The term “bilingual” refers to the use of two languages with equal proficiency.
Being bilingual has many potential advantages, such as increasing mental flexibility, improving intercultural skills (Mehisto, 2012, pp. 8, 18, 117), and expanding opportunities for global exchange for students, schools, and society. All children should have the opportunity to acquire an understanding of other languages and cultures from the earliest years of primary school (Clyne, 1995, p. 5).
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Promoting second languages in primary schools has become an international trend, particularly in OECD countries (Della Chiesa & Miyamoto, 2008; García, 2009), and has become a priority both publicly and politically in most developed countries (Cummins & Swain, 1986; Rixon, 2000).
Bilingual education refers to the presence of two languages in the instructional setting (Zelasko, 2003). It involves any form of education in which two languages are used to teach content from other areas of the curriculum (Australian Government Department of Education, 2006; Baker, 2011; Clyne, 2009; García, 2009; Ke, 2013).
NSW, the most populous state in Australia, has the largest government, Catholic, and independent school systems. According to Liddicoat et al. (2007), learning a language in primary schools in NSW, like in most states in Australia, has developed with limited vocabulary and cultural knowledge. Therefore, the development of competent bilingual communication skills is needed.
Although there are curriculum models for high schools, a systematic sequence hasn’t been developed for primary schools, especially for new bilingual schools (Weiss, 2016). Using a bilingual education curriculum model is useful for bilingual schools to plan which subjects will be taught and learned through which language and over how much time.
At International Maarif Schools of Australia, we determine the guidelines for a more effective bilingual curriculum and propose to compose a new bilingual curriculum based on the evaluation of these guidelines. By approaching the curriculum through a national perspective, we gain an international perspective on all facets surrounding bilingual curriculum.
Our curriculum serves to provide practice to place bilingual education in an international context. It is designed to develop cultural awareness and literacy in two languages—Turkish and English—for children from Kindergarten to Year 10. The education program is based on National Education Standards Australia (NESA) syllabuses.
At Maarif, Turkish and English teachers plan the lessons together based on the Australian curriculum, covering subjects such as Maths, Science, Art, Music, and Physical Education. In practice, Turkish lessons are divided into smaller working groups for Turkish beginners and advanced students, with two teachers for each Turkish lesson. Additionally, one teacher always speaks Turkish and the other English to help students recognise that each teacher addresses them in one language at all times. To develop the two languages and avoid confusion, each teacher speaks to students either in English or Turkish, according to their area of specialisation.
The content of the curriculum is delivered in English and Turkish, reflecting both Australian and Turkish cultures, thus giving students a bilingual and bicultural education. Our curriculum is designed to develop cultural awareness and literacy in two languages for children in the International Maarif Schools of Australia. Our language lessons engage our students through creativity rather than being boring. Instead of separating out the Turkish activities, the topics in all Key Learning Areas are taught in both languages from K to 2. Our kindergarten students learned the language the quickest and have participated in many competitions in Turkish.
For children of Turkish-speaking parents, we aim to strengthen their native language as a living language in the Australian school environment with an Australian curriculum. For non-Turkish-speaking background children, we aim to give them experience of another language and culture naturally.
Each of our native Turkish-speaking teachers is a qualified teacher, either in Turkey or at an Australian university. The children also work on the same skills as their Australian peers but in Turkish in some subjects. For example, if Year 2 students work on consistent subject-verb agreement in term one, they work on the same topic in Turkish in Turkish intensive classes.
Even in high school, one extra period is dedicated to sports and music lessons in Turkish. Students showcase their work in Turkish at the end of the year and throughout the term.
Last year, we created a spectacular two-hour musical led by our primary and high school students in Turkish. The project helped students focus on language, understand the cultural heritage, and build self-confidence and character.
Our school received invitations from Melbourne, and our students travelled there to perform the musical. The first musical involved 120 students, and the Melbourne musical involved 50 students. Students will perform the third version of our musical in October 2024 in Sydney again. We also received international invitations for our musical.
It was a significant accomplishment for students to stage a musical in a language different from their first language. The parents were impressed by the students’ performances.
Music is also a key component in our school. We offer Turkish guitar lessons to our students, helping them gain expertise in many cultural and linguistic aspects. Non-Turkish-speaking parents are amazed by their children’s performance in Turkish instruments and language competency.
Currently, we have students up to Year 10, and in 2025, we will have our first HSC cohort. As a school, we plan to offer Turkish beginners, Turkish continuers, and Turkish extensions for our HSC students.
While existing research on bilingual education and the reasons why other countries have adopted a bilingual system is available, there is relatively limited information on how Australian schools have used and adopted bilingual curricula within their teaching systems.
Our school’s specific curriculum provides a national perspective on the usage of bilingual curricula in Australian public and independent schools.
We are very proud of our bilingual curriculum at Maarif and confident that we are offering one of the best bilingual education programs all over the world. We can clearly see the positive effects bilingual and bicultural education in our school with our students.
References:
Australian Government Department of Education Science & Technology. 2006, Teaching Languages in Primary School examples of current practice, Curriculum Corporation, Victoria, Australia, <www.curriculum.edu.au>.
Baker, C. 2011, Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism, 5th edn, Multilingual Matters, Buffalo, N.Y.
Clyne, M. 1995, Developing second language from primary school: Models and outcomes, National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia, Deakin, A.C.T.
Clyne, M. 2009, ‘Multilingualism in Australia’, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, vol. 17, pp. 191-203.
Cummins, J. & Swain, M. 1986, Bilingualism in education: aspects of theory, research and practice, Longman, London.
DellaChiesa, B. & Miyamoto, K. 2008, ’12th OECDJapan Seminar 2008: “Globalisation and Linguistic
Competencies¿Responding to diversity in language environments¿’, Asian Englishes, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 868.
García, O. 2009, Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: a global perspective, WileyBlackwell West Sussex.
Ke, S. 2013, ‘Bilingualism in schools and society: language, identity, and policy’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, pp. 14.
Liddicoat, A., Scarino, A., Curnow, T.J., Kohler, M., Scrimgeour, A. & Morgan, A.M. 2007, An investigation of the state and nature of languages in Australian schools, Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education, University of South Australia.
Mehisto, P. 2012, Excellence in Bilingual Education: A Guide for School Principals, CUP/Cambridge International Examinations, Cambridge.
Rixon, S. 2000, ‘Optimum age or optimum conditions? Issues related to the teaching of languages to primary age children, Retrieved 5 November, 2012.
Weiss, I. 2016, `Becoming a Bilingual School: Perspectives of L2FLS Teachers & Principals¿, PhD thesis, University of Technology Sydney.
Zelasko, N.F. 2003, Bilingual Education.,<http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/bilingualism.aspx>
