Key Points
- Macquarie University has sparked debate after considering cutting five language programs.
- In 2021, only 8.6 per cent of Year 12 students were enrolled to study a foreign language — a historical low.
- Advocates want language education to be made compulsory in schools, citing Finland as a successful model.
A plan by Sydney's Macquarie University to cut five languages from its teaching program has led to a petition from affected students and sparked a wider discussion about the value of learning foreign languages.
A recently released discussion paper from the university's Arts faculty outlines a plan to cut studies in Croatian, Italian, German, Modern Greek, and Russian.
Kathryn Sabljak is studying Croatian at Macquarie University and shared her concerns about the plan in an interview with SBS Croatian.
"Many jobs requiring languages other than English are now predominantly performed by migrants". Source: AAP / Alan Porritt
"Now they are in their early 20s and are keen on learning the language. I think when you start extinguishing languages, you sort of start losing identity."
Zac said the availability of Russian courses was "a key part of his decision to choose this university".
"Russian is obviously a strategically significant language, fitting well with my degree," he told SBS Russian.
"In the current global context, the world needs more cultural understanding, certainly not less."
A university spokesperson said the Arts faculty was in "an early phase of consultation with staff in the discipline of Language and Cultures".
Macquarie University didn't provide data on its language enrolments, but the spokesperson said, "These exploratory discussions are considering the strategic direction of the discipline at the University..."
The proportion of domestic students undertaking language studies at tertiary show a significant decline in recent years. Source: AAP / Darron Cummings
Students have started a change.org petition urging the university not to cut the five languages from its program.
If the languages are cut, the university will only offer Chinese, Japanese, French and Spanish.
How important is it to learn languages?
Some reader comments on the petition criticise the university's plans. However, others argue that universities shouldn't continue teaching languages that "don't bring revenue and have very low enrollments".
"I'm managing to get by speaking only English just fine. Why should I care?" one person wrote.
Ingrid Piller is Distinguished Professor of applied linguistics at Macquarie University. Credit: Supplied
She said, "When we talk about language learning we often think about this mythical mono-language speaker of English who can’t be bothered to learn other languages."
"But it's not the right way of thinking. Almost a quarter of our population already speaks those languages and probably wants to study them at a higher level."
Piller said ditching European languages would be "short-sighted."
"How can one argue against the need to study Russian anymore?" she asked.
"It's such an important language, strategically and geo-politically."
Professor Ludmila Stern from UNSW's School of Humanities and Languages said Macquarie University's plan was "absolutely shocking".
Stern, proficient in three languages and a strong advocate for language learning, recently published research on the shortage of certified interpreters in courts and tribunals.
"In certain settings, such as courts or medical settings, poor interpretation is unacceptable," she said.
"Interpreter education begins with a comprehensive study of languages. Cuts like these create an additional shortage of future qualified interpreters."
Piller pointed out that many jobs requiring languages other than English are now predominantly performed by migrants.
"Roles like translating, interpreting, language teaching, diplomacy, and business opportunities are fulfilled by individuals who learned English as a second language. While this is acceptable to some extent, there's a real need to train the local workforce," she said.
It starts at school
Learning a second language is not mandatory in Australian schools, and as a result, Australian students are lagging behind the rest of the world in language proficiency.
In 2021, only 8.6 per cent of Year 12 students were enrolled in a language — a historical low.
Between 2010 and 2021, the number of students enrolled dropped by 23 per cent.
Year 12 tertiary-recognised language enrolments in Australia: 2010-2022. Source: ACARA. Source: SBS News
She underscored the necessity of educating the second generation of migrants who learned their parents' language at home but haven't developed it to a sufficient level at school.
"Australia, in this context, becomes a graveyard of languages," she said.
"Unlike many other parts of the world where you must learn your national language and at least one additional language to graduate high school, it's not the case in Australia.
Curricula vary across state.
In several states foreign languages are compulsory in years 7 and 8 only, and students may explore four different languages.
Year 12 tertiary-recognised language enrolments by language, Australia: 2010-2021. Source: ACARA Source: SBS News
Universities often don't make it easy
The Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) advocates for and supports language education and research in universities.
LCNAU president, Professor John Hajek from the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne, noted a long-term decline in language studies among domestic students from 2013 to 2022.
He said universities often hinder students from studying languages by imposing strict restrictions on the number of subjects, including those from other faculties, that can be part of their degree.
"At one university I know of, students can only take one external subject other than faculty subjects," Hajek said.
"That means a student could potentially only do one semester of language study. In this context, the Diploma of Languages is a helpful mechanism to allow students to get around such restrictions by allowing them to complete a language major as part of the diploma.
"Macquarie is planning to eliminate the Diploma of Languages and this makes no sense. It will damage the smaller languages already under threat there."
The number of students who take another language at HSC level has fallen for years. Source: AAP / Peter Rae
A University of Sydney spokesperson acknowledged a declining trend in language subjects but emphasised their commitment to maintaining a diverse range of language studies, supported by donations and cross-subsidisation.
"We haven’t discontinued any over the past decade and have no plans to do so; we remain committed to continuing our diverse range of language studies," the university spokesperson said.
Is translation tech replacing language learning?
"No and no," said Professor Stern.
"AI is just a tool; automated translators make mistakes and cannot replace a human translator."
Professor Piller said "Language technologies are and will not do so in the foreseeable future because machine language learning and human language learning differ fundamentally," she said.
Though learning a foreign language is challenging, Piller emphasised the tremendous benefits.
"I'm from Germany; English is my second language. I learned French and Spanish at school and Latin. It shaped me as a person and as an academic."
Stern shared a similar sentiment:
"The benefits are tremendous; it expands and enriches the world.
"I've used languages in my professional work, and my PhD thesis and monograph were based on my three (and even four with a bit of German) languages. Without those languages, I couldn't have studied archives, interviewed people, and contributed to scholarly knowledge."
In collaboration with SBS Russian and SBS Croatian.
