australian applied/educational linguist, equipping them with in-depth knowledge of current learners as well as fundamental research tools in both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Read moreRead less