a multicultural History of Australia
Making multicultural Australia
multicultural Timeline »
Period: Transforming Multiculturalism »
Commentary on: National Language Policy »
Prof Andrew Jakubowicz.
Text Commentary
Speaking in tongues...
1989 - A National Language Policy stresses the need for a good knowledge of English... and encourages other languages
As Newcastle artist Vera Zulumovski writes in describing her work The Silent One, the lack of language can be a traumatic experience. While the importance of being able to learn English to become fully part of Australian society has long been understood, the value of knowing other languages in a multicultural society was increasingly being recognised through the 1970s and '80s.
Cultures and languages are closely linked - when languages are lost, much of a culture disappears, for without the structures of thought offered through language it is very difficult to sustain beliefs and cultural practices. From the earliest period of settlement the European communities in Australia struggled over languages and their survival. The eradication of Indigenous languages was one of the main weapons used to attempt to destroy Aboriginal communities - through the banning of language use, or through the mixing of language groups in reserves so that they were forced to use English to communicate.
Since that time the role of English as the national language has been paramount - and assimilationist educational strategies in the 1950s and 1960s tried to ensure that children from non-English speaking backgrounds only used English. However many communities saw the retention of their languages of origin as a major goal in itself, and as a means of maintaining community cohesion over the generations. They established and ran language schools - after normal school, on Saturdays etc. The place of community languages and their survival through formal educational support by governments became one of the major political issues for ethnic communities through the 1970s and 1980s. The State ethnic affairs bodies (eg the NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission) had identified ethnic language education as a key issue in the late 1970s - so too did the Galbally report at the Commonwealth level.
By the early 1980s community languages had entered the secondary school system, if still in a discriminatory way (language students had their high scores in the Higher School Certificate reduced as part of the overall Tertiary Entrance Rank). A campaign was developed in NSW, originated by secondary school students in Wollongong with the support of the local Migrant Resource Centre, and bringing in the NSW Ethnic Communities' Council, to force changes (successfully) in this scaling system.
In May 1982 the Commonwealth Department of Education issued a discussion paper, Towards a National Language Policy, that made a strong case for a co-ordinated language policy that would deal with English as well as languages other than English (LOTEs), English as a second language (ESL) and language teaching. Seminars were held around Australia leading to a national conference in October. In 1984 the Senate produced a report arguing there should be a language policy.
The 1986 Budget had cut back support for community languages and English as a Second Language (ESL). In response to community criticism the government moved on the languages issues - by 1987 Melbourne language activist and proponent of effective government support for language development, Joseph Lo Bianco, developed a scheme for a national language policy, which was then announced by Prime Minister Hawke as part of his 1987 election platform. In essence the policy underscored the need for everyone to have a good knowledge of English (including literacy), for all students to study at least one LOTE (especially Asian languages) and gave specific support for Aboriginal languages. It celebrated the importance of bilingualism, and argued that language skills were both socially and economically crucial in the development of Australia.
Three pressures came together for the policy to emerge: a concern by academics and educators for the development of a strong language education base; pressure from ethnic communities anxious that their cultural strength not be eroded through loss of language (especially in the wake of the 1986 Budget cuts); and a push from the business community which saw trade advantages in an increased focus on Australians learning Asian languages.
In confirming the primacy of English, the National Language Policy put to rest uninformed fears that multiculturalism posed some sort of challenge to Australia as an English speaking country. However it raised another debate - the issue of the relative importance of “community” languages over other, “foreign” languages. This debate centred on the perceived economic need for students to learn languages associated with trade such as those of the European Union or of the Asia-Pacific region, while tending to downgrade languages like Arabic or Greek, spoken by large numbers of Australians. The position of minority languages and whether and how they should be taught, was also an issue.
The government established the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia in 1990, with Lo Bianco as Director. Its role, carried out through a network of over thirty affiliated institutions, covers research and development in language education, work on Indigenous languages, translation and interpreting skills development, and adult literacy.
Further reference:
Theophanous, Andrew Understanding Multiculturalism and Australian Identity, Melbourne, Elikia Books, 1995.