Abstract
Learning Languages Other Than English (LOTE) has been recognised as a vital element of Australia’s current school educational program. The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE), the highest secondary school award in Western Australia, enables students to take either English or another LOTE as a second language. For example, students who are native speakers of English can take a WACE subject in, say, Japanese, while students with Japanese as their first language can take English as their second language. However, while this would seem to cater for the needs of both students, it causes a dilemma for others. Those whose parent(s) speak Japanese as native speakers, but who were born or grew up in Australia, are eligible to take WACE in either English as a second language or Japanese as a LOTE, but may end up taking neither if they are considered to be native speakers of both languages. The School Curriculum and Standards Authority in WA has been handling such issues on a case-by-case basis, and it is not unusual to find students who feel forced to abandon their language learning completely for WACE. Specific practical strategies are needed to deal with the issues concerning heritage language education, which can no longer be regarded as isolated or rare. This chapter discusses the challenges and implications of the establishment of a WACE in Japanese as a heritage language.
Keywords
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aussie Educator. (2013). Subject Areas. http://www.aussieeducator.org.au/curriculum/subjects.html. Accessed 26 Mar 2013
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Migration, Australia: 2009–10. Cat. no. 3412.0. Canberra, ACT: ABS. http://www.abs.gov.au. Accessed 4 Aug 2012.
Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship. (2011). Points tests for certain skills migration visas. http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/points-test.pdf. Accessed 23 Nov 2012.
Baker, C., & Jones, S. P. (1998). Encyclopedia of bilingual education and bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Bale, J. (2010). International comparative perspectives on heritage language education policy research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 42–65. doi:10.1017/S0267190510000024.
Board of Studies New South Wales. (2010a). Heritage Japanese: Stage 6 character list. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/heritage-japanese-character-list.pdf. Accessed 16 Nov 2012.
Board of Studies New South Wales. (2010b). Heritage Japanese: Stage 6 syllabus: Preliminary and HSC courses. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/heritage-japanese-st6-syl.pdf. Accessed 16 Nov 2012.
Borg, G. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A view of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36, 81–109.
Carreira, M., & Kagan, O. (2011). The results of the national heritage language survey: Implications for teaching, curriculum design, and professional development. http://www.nhlrc.ucla.edu/surveyreport/paper.pdf. Accessed 5 Jan 2013.
Clyne, M. (1997). Managing language diversity and second language programmes in Australia. Current Issues in Language and Society, 4(2), 94–119.
Clyne, M., & Kipp, S. (2006). Australia’s community languages. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 180, 7–21.
Cummins, J. (1980). The cross-lingual dimensions of language proficiency: Implications for bilingual education and the optimal age issues. ATESOL Quarterly, 14, 175–187.
de Kretser, A., & Spence-Brown, R. (2010). The current state of Japanese language education in Australian schools. http://foi.deewe.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/the_current_state_of_japanese_language_education_in_australian_schools.pdf. Accessed 7 Dec 2012.
Douglas, M. (2005). Issues in teaching Japanese as a heritage language. http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/about/douglas_benkyoukai.doc. Accessed 16 Nov 2012.
Douglas, M. (2008). A profile of Japanese heritage learners and individualized curriculum. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan, & S. Bauckus (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 215–226). New York: Routledge.
Duff, P. A. (2008). Heritage language education in Canada. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan, & S. Bauckus (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 71–90). New York: Routledge.
Fernandez, S. (2007). Promoting the benefits of language learning. http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/promobenefitslanglearning.pdf. Accessed 26 Mar 2013.
Fielding, R., & Stott, C. (2012). University language learners’ perceptions of the transition from school to university. http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/projects/transition/University%20Language%20Learners%20Perceptions.pdf. Accessed 26 Dec 2012.
Garcia, M. (2003). Recent research on language maintenance. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 23, 22–43.
Gibbons, J. (1999). Register aspects of literacy in Spanish. Written Language and Literacy, 2(1), 63–88.
Gibbons, J., & Lascar, E. (1998). Operationalising academic language proficiency in bilingualism research. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 19(1), 40–50.
Giles, H., Bourhis, R., & Taylor, D. (1977). Towards a theory of language in ethnic group relations. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language, ethnicity, intergroup relations (pp. 307–348). London: Academic Press.
Group of Eight. (2007). Languages in crisis: Rescue plan for Australia. http://www.go8.edu.au/__documents/university-staff/agreements/go8-languages-in-crisis-discussion-paper.pdf. Accessed 26 Mar 2013.
Hillman, K. (2005). The first year experience: The transition from secondary to university and TAFE in Australia. http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=lsay_research. Accessed 15 Jan 2013.
Hornberger, H. (2005). Heritage/community language education: US and Australian perspectives. http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&content=gse_pubs. Accessed 15 Jan 2013.
Hornberger, H., & Wang, C. (2008). Who are our heritage language learners? Identity and biliteracy in heritage language education in the United States. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan, & S. Bauckus (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 3–35). New York: Routledge.
Hsieh, H. M., & Field, S. L. (2011). Taiwanese Hakka teachers’ views and experience on heritage language instruction and education. The International Journal: Language, Society and Culture, 32, 47–54.
Japan Overseas Educational Services. (n. d.) Schools Overseas: Asia–Pacific region. http://www.joes.or.jp/g-kaigai/gaikoku02.html. Accessed 23 Nov 2012.
Kagan, O. (2005). In support of a proficiency-based definition of heritage language learners: The case of Russian. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8, 213–221.
Kagan, O., & Dillon, K. (2009). The professional development of teachers of heritage language learners: A matrix. In M. Anderson & A. Lazaraton (Eds.), Bridging context, making connections: Selected papers from the fifth international conference on language teacher education (pp. 155–175). Minneapolis: Centre for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition.
Kanno, K., Hasegawa, T., Ikeda, K., Ito, Y. & Long, M. (2008). Prior language-learning experience and variation in the linguistic profiles of advanced English-speaking learners of Japanese. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan, & S. Bauckus (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 165–180). New York: Routledge.
Kawakami, I. (2007). Children crossing borders and literacy education for the 21st century. http://www.gsjal.jp/kawakami/dat/0901.pdf. Accessed 26 Dec 2012.
Kelleher, A. (2010). Who is a heritage language learner? http://www.cal.org/heritage/pdfs/briefs/Who-is-a-HeritageLanguage-Learner.pdf. Accessed 2 April 2013.
Kondo, K. (1997). Social-psychological factors affecting language maintenance: Interviews with Shin Nisei university students. Linguistics and Education, 9(4), 369–408.
Kondo-Brown, K. (2001). Heritage language students of Japanese in traditional foreign language classes: A preliminary empirical study. Japanese Language and Literature, 35(2), 157–179.
Kondo-Brown, K. (2005). Differences in language skills: Heritage language learner subgroups and foreign language learners. The Modern Language Journal, 89(4), 563–581.
Kono, N. (2006). Heritage languages online tool for preservation and learning. http://www.nwacc.org/programs/grants/final_reports05/languages_final_report.pdf. Accessed 7 Oct 2012.
Koshiba, K., & Kurata, N. (2012). Language identities of Japanese home-background speakers and their language learning needs. Japanese Studies, 32(3), 357–375. doi:10.1080/10371397.2012.730481.
Lee, J. S. (2006). Exploring the relationship between electronic literacy and heritage language maintenance. Language Learning & Technology, 10(2), 93–113.
Leeman, J., Rabin, L. & Roman-Mendoza, E. (2011). Identity and activism in heritage language education. The Modern Language Journal, 95(4), 481–495.
Leung, C., Harris, R. & Rampton, B. (1997). The idealised native speaker, reified ethnicities, and classroom reality. TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 543–560.
Lo Bianco, J. (2008). Policy activity for heritage languages: Connections with representation and citizenship. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan, & S. Bauckus (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 53–69). New York: Routledge.
Lo Bianco, J. (2009). Australian education review: Second languages in Australian schooling. Camberwell: ACER.
Matsunaga, S. (2003). Instructional needs of college-level learners of Japanese as a heritage language: Performance-based analysis. Heritage Language Journal 1. http://www.international.ucla.edu/languages/heritagelanguages/journal/article.asp?parentid=3623. Accessed 11 Dec 2012.
Mercurio, A., & Scarino, A. (2005). Heritage languages at upper secondary level in South Australia: A struggle for legitimacy. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8(2–3), 145–159.
Montrul, S. (2006). Incomplete acquisition as a feature of bilingual and L2 grammars. In R. Slabakova, S. Montrul, & P. Prevost (Eds.), Inquiries in linguistic development: In honor of Lydia White (pp. 335–359). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Montrul, S. (2008). Incomplete acquisition in bilingualism: Re-examining the age factor. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Montrul, S. (2012). Is the heritage language like a second language? http://www.nhlrc.ucla.edu/media/files/EUROSLA-YEARBOOK-2012-text-yz-rvu.pdf. Accessed 3 Jan 2013.
Nishimura-Parke, Y. (2012). Keishogo toshiteno nihongo course. Journal for Children Crossing Borders, 3, 129–134.
Oguro, S., & Moloney, R. (2010). An alien from their own language: The case of Japanese in New South Wales. Babel, 44(2), 22–31.
Oriyama, K. (2010). Heritage language maintenance and Japanese identity formation: What role can schooling and ethnic community contact play? Heritage Language Journal, 7(2), 76–111.
Oriyama, K. (2012). What role can community contact play in heritage language literacy development? Japanese-English bilingual children in Sydney. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(2), 167–186.
Polinsky, M. (2000). A composite linguistic profile of a speaker of Russian in the US. In O. Kagen & B. Rifkin (Eds.), The learning and teaching of Slavic languages and cultures (pp. 437–466). Bloomington: Slavica.
Potowsky, K. (2002). Experiences of Spanish heritage speakers in university foreign language courses and implications for teacher training. ADFL Bulletin, 33(3), 35–42.
Scalera, D. (2004). The invisible learner: Unlocking the heritage language treasure. Language Association Journal, 55(2). http://www.crins07.wmwikis.net/file/view/invisible.pdf. Accessed 2 April 2013.
Scarino, A. (2008). Community and culture in intercultural language learning. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 31(1), 5.1–5.15. doi:10.2104/aral0805.
Tse, L. (1998). Affecting affect: The impact of heritage language programs on student attitudes. In S. D. Krashen, L. Tse, & J. McQuillan (Eds.), Heritage language development (pp. 51–72). Culver City: Language Education Associates.
Universities Admissions Centre. (n. d.). WACE subjects comparable to NSW HSC subjects. http://www.uac.edu.au/documents/undergraduate/interstate/subject-bonus-WA.pdf. Accessed 16 Nov 2012.
Valdes, G. (2001). Heritage language students: Profiles and possibilities. In J. K. Peyton, D. A. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage language in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 37–77). McHenry: The Centre for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems.
Wiley, T. J. (2005). The re-emergence of heritage and community language policy in the US national spotlight. The Modern Language Journal, 89, 594–601.
Willoughby, L. (2006). Heritage LOTEs at VCE level: Student perspectives on current programs. Monash University Linguistics Papers, 5(1), 3–15.
Wu, H. P. (2011). Understanding heritage language teachers’ beliefs: A case study from Taiwan. The International Journal: Language, Society and Culture, 33, 64–72.
Yamasaki, Y. (2010). Conflicted attitudes toward heritage: Heritage language learning of returnee adolescents from Japan at a Nikkei school in Lima, Peru. Critical Asian Studies, 42(1), 89–110. doi:10.1080/14672710903537506.
Zhang, D. (2005). Use of online chat by heritage learners in a blended Chinese Class. Paper presented at The 20th annual conference on distance teaching and learning. http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/04_1411.pdf. Accessed 20 Jan 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hasegawa, H. (2014). Towards the Establishment of a WACE Examination in Japanese as a Heritage Language: Critical Perspectives. In: Dunworth, K., Zhang, G. (eds) Critical Perspectives on Language Education. Multilingual Education, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06185-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06185-6_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-06184-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-06185-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)