Our research

Community/ Heritage Language schools represent a key sector of language education internationally, but one that is generally ignored in government policy and research.

SICLE mounted the first International Conference for Community/ Heritage Language Education online in 2021 with 81 keynote speakers and presenters and over 400 participants from nine countries: www.icchle.org.au

Our publication Community and Heritage Language Schools Transforming Education (Routledge, 2023) is the first book to bring together research across different countries.

We are a founding member of the Global Heritage Language Thinktank with Prof. Joy Peyton (American University, Washington DC), Prof. Renata Emilsson Pesková (the University of Iceland) and Gisi Canizzaro (Netherlands).

The network now has 32 members from 11 countries. Our focus is on researching and developing International Guidelines for Professional Practice.

Merryl Wahlin and Ken Cruickshank developed a collaborative project with the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools in the US (Prof. Peyton and Prof. Maria Carreira, UCSD) investigating the intersection of SES and community and languages schools’ capacity.

We have a Spencer Foundation Large Grant under review Refugee and Minority Heritage Language Schools: Building on hidden resources

In 2018 we helped establish the international research group focusing on immigrant and refugee-background teachers gaining re-entry to the profession with Prof. Henrike Terhart (Ruhr University Bochum) and seven researchers from Sweden, Austria, Germany and Ireland.

We participated in the 2021 R/EQUAL conference and we were published in the special 2022 edition of European Education Research Journal, Diversification of the teaching profession in the context of (forced) migration

Cruickshank K (2022) Creating pathways for internationally educated teachers into the teaching profession: Practices, policies and problems in the Australian context. European Educational Research Journal. 21, 2, 230-246

SICLE is part of the international Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) network with Prof. Do Coyle (Edinburgh University), Dr. Kim Bower (Sheffield Hallam), Dr. Russell Cross (Melbourne University).

We are planning a collaborative AHRC research grant proposal based in England, Ireland and Australia.

SICLE established a national research group in 2020 in community languages.

Prof. Angela Scarino and Dr. Michelle Kohler (UNISA), Dr. Jinq Qi and Dr. Kerry Mullan (RMIT), Dr. Maria Gindidis (Monash University), Dr. Mandy Scott and Prof. Elke Strake (Canberra University) and Dr. Lindy Norris are developing research into aspects of Community Languages Schools education in Australia.

We presented a symposium at AARE (2022) and are collaborating in a symposium at the 2023 ALAA conference in Wollongong.

SICLE’s Tertiary Working Party has 44 academics from tertiary institutions across NSW and ACT who meet three times each year to discuss and develop research relating to language and languages education.

In 2023 seminars have been presented Dr. David Reeve (UNSW), Dr. Robyn Moloney (Macquarie University), Dr. Criss Jones Diaz (WSU) and Dr. Janica Nordstrom (Sydney University).

The group has led to cross institutional research collaborations for many of the academics.

There is no way to know what any student of any age in any class across Australia is learning in terms of languages.

We do not know what levels of proficiency students have in primary or secondary schools or in community languages schools.

We are researching ways to credit student achievement in learning languages.

With funding from the NSW government, we have developed a ‘prototype’ progression for community languages. This has milestones for students in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

The prototype also describes the language repertoires that students develop. With academic experts and experienced teachers we are developing milestones, annotated work samples and indicators for Arabic and Chinese.

In 2023/4 we will trial these in schools and collect validity/ reliability evidence.

SICLE Deputy Director, Merryl Wahlin is working with co-researchers Prof. Linda Tsung and Dr. Nadia Selim (Sydney University) and Dr Mohamed Mahgoub (University College London) and Prof. Boping Yang (Cambridge University).

Community Languages schools are voluntary not-for-profit organisations often with few resources depending on the goodwill of parents and community members.

A key strand of research has been researching evidence-based ways of teaching appropriate to these contexts.

In 2021 we conducted a research project into quality teaching in CL schools with 20 teachers developing and trialling units of work in 12 languages. The next year we carried out a similar study of introducing digital storytelling into the Khmer Language School.

In 2023 we are conducting a study of CL teachers participating in a process drama program in which they work with traditional stories from their own backgrounds.

These three studies link to SICLE’s participation in research for the international Critical Connections project run by Prof. Jim Anderson and D.r Vicky MacLeroy (Goldsmiths, London).

Up to 25% of Community Languages Schools offer early childhood language support and teaching; growing numbers of parents want their children to have the experience of language learning before they start mainstream school – something which is not on offer in most mainstream kindergartens and pre-schools.

SICLE has been funded by the NSW Department of Education to find out the extent and nature of early childhood education in CL schools and to explore teacher professional learning strengths and needs in this area.

Dr. Criss Jones Diaz (WSU) will be based at SICLE in 2023 and Dr. Beatriz Cardona (Macquarie University) will be a key researcher on this project.

Community/ Heritage Language Learning and students with disabilities is an area which has received little attention, despite there being an estimated 3,700 learners with specific education needs in NSW CL schools.

With Department of Education support, we are undertaking a survey/ interviews and intervention study of NSW CL schools.

We hope to identify cultural and educational issues relating to the teaching of students with disabilities.

Ken Cruickshank, Louise Sutherland, Michael Michell and Lina Markauskaite undertook a study of quality teaching for EAL in science in eight Sydney lower-SES secondary schools.

Teams of teachers worked on developing rich task projects with Year 8 classes spanning two school terms.

The design-based research approach worked from data collected including teaching materials, video/ audio, interview and observational evidence.

The focus on rich tasks led to documented increase in student language and learning and impacted on approaches to teaching language and science in the schools.

Sutherland, L., Markauskaite, L., & Cruickshank, K. (2023). A complex systems framework for examining the impact of school-based professional learning initiatives: emerging agentic practices in a collaborative curriculum redesign. Professional Development in Education, 1-16.

SICLE's groundbreaking report, The Skills in Question (pdf, 763kB), involved survey data from 900 community language teachers, as well as in-depth interviews with 45.

It explores the professional-learning strengths, as well as the professional-learning needs of the volunteer teachers who staff community languages schools.

Key findings were that community languages teachers have high levels of qualification (60% university level, 20% college level) and that 55% have teaching qualifications and experience from overseas and 79% want to become teachers in Australia.

These findings are significant in the context of present teacher shortages.

Another key research program is our study of teacher mobility; of teachers and professionals with overseas training gaining re-accreditation in Australia.

The project is a joint one with researchers at WSU (Dr. Kay Carroll and Dr. William Nketsia) and will make a significant contribution to this emerging field of international research.

Researchers tracked and interviewed teachers in the community who are deciding on whether or not to requalify as teachers; we have also tracked teachers in their tertiary programs at WSU and ACU using interviews and surveys.

This has also involved interviewing lecturers in the program on their perceptions of the teachers and the adjustments they have made in their courses for inclusion. SICLE researchers are Dr. Tina Sharpe, Maya Cranitch and Dr. Ken Cruickshank.

The key publications to date are:

Sharpe, T., Cranitch, M & Cruickshank, K., (under review) Hidden in plain sight: Internationally-educated professionals and the teacher shortage crisis, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education.

Sharpe, T., Cranitch, M & Cruickshank, K., (2022). Having a Different Currency? Overseas-trained teachers and the pathways to accreditation in Australia. SICLE: Sydney University, pp.62

Cruickshank, K., (2021). The Skills in Question: Professional Learning Strengths and Needs of Teachers in NSW Community Languages Schools. SICLE: Sydney University, pp.38

Cruickshank, K. (2021). Pathways for internationally-trained teachers: practices, policies and provisions in the Australian context, European Educational Research Journal, 41,2, 130-148 https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041211048983

Cranitch, M., Sharpe, T., Cruickshank, K., 2022. Having a different currency? Teacher shortages and community languages teachers with overseas qualifications. SICLE. Sydney University.

Many teachers and prospective teachers are native speakers of a language but do not have two/ three years tertiary study of that language, something which was traditional required to gain approval to teach languages.

In 2018, NESA, the teacher accreditation authority changed their guidelines and accepted teachers who could supply evidence that they had high levels of fluency in their language.

SICLE had developed the Language Proficiency Test in 12 languages, assessing teacher/ pre-service teacher proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, writing and cultural understanding.

SICLE is working with a network of language experts from FASS and other universities to gain evidence in terms of validity and reliability to support these tests.

The researchers are undertaking a study of the data from preservice teachers entering Master of Teaching programs, Community Languages teachers already teaching in primary schools and also existing teachers wanting to gain approval to teach languages.

The outcomes of this study will support increasing the supply of languages teachers in schools.

A follow-up to The Skills in Question report, "Parallel lines: community languages schools and their role in growing languages and building communities" (pdf, 2.1MB) resulted from one of the few in-depth studies ever undertaken into the organisation of community languages schools.

The report explores the organisation, capacity, curriculum and teaching of the 310 community languages schools in NSW.

Based on the responses to an online survey; case studies of selected schools; and interviews with principals, teachers, parents and students; the report of the study concluded there had been dramatic changes in the schools over the past decades.

There has been a shift from first- to second-, third- and fourth-generation Australian students; the age range of students has broadened from almost exclusively primary-aged pupils to now include early-childhood, secondary and adult students and growing numbers of non-background learners.

Community languages schools ‘make’ communities and act as key cultural centres. Key recommendations are that community languages schools be recognised as a key provider of languages education in NSW and aligned more with other sectors.

Representatives should be included in policy and program planning, especially in the areas of early childhood, primary, secondary and adult education; and also that community languages schools, especially smaller schools in lower-SES communities, need proactive support from government.

The study has had three outcomes. SICLE has gained funding for a study of smaller less-commonly taught languages and lower-SES schools to assess their capacity and explore ways in which their capacity can be strengthened.

Data from the study and two earlier studies forms the basis of a book on CL schools in NSW to be published in 2024 by Multilingual Matters UK and written by Prof. Cruickshank and Prof. Tsung.

This discussion paper is undergoing consultation with community groups, Aboriginal Language groups and with language teacher associations. The process is being documented and studied.

SICLE has a strong research team building around research into languages education particularly the Community/ Heritage Language School sector.

Professor Ken Cruickshank, Dr Sarwat Dabaga, Dr Bronwyn James, Dr Janica Nordstrom, Dr Bronwen Reid O’Connor, Dr Nadia Selim, Dr Jonnell Uptin, Dr Hongzhi (Veronica) Yang and Dr Xuefeng Zhang are co-supervising a group of 15 higher-degree research students.

SICLE has a group of researchers in Australia and internationally collaborating on our research projects

Dr Jim Anderson, Visiting Research Fellow (Goldsmiths, University of London)

Professor Kim Bower (Sheffield Hallam University)

Professor Maria Carreira (University of California San Diego)

Professor Do Coyle (Edinburgh University)

Professor Russell Cross (Melbourne University)

Professor Mike Baynham (Leeds University)

Dr Kay Carroll (Western Sydney University)

Dr Criss Jones Diaz (Western Sydney University)

Dr Michelle Kohler (University of South Australia)

Professor Joseph Lo Bianco (Melbourne University)

Dr Mohamed Mahgoub (Georgetown University, Qatar)

Professor Lina Markauskaite (Sydney University)

Professor Vicky MacLeroy (Goldsmiths University of London)

Dr Robyn Moloney (Macquarie University)

Professor Kerry Mullan (RMIT University)

Dr William Nketsia (Western Sydney University)

Dr Jing Qi (RMIT University)

Professor Joy Peyton (American University, Washington DC)

Professor Angela Scarino (University of South Australia)

Professor Elke Stracke (University of Canberra)