Language and Literacy Education News Archive
March 2009
- Dr Janet Scull has been awarded an Early Career Research Grant for her project entitled, Patterns in teacher-child conversations: implications for children’s language development.
- The latest edition of TESOL in Context is now available. The publication was co-edited by Dr Russell Cross and features an article co-published by Dr Kieran O'Loughlin. Further information can be found on the ACTA website.
- The ESL Developmental Continuum is now live on the DEECD website. LALE's Dr Michele De Courcy, Dr Russell Cross and Carmel Sandiford all contributed to this consultancy project.
August 2008
- Associate Professor Kristina Love wins Universitas 21 Fellowship: Associate Professor Kristina Love has won a Universitas 21 Fellowship, which will allow her to visit the Faculties of Education in three U21 universities (Edinburgh, British Columbia, and Virginia) and Stanford University, in order to investigate global perspectives on teaching and learning about adolescent literacy in teacher education. The preparation of teachers for the effective literacy practices required for adolescent student success in the 21st century has come under considerable national and international scrutiny of late. As an educator in the Master of Teaching program, Kristina is challenged to prepare teacher candidates who can draw on rich and flexible repertoires of skills, resources and professional knowledge to meet the needs of the socially, culturally and linguistically diverse students in their secondary school classrooms. This critical challenge is shared by colleagues working in other U21 universities, whose expertise can be shared as we explore global perspectives on teaching and learning about literacy beyond the early years of schooling. Kristina will visit these colleagues in April, 2009 and report back to the Graduate School on her return.
May 2008
- Languages in the School Curriculum: On-Line Opinion article by Dr Jane Orton - click here to view this article
- Dr Kieran O'Loughlin delivers keynote address in Cambridge -Dr O'Loughlin presented a keynote address at the Association of Language Testers in Europe 3rd international conference held in Cambridge, UK in April. The presentation was entitled:" Language standards: what is the view of the Australian ELT sector?”
- UAE's first women teachers - Associate Professor Ray Misson and Dr Julie Hamston recently returned from a trip to the United Arab Emirates to certify the Bachelor of Education - a degree developed in partnership between the University of Melbourne and the UAE’s Higher Colleges of Technology. This degree has now produced its first generation of Emirati women with professional education qualifications in the teaching of English. Read more
April 2008
- Launch of Oxford University Press "Wordlist" - on April 30, Oxford University Press in conjunction with Language and Literacy Education launched the Oxford Wordlist and Oxford Wordlist Research Summary: an investigation of high frequency words in young children's writing and reading development. The launch featured a number of high-profile speakers including The Hon Maxine Moran MP, Professor Peter McPhee (University of Melbourne Provost), Ms Julie Bailiie (Research and Marketing Manager, Oxford University Press), Mr Peter van Noorden (Managing Director, Oxford University Press) and Professor Joe Lo Bianco, who presented the key address.
The research study was guided by Professor Lo Bianco and Dr Janet Scull and resulted in the release of the Oxford Wordlist - the 307 most frequently used words by students in their first three years of school. - Visiting Scholar at King's College, London - Dr Kieran O'Loughlin is currently working alongside Professor Constant Leung at King's College, one of the largest and oldest colleges at the University of London. On April 29, he presented a seminar entitled: 'The use of IELTS for university selection in Australia: a case study'.
March 2008
- “A Language is a Window to Another World," article by Professor Joe Lo Bianco - On March 26, Professor Lo Bianco’s latest article on language study in Australia was published in The Age. In this article, Professor Lo Bianco argues that language is more than just “a subject” and looks at the declining interest in language study in Australia. Read the article
- LALE team completes English as a Second Language project - A team of researchers led by Dr Michele de Courcy, have recently completed the work of developing the ESL continuum for the VELS. The research team has been working on this project since August 2007. The project was a Department of Education and Early Childhood Development contract, to develop a website to describe children's development in English as a Second Language. It is hoped that the website will go live and be available for Victorian teachers to use in their planning and assessment by the end of term 2, 2008.
- ABC Radio National programme:The Future of Language in Australian Schools - A recent edition of Radio National discussed the future of language in Australian schools, focusing on dilemmas faced by second language educators. Dr Jane Orton’s recent research into this area was referred to during the interview. Listen to the Radio National programme