Page 938 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 1990
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Ms Follett: What does this have to do with the report? Does she have the right speech?
Mr Jensen: Yes, of course she has. They do teach languages in schools, Rosemary.
MRS NOLAN: I was talking in relation to tourism and the emphasis of the learning process involved in the Asian language. Tourism is regarded as one of the cornerstones of the ACT economy, but Canberra is not listed on the itinerary of people from Asia, who visit Australia. We are in a prime position to market ourselves to this group. To begin with, most Asian tourists visit Sydney, and we have close proximity to this city in our favour. In addition, we are the nation's capital and many of the country's natural treasures, such as the Australian National Gallery and the Australian War Memorial are here. As well, there is the natural beauty and open space of the city.
We must continue to give prominence to the good work of the ACT Department of Education in its emphasis on the teaching of Asian languages in schools. In 1987, the Asian Studies Council surveyed 2,500 key Australian decision makers, including politicians, business leaders and tourism representatives, on the importance of a basic knowledge of Asian languages for the Australian economy. Over 50 per cent of all respondents thought that, to expand business interests with Asia, a medium to high priority should be given to having a basic knowledge of Asian languages, and over 70 per cent of respondents were of the opinion that counter staff who have direct contact with Asians should have Asian knowledge and skills. What is true for Australia in general is surely also true for the ACT. The education system, I am pleased to see, is working at providing the young people with skills in Asian languages that we need in our businesses.
The section on staff relations and development in the 1988-90 annual report of the ACT Schools Authority mentions several initiatives in teacher training to boost the teaching of Asian languages in ACT public schools. One of these initiatives involves language teaching methodology for teachers who are already fluent in a major Asian language under a special program devised by the authority and the then Canberra College of Advanced Education, with funding by the Asian Studies Council. The aim of this program is to allow teachers the opportunity of moving into what is, quite rightly, a specialist area of the profession. A second initiative ensured that teachers of Asian languages maintain fluency in their language, and weekly tutor groups were run in four Asian languages - Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Indonesian. In addition to these teacher training initiatives, the department has been developing curriculum materials for two national language programs - Thai and Korean.
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