抄録
Australia is one of a number of multi-ethnic countries which have accepted immigrants since 1788.Therefore, in Australia, it has been very important to encourage a suitable language policy.Especially, as non-English speaking people have been recently increasing, to develop the teaching of LOTE is required.
The aim of this paper is to study the importance of language education for a multi-ethnic society, looking at the case of Australia.From this point of view, this paper focused on clarifying the LOTE policies of each level, including the Commonwealth, state, region and school.Concerning the state level, I focused on Victoria, since it has more immigrants from various countries compared to other states.In Victoria, I focused on the Western Metropolitan Region and its school for the same reason.On these matters, this paper consists of the following sections:
1.Introduction
2.LOTE Policies of the Commonwealth Department of Education and the Department of Education in each state
3.The Current Situation of LOTE in Victoria
4.Conclusion
Through my study, the educational significance of LOTE can be found in the following two points: Firstly, it is possible for students who have non-English speaking backgrounds to keep learning their mother tongue and culture.Secondly, LOTE gives opportunities for all Australian students to study new languages and cultures. Therefore, LOTE in Australia has an important role not only in terms of acquiring language proficiency, but also in developing the ability to esteem and recognize various languages and cultures.
In view of these facts, LOTE's important role as one of the means of building up the multi-ethnic society in Australia is clarified. However, it is necessary for educational authorities to reform LOTE in order to meet the demands of local communities.It is also very important for the Commonwealth government to recognize local characteristics and provide for language policies which meet local demands.
