Learning another Language in High School DRAFT

All of my friends from Europe speak at least two languages, all of my friends who have emigrated to Australia speak at least two languages, and all of my friends who are Anglo-Australian’s only speak English. Why are so many Australian students comfortable with just English?

The number of students taking a foreign language in their HSC this year was at a record low 8 per cent. The president of the Board of Studies NSW, Tom Alegounarias, said “it was likely students were not convinced a language gave them the competitive edge it once did. ‘'To the extent that studying a language is a functional advantage for interacting globally, the paradox is that as the world globalises, you don't need another language and people are aware of that,’' he said. ‘'Everyone that goes to China knows you can get around pretty well with English.’” (McNeilage and Tovey).

Stovall (2006) might recognise this as a form of white privilege. Whilst we might not have to learn Thai to comfortably travel through Thailand, a lot of Thai people would have to learn English to make their living from the tourist trade. In a country where the national language happens to be the global language of commerce we need to work less than people of other non-English speaking nations to make international financial connections. Historically, inheriting English as our nationally spoken language came with the destruction of hundreds of Indigenous languages. This extends beyond white privilege into white supremacy.

Scheurich’s analogy of white privilege as the accrual of money being placed in your back pants pocket unbeknownst to you is a reflection of how many Anglo-Australian citizens encounter the education system in regard to learning English. Leonardo (2004) summarises this by saying that “…students rarely appreciate [their privilege] because their textbooks reinforce the innocence of whiteness.” Leonardo takes further issue with Scheurich’s analogy because it downplays “the active role of whites who take resources from people of color all over the world, appropriate their labor, and construct policies that deny minorities’ full participation in society.” (pg. 138). For native Australian students who are already granted full participation in society (regarding spoken language) there is no pressing reason to study a foreign language, and there is precious little critical reflection on the fact of Anglophone privilege on a global scale.