Students on an excursion to Melbournes Chinatown. Image courtesy of the Monash Photography Club

Victorian students are taking advantage of a unique opportunity to improve their foreign language skills through regular meetings with migrant seniors whose first language is Chinese, German or Spanish.

Now in its third year, the Connecting younger second language learners and older bilinguals program is led by Dr Marisa Cordella from Monash University’s School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. Working withDr Hui Huang from the Faculty of Arts,Professor Colette Browning from Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Dr Cordella’s project connects Year 11 and 12 students with ‘language and cultural gurus’.

For more information about this programme, please see the full article and the project Website.

The new CEFR Website homepage

The School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash has recently adopted the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to align more closely with current industry and teaching standards.

To find out more about the CEFR at Monash, explore the CEFR in Australia, an international language framework Website. The site, which was launched this week, gives helpful background information about the CEFR itself and what the new competency levels will entail for students and educators.

The CEFR was developed through a process of scientific research and wide consultation, and provides a practical tool for setting clear standards that can be obtained at successive stages of learning. It also provides a framework for evaluating outcomes in an internationally comparable way.

Adoption of the CEFR will ensure that Monash graduates enjoy an education that is both universally relevant and universally transferrable.