Languages

LISA MILLER

Head of Languages

SOPHIE BOISSERY

Coordinator of French DOREEN NG-YAP

Prep Teacher of Chinese

This year the Languages Department has grown and developed in new and interesting ways. We have undertaken an ISQ funded Action Learning Action Research project to answer the question, ‘How do we encourage a love of learning in Years 7 and 8 French and Chinese classes?’ We surveyed students for their opinions, and found that while eLearning is successful as a teaching and learning resource, experiences are the most effective and memorable teaching moments we offer. Students particularly enjoy our lunches at cafés and restaurants, finding them a valuable means to practise the language and culture they have learnt in class. We’ve all thoroughly enjoyed our visits to The Pastry Emporium in Bundall, run by Old Boy Adrian Grazioli, and to Sunny’s Kitchen in the Centre Arcade in Surfers Paradise. Our survey also showed that study tours such as the Melbourne Chinatown Experience and the China Sojourn have a great effect on student engagement in learning languages. In French, most of the students who joined the New Caledonia Tour in 2012 continued their studies through to Senior in 2015. Action Research has had a positive effect on the Languages Department, allowing Coordinator of French Sophie Boissery to work closely with Year 7 Teacher Paula Henry on the Year 7 French program, and provided time for collaboration between Maths Teacher Kenn Williams and Science Teacher Ben Shin on the Years 7 and 8 Chinese program.

2015 ISQ ACTION LEARNING, ACTION RESEARCH LANGUAGES TEAM

CHINESE REPORT Year 9 students studied Chinatown in Term Three, competing in a Treasure Hunt that saw them find their way around Australia Fair, in Chinese, and finishing with a lunch at Fukang Chinese Restaurant and a visit to Southport Library. Meanwhile, Year 9 Art student Daniel Bowen completed a fantastic Terracotta Warrior, now on display in the Chinese Classroom. Keriba Bligh took on Fishtank Honours, purchasing goldfish and researching their care. The Year 9 Honours Prize was awarded to Tom Edmunds for his

overall efforts in Lion Dance and other tasks.

The China Sojourn took place in April with a record number of 33 boys and five staff. Our journey to Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai over two weeks provided boys with opportunities to find their way around China on every sort of transport: subway, taxis, bicycles, trains, walking, buses. They enjoyed all sorts of exciting meals, including dumplings, Peking Duck and scorpions. Year 10 students undertook the Midnight in Peking audio tour in Beijing. For the first time we visited the real Terracotta Warriors, led by History Teacher John Wallace. In Shanghai we saw the lights at night, the great shopping, and boys were required to find their way around the remarkable city, using their language skills.

Thanks so much to Kenn and Kim Williams, John and Rosemary Wallace, Sophie Boissery and Guangbo Pi for joining us on the Sojourn this year. I hope you had fun too. The Year 10 Chinese Honours Prize was awarded to Kaimana Barry for his newsletter article about the Sojourn, and his video mashup of previous Mahara tasks.

During IDEALS Week, 15 boys joined the Melbourne Chinatown Experience. For three days we visited the Chinatown Museum, RMIT, Melbourne University, Dahu Peking Duck Restaurant and the National Gallery of Victoria. Thanks Sophie Boissery, Susan Presto, Amy McDonald, Guangbo Pi and Christophe Thevenot for joining us this year.

Our Language Assistants this year, Mr Christophe Thevenot and Mr Guangbo Pi, have been real assets in our classroom, assisting students with their spoken work, providing wonderful resources to our teachers and working in Delpratt and Biddle Houses. Thank you so much, gentlemen, for your help and good luck in your future!

Mr Pi has taken a special role in training our Lion Dance Troupe, pictured here at the Opening of Southport Chinatown. He has also assisted Kenn Williams and Ben Shin with the Tea

Ceremony in the Chinese Classrooms. Thanks, Mr Pi from all the boys!

In 2015, Years 11 and 12 students constituted the largest-ever cohort of Australian boys studying Chinese in Senior. This is very exciting in the light of current media reports about the decline of students studying Asian Languages. See below Year 12 students Jackson Neale and Morgan Mao, and Zac McFarlane and Kevin Ho practising for their final Speaking exam, very well done, boys. Many students, such as Will Lloyd, Charlie Meo and David Makaryan, have enjoyed playing Jenga as a rotation, when in actual fact they have built an impressive vocabulary. Good luck, boys, in the future, and keep up your Chinese, it will be handy!

FRENCH REPORT – SOPHIE BOISSERY It’s been another great year in the French Classroom, with students enjoying lots of opportunities to learn and use new vocabulary and grammar. Students competed in the Australian Languages Competition Test, with some excellent grades being recorded. Students always enjoy opportunities to do new activities, and to experience the culture of France. This year we held several parties, trying croissants, and Years 7, 8 and 9 travelled to the Pastry Emporium for lunch. Christophe Thevenot, our Language Assistant, has been a great help, and the boys have particularly appreciated his friendly nature, and the occasional game of Frisbee. Merci beaucoup, M Thevenot, and best wishes the future!

Congratulations to our Senior class, and we wish you all the best in 2016.

PREP CHINESE – DOREEN NG-YAP As we look back at what 2015 has brought us, and we reflect on the highlights of this year and the achievement of our students in languages learning, we thank the school for the opportunity and support to teach and to engage students in languages activities. We celebrate their success in their language acquisition and experiment with the language they have learnt.

The highlights at Prep this year are: Celebration of Chinese New Year (Year of the Goat) with Lion Dance and Martial Arts Demonstration. Cultural activity during Exploration Week.

Participation in language competitions:

Competition Achievement in 2015 Language Perfect World Championships. Gold Awards recipients:

Year 6 Students: Herschel Aloysius, Braedyn Palmer and Victor Wu. Hadyn O’Connor from Year 5 was awarded a Silver Award from Language Perfect World Championship and a Second Place in the Gold Coast MLTAQ & Languages Speech Contest in 2015.

Participation in Exploration Week Cultural Activities: Year 6 Chinese calligraphy and Chinese Bamboo painting.

Engagement with cultural activities such as the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival and Moon Cake or Lantern festival.

Year 6 boys made their own “jianzi” and “ti jianzi” competition. Louis Chabert was the champion!

Participation in Excursions and incursions: Visit to Chung Tian Temple and Chinese Restaurant. Interaction with Chinese students from Xiamen, China in July, 2015. Good luck everyone at Senior School, and I hope you keep up your Chinese.