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home > learning areas > languages

Students in their community and in the world
Benvenuti and Konnichi Wa!
Welcome!

The Future
In the recent Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (December 2008), Australian Education Ministers support the development of a just society that is "prosperous, cohesive and culturally diverse". In this same Declaration, students are encouraged to complete secondary education and to proceed into further training and or post compulsory education. Languages continues to be a curriculum area that will support and expand literacy skills, continue to expand new ways of thinking and develop knowledge and skills which will establish life long skills and values for improving adult life and life long learning.

Communication and employability
In studying Italian or Japanese, students may choose courses from Year 8 to Year 12. Post compulsory studies also include a TAFE stream with VET units with which students may be credited in Italian or Japanese. Students enrolled in a second language will
• connect to the traditions and communities in Western Australia and Wanneroo by incorporating sister school programs or exchanges,
• enable students to use the language in community functions or in the world of work,
• develop additional skills which enhance literacy and life long learning habits,
• expand the presence and understanding of communities living near the school and in the Perth community while also developing overseas connections and experiences through incursions, excursions and exchange programs and
• prepare for future developing economic and geo-political environments which will be a part of the future.

National Curriculum and VET Units of Competency
Current courses in second languages subscribe to the goals of the National Curriculum. Students will be learning according to these goals, just like other students in similar Learning Areas in Australia. The three nationally required themes for curriculum content are The Individual, The Italian or Japanese speaking Communities, and The Changing World.

Personal achievement
Students undertaking to do a second language tend to build on speaking and listening skills in the early years Year 8 and 9. Many days of repetition and practice are undertaken in order to encourage confidence and pleasure in experiencing the different sound challenges that each language system brings with it. In Italian certain letters are trilled, as in the Scottish accent, while in Japanese, many of the oral practice sessions in early years involve learning the Hiragana and Katakana script and the sounds relating to them. Successful second language students know that a long term commitment will bring success in learning and using a second language.

Thus, in studying languages, students are ensuring a future for themselves not only in a community rich with second language opportunities but also by becoming a part of the world community where bilingual skills are an advantage.