Axing language programs goes against our national interest

Deakin University’s Professor Ly Tran argues for Asian language-learning.

Teaching and learning of key Asian languages is in free fall at Australian schools and universities. This underpins a crisis in national capacity building, affecting our future trade and engagement within the Indo-Pacific.

The Australian government identifies Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Indonesian and Hindi as strategic languages, crucial to Australia’s economic, social and political prosperity.

Yet, inconceivably since Covid-19, Swinburne University of Technology has closed Chinese and Japanese programs and the University of Western Sydney has axed Indonesian programs. Since last year’s announcements to discontinue Indonesian programs at La Trobe and Murdoch universities, temporary reprieves have been given.

These closures and tenuous futures serve only to accelerate the decline of Asian literacy and language learning in Australia, with far-reaching consequences for Australia’s relationships and standing within the Indo-Pacific.

In particular, Chinese and Japanese are the languages of nations in our top six export and tourism markets.

Immigrants from the Indo-Pacific represent 41 per cent of Australian citizens born overseas and about 80 per cent of Australia’s trade. Most of our international education service exports ($40bn in 2019) are embedded within the Indo-Pacific. So, the geographical place and political connectivity of Australia in the Indo-Pacific make the learning of languages crucial to our social, cultural and economic prosperity.

Axing language programs could hardly be more counterintuitive to the signature Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade initiative, the New Colombo Plan, which sends Australian students across the Indo-Pacific to build their regional knowledge and language capability.

The NCP is a reverse of Australia’s international education engagement through the 1951 Colombo Plan that supported more than 20,000 students and scholars from the Indo-Pacific to study across the Commonwealth of Nations, enhancing their skills and knowledge and building regional diplomacy.

Launched in 2014, NCP is a key driver of Australian students learning abroad, already enabling more than 70,000 Australian alumni to build their Indo-Pacific knowledge.

We conducted a national survey in 2019-20 of 1371 Australian NCP students as part of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship project.

The survey revealed key areas of student learning as developing an understanding of and confidence in engaging with the region, including an interest in learning an Asian/Indo-Pacific language and enhancing connections with Australians of Indo-Pacific background. Students reported five key outcomes:

● Development of an understanding of host country (96 per cent).

● Increased confidence about engaging with the Indo-Pacific (93 per cent).

● Increased interest in connecting with people of Indo-Pacific background in Australia (87 per cent).

● Increased interest in learning an Asian/Indo-Pacific language (72 per cent).

● Increased interest in a job in the Indo-Pacific (66 per cent).

With key challenges facing Australian students’ learning and engagement in the Indo-Pacific being dealing with a new language (89 per cent) and culture (84 per cent) and adjusting to teaching and learning methods (79 per cent), it is imperative Australia scale up, rather than retract, our commitment to regional language education.

About one in four (23 per cent) of Australian undergraduate students participated in learning abroad in 2019, compared with 7.4 per cent (Britain) and 16 per cent (US) in 2018-19 and 11 per cent (Canada) in 2017. Of these more than 58,000 students from across 34 universities, almost half (49 per cent) undertook their domestic undergraduate program within the Indo-Pacific, heavily influenced by NCP.

The correlation between student experiences in the Indo-Pacific and region-related career outcomes cannot be ignored.

The top eight host countries mirror the top eight countries where NCP alumni in this study are working or connected with (Japan, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, India, Singapore, Malaysia).

Unsurprisingly these include the language programs cancelled and our key training partners.

Significantly this affects the 66 per cent of students in the research who said the NCP experience created an interest in pursuing Indo-Pacific related employment.

A critical element in lifting Indo-Pacific knowledge for young Australians is opportunities to engage with and learn about Indo-Pacific cultures and languages at home.

While Covid-19 significantly has constrained physical travels, it is crucial to explore opportunities for Australian students to learn about Indo-Pacific languages and cultures via virtual learning abroad and language programs. Online and Digitally Enhanced Learning and Collaborative Online International Learning offer powerful platforms for Australian universities to co-design virtual and blended language programs with host universities in the Indo-Pacific.

Language proficiency is already a critical barrier for Australian students who study within the region and affects all their social, educational and cultural interactions. The study uncovers the top three challenges facing Australian students in the region as:

● Managing an Asian language (89 per cent).

● Dealing with the culture (84 per cent).

● Adjusting to teaching and learning methods (79 per cent).

With students reporting difficulties in building relationships with local people and navigating in-country services, this often manifests in feelings of vulnerability, stress or lack of confidence.

A national surge in our commitment to Asian/Indo-Pacific languages is far more than a tool for communication; it is vital to our student experience and employability, and it underpins our desire to understand and connect with our neighbours.

How did we overlook this area of national importance?

Covid-19 inadvertently has shone a light on our educational blind spot. Let’s ensure we fix it.

Ly Tran is a professor at Deakin University. Trevor Goddard is principal, Goddard and Associates.