Language is a highly significant manifestation of culture .
Learning one's own language is critical for human communication, and learning another language opens the gateway to new perspectives on thought and action. Sadly today, over half of the world's languages are not effectively passed on to successive generations. Language teachers throughout Australia play an important role in expanding and maintaining interest and skill-levels in a wide range of languages through teaching language courses, in English as a Second Language classes and via community language programs, at all educational levels. The conference will focus on the links between language and culture and explore how the classroom teacher can use these links to improve their practice. The conference will also provide a forum for sharing knowledge, examining approaches and clarifying objectives so that language teachers may lift the profile of languages in the education curriculum and improve the learning outcomes for students.