Master of Modern Languages Education

The subject will support participants to develop further skills in promoting student wellbeing and creating supportive and safe learning environments at a classroom and whole school level. Current research will be used to understand what teachers can do to support the social and emotional learning of their students, and how to implement school-wide approaches that foster student resilience and respectful relationships across all partners in the education process.

This subject examines education policy and practice in social and historical context. The subject will provide students with an opportunity to examine key national and international debates in education policy and practice in relation to shifting social, political, economic and political relations. Through this subject students will analyse current education reforms, and the debates that surround them, through careful examination of the relevant research literature. Students will develop key professional skills in policy critical analysis. Through studying different case studies of debates and reform students will consider the variety of issues that underpin education practice, research and policies. This will include engaging with key debates surrounding education and equity, global competitiveness, indigenous rights, sexuality, gender, notions of deficit, and disability and ability.

This subject focuses on the theoretical frameworks and evidence bases that educators use in understanding the development of their students and in planning suitable instructional sequences that are responsive to the inherent variability of learners. It covers foundational concepts related to learning environments, learning processes and child and adolescent development. It also provides opportunities to explore and discuss implications for teaching that are related to the consideration of learners’ profiles of capabilities and how teachers facilitate the quality, depth and active nature of their learning.

This subject will introduce students to the ways in which literacy supports and empowers learning and social change in global contexts, and will explore the impact of literacy practices on learning in real world and virtual communities. Students will be introduced to key theories and approaches to 21 st century literacies and have the opportunity to draw on these to explore their own understanding of literacy and the impact of their personal literacies on their learning experiences. This subject will introduce students to the role of oral language in learning in different cultural traditions and understandings of education, and support them to build on these understandings in practice. Approaches to literacy which support diversity, inclusion and acknowledgement of place will be explored, and the application of these approaches to early childhood contexts, schools, workplaces and social settings will be investigated.

In this subject, students will develop an understanding of research in education, as part of their capstone experience. This subject aims to build the methodological literacy of students and advance their skills to understand and critically analyse complex educational problems. Students will undertake coursework focusing on: what constitutes research in education; common methodologies and methods in education research; the management and analysis of data; and the fundamentals of critical thinking and writing. Students will develop insight into common approaches to research in education and will consider how principles of research can inform professional practice. They will develop the skills to interpret educational research propositions and findings from educational research. This subject provides students with an understanding of research principles and methods applicable to a range of educational contexts and practices.

In this subject, students will undertake a research focused project. The capstone project will culminate with students synthesising the findings of their research in the form of a research project report. Throughout this subject, participants will be supported to consider how research can inform and improve educational practice.

The subject examines the international debate on the nature and role of English in the world over the past 25 years. Issues of naming and variety are considered and the politics and economics of the spread of English is examined, as well as charges of linguistic imperialism, hegemony, and its impact on languages education more broadly including the teaching of other languages. Students need to demonstrate understanding of the issues presented and be able to assess a given context of English teaching with respect to the issues and propose ethical, linguistically and interculturally sound procedures for policy development and teaching practices.

This subject focuses on content language integrated pedagogy, in particular issues in the methodology of teaching in a second or foreign language, including such areas as setting goals and objectives; models of Content Language Integrated Learning programs; outcomes (including attainment in the discipline, language proficiency, ethnicity); use and avoidance of the first language; the importance of interaction in constructing meaning, clarifying knowledge and developing relevant language; and the dual role of the CLIL teacher in developing content knowledge and promoting language development. It will include a brief introduction to the theory and practice of second language teaching and learning in so far as it is relevant to CLIL (for example teaching relevant elements of the language such as new vocabulary, dominant structures, or text features and genres of a discipline).

This subject has a TESOL or Modern Languages/LOTE focus, according to the course within which the student is enrolled

A study of the development, implementation and evaluation of the second language curriculum. Topics include the origins of second language curriculum development, syllabus design and curriculum development, needs analysis, situation analysis, planning goals and learning outcomes, course planning and syllabus design, the role and design of instructional materials, student assessment and program evaluation.

This subject has a TESOL or Modern Languages/LOTE focus, according to the course within which the student is enrolled.

This subject will review the linguistic and sociolinguistic issues involved in content-based programs including such issues as general vs specific purpose language, the language of the discipline (and the integral relationship between them) and of the classroom (including the language of instruction), discipline-specific terminology, and the conventions of writing in a discipline (including text structure and reporting). The subject will also refer to the notion of English as an international language, contextualisation, the nature of the language acquired by students in CLIL programs, and the effect of CLIL and learning through a second or foreign language on the first language, its development, possible domain losses, and the survival of the local language. It will also examine cultural issues in CLIL including issues involved in cross-cultural communication, the relevance of culture, the influence of culture on learning and on world view, ways of facilitating comprehension to promote learning of both content and language, the need for language support for the students, and the forms that such support might take. Reference will be made to the intellectual and cultural consequences of teaching through a second or foreign language and the relationship between culture, language, concepts and cognition and, in particular, the transfer of knowledge acquired through the second or foreign language to the first.

This subject has a TESOL or Modern Languages/LOTE focus, according to the course within which the student is enrolled.

This subject aims to develop and apply an understanding of grammar and its place in second language learning and teaching. It addresses grammar at the level of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, texts and discourse. It focuses on grammar as a resource for creating meaning.

A study of the nature of the Second Language Teaching methodology and curriculum design and evaluation in both child and adult second language learning contexts. Topics include the socio-cultural context of second language teaching, including educational, cultural, historical and intergroup issues; different approaches to second language learning and teaching, needs analysis, curriculum design, the planning and evaluation of units of work, strategies, techniques and resources for learning and teaching speaking, listening, reading and writing; assessment and reporting; the design, implementation and evaluation of second language programs, including bilingual programs; and the role of the second language teacher in the workplace and wider educational community.

This subject has a TESOL or Modern Languages/LOTE focus, according to the course within which the student is enrolled.

A study of how second languages are learned and used in bilingual and multilingual settings, together with an introduction to the implications of this for language teaching methodology and lesson-planning.

Students undertake placements totalling 22 days of supervised observation and program involvement in the settings relevant to their current or intended language teaching work.

Students will be enrolled in this subject of they do not meet the language requirement for EDUC90050 Supervised Teaching (Second Language). Students must contact the Placements team, MGSE Academic Support Office by the end of the first week of the Semester to discuss placements.

 This subject has a TESOL or Modern Languages/LOTE focus, according to the course within which the student is enrolled