1A WHOLE-OF-SCHOOLAPPROACH TO PROMOTINGJAPANESE INVOLVINGSTUDENTS, TEACHERS
AND PARENTS
NATHAN LANESt Columba’s College, VIC

ABSTRACTOne of the challenges facing a Japanese teacher is advocating to the school community the importance of learning
Japanese. This chapter outlines different strategies implemented at a secondary school in Melbourne which aim topromote the importance of learning languages and encourage students to continue with their Japanese study from thecompulsory years into the elective years. The strategies outlined in this report can be adapted and modified to suit different
school contexts.

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INTRODUCTION
One of the dimensions in the “Professional standards for accomplished teaching of languages and cultures” (AFMLTA
2005) developed by the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers’ Associations is advocacy. The Advocacy
Standard outlines that “accomplished languages and cultures teachers are advocates for language learning, interculturalcommunication and intercultural sensitivity, linguistic and cultural diversity. They are advocates for languages both withand for students, schools and communities and engage with the wider community to promote languages” (AFMLTA
2005, 6). This chapter will outline the advocacy initiatives implemented at St Columba’s College which have involved thewhole school community and have assisted in raising the profile of the languages department within the school, thereby
encouraging more students to continue with their language studies past the compulsory years.

BACKGROUND
THE LANGUAGES PROGRAM AT ST COLUMBA’S COLLEGE
St Columba’s College is a Catholic secondary girls’ school in Victoria. The College offers three languages: French, Italianand Japanese, to VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) level. These three languages are the most widely taught inVictorian schools. As noted by Joe Lo Bianco, “Traditionally the domain of languages education, the secondary school, really
operates as two distinct sub-domains: the compulsory years and the post-compulsory years” (Lo Bianco 2009, 48). Prior
to entering the College, students in Year 6 choose one of the three languages on offer and they are required to study thisas a compulsory part of the school curriculum from Year 7 to Year 9. Language learning becomes an elective from Year10, and with this transition the challenge for the languages staff is to encourage students to continue their language study
into the post-compulsory years.
There are six core classes of approximately 29 students in the Year 7 cohort each year. Either two or three of these classes
will be French and Italian, with only one Japanese class. There are a number of possible reasons for the relatively greater
popularity of French and Italian. There is a strong Italian community in the area surrounding the College. Most of the feeder
primary schools teach Italian, and students choose to continue studying Italian from primary school into secondary school.
The romance element of French seems to appeal to students in an all-girls school. Often students cite reasons on the Year
7 online language preference form such as an interest in fashion or a desire to travel to France as their motivation to study
French. The perception that Japanese is difficult, requiring study of three alphabets and imposing a heavy workload, would
be the main reason why students choose French and Italian over Japanese.
The parent body at the College is supportive of language learning. The high number of attendees at the language related
events (detailed below) is evidence of the positive support offered by parents. The terms of that support are suggested
in a quote from one of the parents in the evaluation of the Year 9 languages dinner: “I believe that given the school has
gone to the effort of hosting a language event it is my responsibility to attend and participate in my daughter’s learning.”
The Asia Education Foundation conducted an Australia-wide online survey on parent attitudes to learning Asian languages,
and the data and findings were presented in the report “Parent attitudes towards Asian language learning in schools” (The
University of Melbourne and Education Services Australia Limited 2015). The report highlights the importance of engaging
parents in their child’s learning. The College supports this and believes that learning is a partnership between teachers,
students and parents, and consequently the range of language advocacy initiatives it has undertaken have sought toinvolve parents in their daughter’s language learning.

ADVOCACY INITIATIVES
Given the above context, advocating the importance of studying languages is an important role of the Languages Program
and the team of languages teachers at the College. Although the initiatives outlined below focus on Japanese, they are
representative of the activities undertaken in all the languages offered at the College.

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The initiatives to raise the profile of Japanese within the College have been categorised into three areas:• value-adding to the educational experience provided at the College: events for students• value-adding to the educational experience provided at the College: events for parents and students• simple initiatives

VALUE-ADDING TO THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE PROVIDED AT THE COLLEGE: EVENTS FORSTUDENTS
To ensure students receive a rounded education, a number of events for students are provided outside normal classes
which value-add to their educational experience and are “highly significant in providing a focus and motivation for learning”(de Kretser and Spence-Brown 2010, 52). Study tours to Japan are offered to senior students on a cyclical basis, once
every three years, and are available to students studying Japanese in Years 10 to 12. The College is fortunate to have asister-school relationship in Kumamoto. A teddy bear project was initiated a number of years ago to further strengthen
the sister-school relationship and to ensure the relationship was ongoing and not just limited to visits to either school. A
teddy bear was exchanged between schools, and the students took photos of the teddy bears in various locations around
Melbourne and Kumamoto. The students uploaded the photos onto a blog which was set up for the project, and a caption
was written in Japanese to accompany each photo. Students from both schools were able to view the blog, and this task
enabled the students to practise writing in Japanese, from which they could see a real application for their Japanese
language skills. The photos also served to introduce the Japanese students to life in Australia, and the St Columba’s
students to life in Japan.
Immersion full-day and afternoon opportunities have been offered to students in Years 9 and 11. These year levels havebeen strategically chosen. For Year 11 students it provides a revision experience prior to commencing Year 12 Japanese.
As Year 9 is the final year of compulsory language learning at the College, offering an immersion experience strives tomotivate students in their language learning and encourage more of them to continue their language studies into the postcompulsory years. During these days students have engaged in a variety of language-based and cultural activities. These
opportunities are valuable for students to work with other students who are studying Japanese. They see that they are notalone in their Japanese learning journey.
A Languages Week is offered at the College each year, scheduled to coincide with the Victorian Multicultural Commission’s
Cultural Diversity Week. During this week students engage in many language-related activities including daily quiz questions,lunchtime films, games, and sampling food from Japan.
Term-based competitions also encourage and motivate students in their language learning. A different competition isoffered each term. A poster competition is offered in Term 1; students design a poster based on the Languages Program
theme for the year. The winning poster is used to promote the Languages Program for the whole year. An art-based
competition is the focus for Term 2; in it, students are invited to create an artwork that reflects Japan. In Term 3,
students are invited to record a song in Japanese for the singing competition. A cake-making competition has also beenoffered, where the students design a cake that reflects Japan.
Excursions throughout the year form a part of the Japanese curriculum and aim to connect the students’ learning ofJapanese to the community. As the College is located in metropolitan Melbourne, excursions to places in the city areawith links to Japan – for example the Japanese Consulate and Japanese restaurants – can easily be organised. Students
in Year 8 also connect to the community by visiting a local primary school where Japanese is taught, and here theyread out the short stories they have written in Japanese. In regional areas where access to Japan-related places isperhaps limited, opportunities for students to practise their Japanese in authentic contexts using the local environment
can still be offered. For example, at a regional school, at Year 10 level each year when the students learn to describe
the location of objects, they visit the local shopping strip opposite the school and complete a language exercise which
provides an authentic context for practising the location of objects in Japanese. Students answer questions in Japanese;for example, “What is in front of the bakery?”. Furthermore, students at Year 9 visit the local community radio station
and record their weather report speaking task.

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At St Columba’s College, a few years ago an inquiry unit was implemented at Year 10, for which students researched
the question, “Where can I take my Japanese?” As part of the work for this unit students completed a “city experience”.
The day was divided into three parts. Firstly, in small groups the students walked a designated street or shopping
centre in Melbourne and took photos of the evidence of Japan. Students took photos of Japanese signs, restaurants andJapanese products they could see in shop windows. Secondly, students completed a treasure hunt in Japanese which
took them to Japan-specific locations in the city. Lastly, the students visited a Japanese company and interviewed an
employee in Japanese to find out about the company and the work that is done there. The unit is designed to be modified
and used in schools in both metropolitan and regional areas. For example, in areas where there are no Japanesecompanies, advances in technology have enabled interviews with Japanese speakers to be conducted online throughservices such as Skype.

VALUE-ADDING TO THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE PROVIDED AT THE COLLEGE:
EVENTS FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS“Building and sustaining parental support for language learning remains a challenge for Australian education” (The Universityof Melbourne and Education Services Australia Limited 2015, 4). It has been reported that many Australian “parents do not
see the relevance of learning languages” (Australian Council of State School Organisations 2007, 22). With this in mind,
the College initiated two languages promotional events which involve parents in their daughter’s language learning. At
the start of the year parents of Year 7 students are invited to the College to experience a lesson of Japanese just as theirdaughter does. The event lasts an hour, and at the commencement of the evening parents gather to enjoy Japanese foodand to collect language promotional materials. The parents then move to the classroom and experience a short lessonof Japanese. It is a valuable experience for parents to experience language learning in a secondary school setting and thecontemporary approaches to learning and teaching, which are no doubt different to the way languages were taught tothem during their secondary school days.
The second event is a “Languages and Careers Dinner”. The evening commences with a cultural performance, and forthe past two years Dr Russell Cross from the University of Melbourne has provided an opening address focusing on theimportance of learning languages. The attendees then enjoy food reflecting the languages offered at the College. Afterthe main course, three former students representing the three languages offered at the College talk about their journey inlanguage learning past secondary school. (For the purpose of including former students in such an event, it is important toensure the school maintains a database of former students and tracks their pathways beyond secondary school. This will
make it considerably easier to locate former students to be guest speakers.) The dinner is advertised as a “Languages andCareers Christmas in July Dinner” and the College Hall is decorated in a Christmas theme for the evening.
These events are strategically placed in the College calendar. The Year 7 evening aims to encourage parents to support
their daughter’s language learning from the commencement of their secondary schooling. The Year 9 dinner is held aroundsubject selection time in July for Year 9 students going into Year 10 in the following year. The aim of the Year 9 languages
dinner is to encourage students to continue their language studies into the post-compulsory years through listening to thestories of young people, and to gain the support of parents in encouraging their daughter to continue with her language
studies. “Encouraging their child to study the target language and communicating positive attitudes about the language andculture are two important dimensions of this support” (The University of Melbourne and Education Services Australia Limited
2015, 4). It is hoped that listening to the speeches on the evening will prompt conversations at home about the importance of
language learning, and the students will decide to continue their Japanese studies into Year 10 when the subject becomes anelective. The feedback from these events has been overwhelmingly positive, and parents have appreciated the opportunity
to be a part of their daughter’s learning.

SIMPLE INITIATIVESAt the Orientation Day for new Year 7 students they each receive a showbag of information about the College. Within thisbag, material to promote the languages program is included. This includes an “I 日本語” pen, a languages bookmarkwith the artwork designed by a student and information about the College’s Japanese program. In response to questions
at parent–teacher interview nights about ways parents can support their child in learning Japanese, a languages fridgemagnet was designed. This magnet outlines strategies parents can use to support their daughter as she commences herstudy of Japanese in Year 7 and is also included in this showbag.

5Around the school there is a strong presence of languages. This presence begins at the entrance to the College Reception
where a “Welcome to St Columba’s College” sign has been translated into Japanese, French and Italian. Mini flags of thecountries of the languages offered at the College are also on display in the front office. Buildings have been labelled in both
English and Japanese, French and Italian. Inspirational quotes on language learning have also been displayed around theCollege and translated into the three languages.
In the Catholic tradition, a prayer for the Languages Department was written by the faculty members, and has beentranslated into Japanese, French and Italian and displayed in all classrooms around the school. This prayer is used at
languages events throughout the year. The Japanese flag is also raised at the front of the College during significant events,for example during the visit by the College’s Japanese sister school.
The College has invested in a Japanese classroom to create a sense of Japan when students are learning Japanese. The
walls are adorned with posters and other materials from Japan and there is also a small tatami mat area in the corner.
Detailed information on the College’s languages program is also available on the College website for parents and othermembers of the community to access.

IMPACT ON STUDENT RETENTION THROUGH IMPLEMENTING
THE ADVOCACY INITIATIVES
Surveys and focus group interviews with students to measure the success of these initiatives in motivating them tocontinue their language studies have yet to be undertaken. The number of enrolments in Japanese at the post-compulsory
level each year fluctuates and depends greatly on the cohort for that year. Some cohorts are particularly strong languagelearning cohorts and others are not. A range of factors contribute to students deciding to continue with their language studies
or to discontinue them. Incentives and disincentives for students continuing with language study have been highlighted byde Kretser and Spence-Brown (2010). The greatest measure of the success of these initiatives at St Columba’s College has
been the increased profile and presence of languages within the school community and the positive feedback received infollow-up surveys conducted with parents on the two initiatives at Years 7 and 9.

CONCLUSION
The initiatives outlined above have sought to increase student retention in Japanese from the compulsory years of language
learning to when learning Japanese becomes an elective. These initiatives have also raised the profile of languages not justamongst the students and staff at the College, but with parents and the wider community. The importance of involving
all stakeholders in languages education has been highlighted by Scarino and Liddicoat (2009, 13) who write that “theprofessional stance adopted by teachers to their role and work will recognise parents and other community members
as active contributors to learning”. The teachers in the Languages Program at St Columba’s College are committed tocontinuing the process of communicating the value of language learning to all members of the school community.

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REFERENCES
AFMLTA. 2005. Professional Standards for Accomplished Teaching of Languages and Cultures. http://afmlta.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/
Professional-Standards-for-Accomplished-Teaching-of-Languages-and-Cultures.pdf
Australian Council of State School Organisations and Australian Parents Council. 2007.
Attitudes towards the Study of Languages in Australian Schools. http://www.aftv.vic.edu.au/resources/whylearnfrench/
attitudestowardsthestudyoflanginausschools.pdf
de Kretser, A. and R. Spence-Brown. 2010. The Current State of Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools. Melbourne: Education Services Australia
Ltd.
Lo Bianco, J. 2009. Second Languages and Australian Schooling. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Scarino, A. and A. J. Liddicoat. 2009. Teaching and Learning Languages: A Guide. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.
The University of Melbourne and Education Services Australia Limited – Asia Education Foundation. 2015. Parent attitudes towards Asian language learning inschools. http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/docs/default-source/research-and-policy-pdfs/parent-attitudes-towards-asian-language-learning-in-schools_
report_v3-100615wcag_final.pdf