July 2021

What an incredibly busy and productive few months it has been. The 23rd AFMLTA International Conference was a great success with more than 200 delegates from across Australia participating virtually. The keynote speakers gave inspiring talks that generated a lot of discussion, and more than 60 presenters of parallel sessions shared various aspects of their work. Congratulations to the Executive team for putting together a high quality professional learning experience and thank you to all involved.
The National Assembly was held at the beginning of the month. This is made up of representatives from each MLTA/LTA and decisions are made about the business of the AFMLTA. This includes electing Executive Officers.  AFMLTA Presidents serve a four-year term with one year as President-Elect, two as President and one as Immediate Past-President. Amanda Pentti is to be acknowledged for her work in these roles and we are pleased she is remaining on the Executive as Information Officer. Gillian Cordy has been nominated as President-Elect and we look forward to her leadership in the coming years. We are also pleased to welcome Claire Leong to the position of  Promotions Officer. 

Nathan Harvey, President  on behalf of the AFMLTA Executive Team
Gillian Cordy, Kylie Farmer, Claire Leong, Anne-Marie Morgan, Amanda Pentti, Sherryl Saunders, Andrew Scrimgeour

Participate in a Focus Group:

Have your say on the development of the
National Languages Plan and Strategy for Languages education 

All teachers of languages are invited to submit an Expression of Interest to participate in a one-hour online Focus Group. These will be held through August and September 2021 as part of the consultation processes for the National Languages Plan and Strategy project AFMLTA is managing for the federal government. 

The Focus Groups will provide opportunities for teachers and other stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft goals and recommendations to be included in the development of the National Languages Plan and Strategy. 
Each Focus Group will have a maximum of 30 participants.
Go to the project website for dates and details of Focus Groups to be held for your state/territory, then submit your Expression of Interest to be involved. 

Online Versions of the AFMLTA Professional Standards

We are pleased to announce that digital versions of the 2021 AFMLTA Professional Standards for Accomplished Teaching of Languages and Professional Standards for Lead Teachers of Languages are now available on the AFMLTA website.

These new digital versions complement the range of resources available on the AFMLTA website Professional Standards page, including the AITSL-aligned documents and the language-specific versions of the standards available for 7 languages. 

We encourage you to explore these to support reflection on practice and planning for future growth in your role as a teacher of Languages.

This AFMLTA website has a collection of clips providing insights to language teaching programs and practices across Australia. The clips are drawn from various sources and capture a diverse range of classroom contexts and approaches to the teaching of languages at different levels.

Patji-Dawes Languages Teaching Awards 

The Patiji-Dawes Language Teaching Award honours outstanding achievements in teaching languages by an accomplished practitioner or team of practitioners. The award was established in 2015 by the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Languages (CoEDL). From 2021, administration of the award will pass to the AFMLTA and the Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU). The AFMLTA is privileged to continue being involved in this award and would like to congratulate the 2021 recipients: 

• The Wiradjuri program at Charles Sturt University is the awardee in the Group category. The program, which is under the guidance of Stan Grant Sr and Susan Green, was nominated by student Elaine, who commented: “The CSU Language teachers are inspiring and effective because, like me, they have been renewed by the power of Wiradjuri language to change how you see yourself and the world around you.”
• Maria Lo Presti (Perth, WA) is the awardee in the Individual category. Maria is currently Head of Languages at Aquinas College and has taught Italian for over 30 years. Students fondly remember her adage: “Learn to mingle, be bilingual.”
• Sharon Gregory (Fremantle, WA) is the awardee in the Community Outreach category. Sharon was nominated by the Walyalap Waangkaniny Noongar Language Group, where she teaches Noongar. One student of Sharon’s shared that she has “gone from speaking no Noongar language to writing poems in Noongar language” under Sharon’s encouragement.

Professional Learning

2021 Chinese Language Teachers' Federation of Australia National Conference

1-2 October 2021 - Charles Darwin University, Darwin

Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) Spring Conference 2021

28-29 October 2021 - online conference

LCNAU National Colloquim 2021

24-26 November 2021, The University of Queensland