- Title
- Literacy and language policies in Australia
- Creator
- Golding, Barry; Thompson, Sally
- Date
- 2014
- Type
- Text; Conference paper
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/161560
- Identifier
- vital:12468
- Abstract
- Australia faces a complex, intertwined set of language and literacy issues. Combined with emerging contextual issues, these issues affect access to education and employment for many Australian adults. In this paper, we identify and examine six such intertwined issues. Two of these issues are mainly related to language, specifically for Indigenous Australians and non-‐English-‐speaking migrants and refugees. One of the issues relates to the impact of very low literacy rates for rural and regional Australians, particularly as they age and withdraw from the paid workforce. The other three issues are contextual, including the deliberate swing away from public education towards ‘the market’, the surprisingly low average literacy levels of some Australian adults, and the elevated and increasing levels of youth unemployment. Our paper provides evidence and arguments for much more recognition of and attention to the issues of language and literacy in Australian public policy, research, programs and funding, not only in education but also in many other fields in which language and literacy acquisition and proficiency determine people’s life choices, chances and outcomes. This includes opportunities for more positively embracing and building Australia’s existing multiculturalism.
- Publisher
- Adult Learning Australia
- Relation
- International Conference on the Methods and Applications of Research on Literacy p. 1-18
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
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