Hinglish, Chinglish and Spanglish - Australia’s future?

Exactly the same could be said for monolingual Australian children currently going through an unsupportive educational system. The Federal Government has stressed the need for young Australians to prepare themselves to take their place in the world, yet refuse to advocate the teaching of at least one other language as part of a core curriculum in schools.

Even in Victoria, a national leader in language teaching, the percentage of Year 12 students studying two languages other than English is 0.0044 per cent of the student body. This is in contrast to the European Union where the teaching of two foreign languages is the norm, and of similar policies being adopted in many Asian countries.

Professor Clyne says the prime fallacy surrounding the resistance to language teaching is the crowded curriculum argument. "How many times have I heard ‘we don’t have time for another language because it takes away from other subjects which are more important?" he said.

"There is no subject more important than language and literacy, and if you learn to read and write in one language there are only certain adjustments that have to be made to learn to read and write in another".

He cited the example of the Victorian education system where a number of schools have bilingual programs with children learning a variety of subjects in languages other than English for seven-and-a-half hours each week. "Almost invariably the results in those subjects from children in the bilingual program are better than those who are learning the subjects exclusively in English."

Professor Clyne urged the Canberra forum to push for the establishment of a school of languages similar to those already operating in some other states. “In the ACT you have something like 15.2 per cent of the population speaking a language other than English at home – why shouldn’t Canberra, the national capital, be the model and example for the rest of Australia?” he asked.

"You can show the rest of the nation that monolingualism is curable and that all Australians would benefit by participating in a multilingual society."