Faculty of Education - Theses

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End date: 2019 × Start date: 2010 × Type: Doctorate × Subject: Victoria ×

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    Mapping the landscape of language learning in Victorian independent schools
    Tuckfield, John ( 2017)
    The researcher for this study was granted access to a hitherto unanalysed collection of data: the results of annual surveys on language learning of all independent schools in the state of Victoria, Australia. These surveys detailed the language learning programmes of 126,377 students in 203 primary and secondary schools in 2013. Using the methodologies of Descriptive Research and Grounded Theory, the researcher undertook quantitative analyses of the data to produce an overview of language learning across the Independent sector in Victoria, and snapshots of several languages, calculating the total number of students learning the language and schools teaching it, the location of the schools (metropolitan or regional), the average Socio-Economic Status (SES) index of the schools, the gender balance of students and the number of teachers. The next part of the study involved pursuing patterns and theories that emerged from the data. Four main issues were explored using the data from the surveys: 1. the concentration of students at primary school level in learning certain languages, and the time allocated to these languages in schools; 2. the issue of compulsory language studies, and retention rates; 3. boys and language learning; and 4. children of different socio-economic status and language learning. It was found that some languages, such as Japanese and Italian, were almost exclusively taught in primary school, but in most schools they were given considerably less than the government recommend ninety minutes per week; there was a strong correlation between the mandating of language studies and student retention, and making languages compulsory for longer was associated with higher retention rates in the final year of schooling; languages in the final year of schooling showed in general a stronger proportion of girls, but this was largely due to the strong position of French, which showed a marked imbalance between the genders; and children of low socio-economic status were more likely to learn languages in their final year of schooling than other students, but they tended to choose community languages, which had an impact on the score used to determine university entrance.