Helen Borland

Finding common ground: enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education

A feature of Australian Higher Education over the last 10 years has been the increased numbers of international students. This feature has been perceived to have great potential for enhanced learning for all students – both international and domestic. Yet, student surveys and research clearly indicate that there is very little interaction occurring between domestic and international students. This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which university teaching can promote interaction between students from diverse cultural and linguistic background. Using an innovative video-analysis methodology, the research found that academics engage in a variety of activities to encourage interaction between student groups. In order to assist academics in planning interaction, one of the main findings of the study was the development of ‘The Interaction for Learning Framework (ILF)’, that identifies key dimensions for curriculum design that can be used by academics to inform ways that they can enhance interaction between diverse student groups within teaching and learning contexts.

Intergenerational language transmission in an established Australian migrant community : what makes the difference?

Abstract Diasporic communities formed as a result of recent migration movements face particular issues and challenges in supporting the intergenerational transmission of their heritage language, especially when the language involved is not one that has high visibility and status in the surrounding society. This article is a case study of a mature migrant community in Melbourne, Australia — people of Maltese background — and aims to explore in some depth factors that are promoting and inhibiting intergenerational language transmission within the community. Two groups of factors are identified — facilitating factors and motivating factors — and these are discussed and related to the experiences and attitudes of the interviewees. The parents interviewed represent two vintages of migration: pre- and post-independence in Malta. Superficially, it appears that the post-independence migrants have a stronger commitment to intergenerational language transmission. However, it is argued that this only partially explains the observed differences. For both vintages, changes in the opportunities for diasporic engagement and in government policy settings in both the homeland and in Australia are creating an environment which is more facilitative of intergenerational language transmission for families motivated to support such transmission.

Heritage Languages and Community Identity Building: The Case of a Language of Lesser Status

Diasporic communities formed as a result of recent migration movements face particular issues and challenges in supporting the intergenerational transmission of their heritage language through language maintenance and heritage language education (HLE) initiatives, especially when the language involved is not one that has high visibility and status in the surrounding society. This paper reports on a case study of ongoing action-oriented research to raise awareness and use of the heritage language within the second and third generations of such a community, Maltese-background people in Melbourne, Australia. The community is well established with the ageing first generation having primarily migrated in 1950s and 1960s. Within the community poorer than average educational outcomes for the second generation led to a programme of research and action to enhance ethnic identification and involvement with the heritage language and culture. Questionnaires, interviews and focus groups were conducted to investigate attitudes to and use of Maltese within the community. These data have formed the basis for other ongoing initiatives to strengthen heritage language maintenance and education efforts, described and evaluated below.