I’ve been lucky enough to do an intership at the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC). When I try to explain to people what linguists “do”, language testing is probably the easiest to explain. Essentially, at almost turn, we need tests to make sure that the right people are entering the right institutions. It would be negligent for example to admit a student to a university who has no hope of passing due to a low level of English proficiency. It is a disspointment for the student, and the teachers will need to put extra effort into getting that student up to scratch.
But where do these tests come from? Who trains the examiners? Who ensures that what is tested, is actually the skill or knowledge that people need, rather than something irrelevant?
The LTRC does all of those things, and they are very very very good at it. The website is here http://ltrc.unimelb.edu.au/ for anyone interested.
Ozolins (1993) brings us all the way from post WW2 immigration/ formation of multicultural Australia to the adoption National Policy on Languages (Lo Bianco 1987). The question that it answers most poingniantly, is “why is there a stigma around learning Asian languages in Australia”. Ozolins answers by explaining how Australia was still seeking to forge its own national identity, and was yet to become fully comfortable with itself. In the context of its own lack of a cultural foundation, the fear of the influence of non-Anglo Saxon cultures was palpable. Policies of refugee settlement included the determination that there would be no ‘undue aggregations of aliens in any particular towns or centres’ (6 March 1947). The then Minister of Immigration Arthur Calwell attempts to reassure the continent that ‘for every foreign migrant there wil lbeten people from the United Kingdom (Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates 1946).
Assimilation was expected, speaking languages other than English at home was throughly discouraged, and students at school studied French and German, but never for practical reasons, only to help develop the cognitive abilities of the students. Arguably the last point may not have changed much. I would say that, the long held insecurities of White Australians, is still the invisible barrier which holds young people back from succeeding in Asian languages.
Not knowing vocabulary is understandable
- We will never know all of the words in our first language either
- It’s easy to ask for clarification
- Often the marginal benefit of learning obscure new words is not worth the effort of maintaining them in out passive vocabulary
Not knowing grammar is a systematic weakness
- The total number of possible grammatical patterns is limited
- They occur everyday in potential conversations
- The pay off of learning the structure once is exponential.
Lesson: Don:t get too sidetracked with random vocab. 
Presumably there are a lot of people, because, while cheap to fund (at least in Australia), it does cost money so there should be some benefit. However I think possibly the majority of the population don’t know what the point of academics writing to each other, and when they can’t get something published in a bigger journal, they band together and make a new journal primarily to publish their own work.
It is clear that academic journals are not there for popular consumption. While I might take an issue of the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics with me to the plane for some casually sophisticated reading, I don’t think many others would. Add to that the added influence that I aspire to be published in the journal myself, the ring of potential readers closes once more. As an undergraduate I only read journal articles that I needed to, although admittedly, many of them have stayed with me and I can summarise the findings of many. It is a rare person who reads them, so who would read them?
- Academics
- PhD candidates
- Masters studnets (I’m not really sure how much Masters students use journals because they are usually working full time and may be just finding one article and then quoting everyone that that article quotes.
- Undergraduates may read the abstract and the conclusion but little inbetween
These are clear. But who else?
- Researchers at not-for-profits (like my mother, who ironically, rarely has access to the articles she needs and needs me to get them for her)
- Policy makers (if they read them, and then make more informed decisions about how the country should run, then it justifies everything)
- Autodidacts (people who work in a related field (or not) but are still pushing for more and more information for their own love of the area)
- Teachers and administrators in the high school system (potentially)
- People who develop textbooks, write histories, publish reports.
When you add to that, that the knowledge that undergraduates take in has the potential to make them more informed and critically thinking adults, then the benefits are truly worthwhile.
Footbag is still something I love, but not something I play a lot. A lot of people who have met me more recently probably wouldn’t have heard or seen much of it.
From 2005-2008, Dan was the Australian Foobag Champion. Footbag (Hacksack) is an athletic sport involving highly dextrous tricks with a small bean bag. Dan served as the Education Director on the International Footbag Players Association and published the e-book The Vasek Klouda Manual: How to Play Footbag in 2009. He finished 7th place at the World Championships in 2007, then 13th in 2009. He has appeared on Australia’s Got Talent (2007), Saturday Disney (2008) and a Subway Commercial (2009).
The Vasek Klouda Manual: http://www.freedomfootbags.com/shop/misc/the-vasek-klouda-manual-how-to-footbag-2/
Australia’s Got Talent: http://youtu.be/oUQ95aXd6UE/
http://youtu.be/3-8YbNYu2mE/
Saturday Disney: http://youtu.be/6coimbTZl6k/
Subway Commercial: http://youtu.be/bTQQ-jXL_oM/
I’ve been so happy to work as a reserach assistant underneath Dr. Jun Ohashi since April of 2011, a year to the day. As a research assistant I conduct literature reviews, help to determine and plan research designs, collect data, proofread books before submission to publishers, prepare a submissions for ethics approval, and write papers. My research interests include cross cultural communication, second language acquisition and discourse analysis.
It’s exactly what I’m trained to do, and the value of the work, the fruits of my labour are satisfying. Learning is living, and to be able to do it as a job is a joy.
For more information on The Asia Institute please have a look at their website: http://www.asiainstitute.unimelb.edu.au/.
I feel myself, listening to native speakers of Chinese, understanding the majority of what is said, but occasionally missing the key word, and just wanting to leave the conversation. The hardest part of language learning is not making an excuse to leave.
Play with my phone – “oh, I’ve got to text this person”
Go to the toilet – “I’ll be right back”
Speak to someone else – “Heeey, I haven’t seen you for ages, hows it going”
Just stay in the conversation until it ends. It is so hard, but its only hard because the speed at which you are learning is exponential.
Starting conversations with native speakers is not easy. But there are a few things to know.
If you are asked a question, or someone makes a statement to you, this is a great opportunity. However, in many countries, often it is considered quite unusual to speak to someone you don’t know. However in Australia, because there are much fewer people, it is much more common to comment to people around you about something unusual, or something that you share in common.
For example, after a football game, there are always extra trains to take people home. On the trains, all of the people sitting down have just seen the same game. They don’t know each other, but it is very common for them to talk about the game together
Australians might ask a question like ‘what language are you speaking’, ‘where are you from?’ ‘What are you reading?’, ‘where are you going?’. These are all invitations to have a conversation. If you are speaking on your phone on the train for example, and then someone nearby asks you about which language you are speaking, it isn’t because they don’t like it, but if you explain that it is Chinese, and that you are from China in a kind and open way, then they will have a lot of other questions for you and it can be a really interesting conversation.
If you answer with short sentences, or don’t smile, then Australian people won’t want to bother you anymore, and the conversation will be over. If you aren’t able to ask any questions in return, then eventually the Australian will be tired of being the interviewer. So make sure you offer a mix of statements which show your personality and who you are, and also ask questions back, show interest in what the other person is telling you.
Where are the best opportunities to have conversations?
× Lunch with coworkers or school friends
× Inviting people to your house for dinner
× House parties
× Clubs at universities
× Sports groups
× Language Exchanges
Where is your next conversation going to happen?
When we are learning a language, there are some aspects of the language that we can learn very quickly, and others which will take much longer. And it depends on what our own first language is, and the language we are learning.
Eg: for native speakers of English to learn how to write in French may not take as long as it would to learn to write Russian or Chinese.
Knowing your natural strengths and weaknesses is important.
When I started learning Chinese this is what I found out:
Grammar and word order – very easy
Vocabulary – very easy
Writing and reading – difficult but very similar to Japanese
Listening – average difficulty
Speaking to be understood – difficult
Using the tones accurately – infuriating
What I did
I spent most of my time learning the grammar and vocabulary, and I spoke and listened to the language looking for communication. I didn’t worry about the tones.
The result was that I became conversational within three months and developed enough ability to speak about the tones and the writing in Chinese. If I learnt the tones and the writing first, I would have to do it all in English
What some people do
Many people work on the tones and the writing first because they are the hardest. They don’t have conversations because they are worried that the tones are wrong, and they are unable to remember what grammar they have read about because they have never used it in conversation.
The result is that they have spent a lot of time on areas of the language which are difficult to succeed in, and they perceive themselves as failing. Their concern for one area of the language actually blocks acquisition of another area, when learning the skills in a different order would have been more beneficial. Whey they speak to native speakers they have to use English. Eventually they quit, because not only do they perceive themselves as failing, they actually are failing.
Lesson:
Pick the low hanging fruit.
