The Current State of Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools

2.3.2 Secondary Enrolments

Numbers at the secondary level have been more stable than at the primary level, with a fall of 6.4 per cent nationally, and appear to have been less susceptible to the impact of policy and program changes (with the exception of senior secondary levels, as will be discussed below). Again, the case of Victorian government schools is interesting due to the large number of students and quality of statistics. The number and percentage of secondary colleges offering a language fell from 95.4 per cent in 2001 to 88.3 per cent in 2007 (Department of Education and Training Victoria, 2008, page 13) while overall language student numbers also fell, most severely at the Year 9 and 10 levels. For Japanese, however, there was some small fluctuation across the years but apart from a dip of about 1,200 in 2007 which was reversed in 2009, these fluctuations have only numbered in the hundreds. In 2002 there were 20,071 students and in 2008 there were 20,147 (Department of Education and Training Victoria, 2008, page 19). In other words, there has been no change in overall numbers in this jurisdiction. This attests to the relative robustness of Japanese at the secondary level, where it is well supported and resourced.

Although the school figures are somewhat unreliable due to different counting methods for combined programs, it appears that the fall in number of schools offering Japanese (15.6 per cent) is greater than the fall in enrolments (6.4 per cent). It is likely that this may be largely attributed to the fact that the number of students in Australian schools grew by about 7 per cent in the decade to 2008, while the number of schools decreased, according to ABS figures (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009).

Several informants reported that in some high schools offering more than one language, the number of students taking Japanese had fallen in comparison to other languages, although there are no statistics to indicate how widespread this phenomenon might be. This seemed to be particularly the case at entry level, where decisions are influenced by parental views, rather than being a matter of retention once students had commenced their study. It was suggested that due to the widely reported decline in the Japanese economy parents were no longer seeing Japanese as being as useful for employment purposes as they had a decade ago, and that they were also more likely to opt for more familiar and ‘easier’ European languages such as French. However, these are anecdotal reports, and more research targeting parents is required to confirm their accuracy. There were also consistent reports from teachers (particularly in Vic, SA and WA) that both they and their students believed that Japanese at the senior level has become increasingly difficult and competitive in recent years, leading to a drop in enrolments at these levels in some schools, and in a small number of cases, to the subsequent demise of the program. Again, it is unclear whether these views were objectively correct, but they were commonly expressed by experienced teachers.

2.3.3 State and Territory Differences

There are considerable differences across states and territories, both in the numbers of students studying languages in general, and in the numbers studying Japanese. As can be seen from Table 2 (page 19), the greatest population of students studying Japanese is located in Vic (105,357 – 30 per cent of national total). Although Japanese is not the most popular language in Vic (comprising only 20 per cent of all language students, much less than in states such as Qld), nor is it the most populous state, these high numbers are due to the greater penetration of language study overall, particularly in primary schools (70.4 per cent of students in primary, and 45.5 per cent of students in secondary schools [Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Victoria, 2009]). The next greatest population is located in Qld (102,198). The most populous state in Australia, NSW, has a total number of students nearly half of that of Qld (45,530). NSW, however, has a far greater proportion of students studying at secondary level (76 per cent), whereas in other states and territories (other than Tas) there are greater numbers at primary level (64.5 per cent of the national total). In terms of the secondary cohort, NSW is second behind Vic, and ahead of Qld.

If one examines the totals in terms of the percentage of total students in each state or territory studying Japanese, however, the picture is somewhat different (Graph 1, page 24). From this perspective, SA dominates, with 16.7 per cent of the students across year levels and sectors studying Japanese, and an even higher percentage of students in independent schools studying the language in 2008 – although the vast majority in all sectors are at primary level. Of course, the percentage at some year levels is even higher, so the number of SA students who gain some exposure to Japanese during their education is very substantial. The lowest proportion of students studying Japanese is in NSW, where only 4.1 per cent of students are studying Japanese, averaged across year levels.

2.4 The Nature of the Student Cohort

2.4.1 Student Background

In contrast to the situation in languages such as Chinese (Orton, 2008), the number of Australian students with a family background in Japanese is relatively small. Very few schools have more than one or two such students in their classes and the majority have none. In the main, Japanese is taught as a ‘foreign’ language and the learners generally represent a cross-section of the Australian community. Japanese is therefore regarded by students as a ‘normal’ or ‘typical’ mainstream school language, and as such is accessible to and attractive to students from a range of backgrounds. In terms of ensuring that more Australians gain the benefits of learning a foreign language, this is an important advantage, as many students are deterred from language study if they perceive that they will need to compete with peers with a background in the language.

Japanese is, however, particularly popular with students of other Asian backgrounds (particularly Chinese and Korean), who find the subject attractive for various reasons. As many of these learners are literate in Chinese, the task of acquiring literacy in Japanese is of a fundamentally different nature for them than for other students. As the numbers of such students increase, the design of curriculum and assessment tasks may need to be adjusted, particularly at senior levels.

Such students are perceived by other students as having an advantage in acquiring Japanese, and in fact often do well in the subject, although in objective terms the advantage due to their language background is (for Chinese students) confined to the mastery of characters. In a few schools, the popularity of Japanese with Asian background students has become such a strong trend that other students may be deterred from taking it.

Japanese is a language of mass-teaching in Australia, and has an important role in encouraging more Australians of all backgrounds (particularly monolingual Australians) to broaden their horizons and develop intercultural sensitivity and skills through the study of another language and culture. Therefore, if its particular popularity among Asian-background students is starting to threaten the perception of Japanese as a subject that students of all backgrounds can and should study, and can compete in fairly, then this is something that authorities need to be aware of and counter (for example, with campaigns showing successful learners from a variety of backgrounds).