MLTA ACT News
Current year
Languages Forum December 2020 update, posted 8 December 2020
The Canberra Region Languages Forum Update for December 2020 has been sent out to subscribers by the Convener, Dr Mandy Scott. News items in this update:
- Canberra Languages Network (CLN)
- Languages at ANU
- Call for nomintions for Patji-Dawes Language Teaching Award
- Taste of Languages Competition
- Canberra Academy of Languages programs for 2021
- ACT Community Language Schools
- Government of Japan award for ACT language educator
- Importance of languages in global context
- Role of languages in a multicultural society
- National Languages Plan and Strategy
Memberships and MLTA Meet and Greet for next year, posted 1 December 2020
We will use Trybooking for memberships next year. You can pay directly on Trybooking and through Trybooking you can also request to be invoiced for your membership. Each member will need to complete the renewal process for 2021 membership on Trybooking.
The Executive Committee would also like to invite all our members and language teaching colleagues to the annual MLTA ACT Meet and Greet.
The MLTA ACT Meet and Greet will be held next year at the Loft at Duxton (Macpherson St & Sargood St, O'Connor) on Thursday, 25 February.
Arrivals from 5pm with a 5:30pm start.
Please bring along any new language teaching colleagues that you have at your school next year, even if they are not yet an MLTA ACT member.
Please ask them to complete the RSVP as it will help plan for catering numbers.
It would be great for them to come along and learn about our association!
We will be announcing the plans for 2021 and presenting the Fiona Arthur Language Teaching Award for 2020 to Sheree Avard.
See also the the ACT MLTA 2021 Meet and Greet flyer.
Please RSVP using
French Network News, posted 6 November 2020
The French Network meeting has now been confirmed for Thursday 3 December and will be held at Campbell High School. Guest speaker will be Dr Yves Lafoy, representative of New Caledonia to Australia. Please rsvp to Lena.
The latest edition of French Network News has more details on that and on other matters including a cooking class with Christophe at Le Très Bon in Bungendore on Saturday 5 December.
French Network News, posted 28 October 2020
The French Network meeting, originally scheduled for 29 October, is postponed, tentatively to 19 November.
Please watch for updates from Lena Britton. Meanwhile, the Term 4 edition of French Network News now lists the tentative date.
Contact Newsletter articles due Week 7, posted 28 October 2020
Prue Rovetta, Editor of our MLTA newsletter, Contact, has put out a call for articles for the Semester 2 edition. Articles are requested by Week 7 of this term. Please see Prue's message for the details.
AFMLTA News in Brief, posted 13 October 2020
The October edition of AFMLTA News in Brief has been published. News items include:
- National Languages Plan and Strategy: Participate now in Survey 2
- Babel: Volume 55 Issue 1 of Babel is current being published
- Patji-Dawes Award – Nominations Open
- Representation– Meeting with Director of National Evidence Institute; Briefing from ACARA staff about the review of the Australian Curriculum: Languages
- Professional Learning Opportunities.
MLTA Teachmeet Term 4
The MLTA ACT Inc. would like to invite you to take part in our upcoming event for Term 4. We are holding an ACT Language Teachers’ TeachMeet on Online Delivery for the languages classroom at Campbell High School Friday, 23 October. Afternoon tea will be provided from 4:00pm and presentations will run from 4:30pm to 5:30pm.
We would love for anyone with a technique or tool for online delivery they have found useful to come along and do a 5 minute presentation.Theme: Online delivery
- What were our challenges?
- What has worked well with online delivery?
- What was the experience with transition back to onsite?
- What can we carry forward for future practice?
Please RSVP by COB Monday 19 October using this Google Form Link. Please note we encourage you to bring along colleagues who aren’t currently MLTA ACT Inc. members. This is a free event but you must RSVP!
Call for expressions of interest to perform at NMF 2021
Planning is under way for the Languages Showcase for the 2021 National Multicultural Festival. It will take place on Sunday 21 February 2021. At this stage, the planning has to be tentative, because we don't know what COVID-19 conditions will be at that time. The total length of the Languages Showcase program will be two hours at maximum and it may be as short as one hour. Numbers of performers should be kept at a level to enable suitable distancing on a medium sized stage.
The focus will be on performances by local participants. As part of that focus, we would like to invite schools to send expressions of interest to info@cal.act.edu.au with cc to languagesact@gmail.com, indicating approximate proposed number of participants and the nature, in a few words or a short paragraph, of the proposed performance item. Expressions of interest are requested by COB Thursday 22 October.
NSW PD for Community Language Schools
Opportunities for Community Language Schools and which may be of interest to MLTA members have been announced. These are two free professional development programs. Please follow the link for more details.AFMLTA News in Brief, posted 18 September 2020
The September edition of AFMLTA News in Brief has been published. News items include:
- Message from AFMLTA President, Nathan Harvey
- National Languages Plan and Strategy: Participate now in Survey 1, closing soon
- Patji-Dawes Award: Nominations Open
- AFMLTA Executive Profiles: Jackie Mikami & Gillian Cordy
- Professional Learning Opportunities.
Fiona Arthur Award reminder, posted 10 September 2020
This is a reminder that the MLTA ACT Inc. is pleased to announce that nominations for the Fiona Arthur Language Teaching Award for 2020 are open. Members are able to nominate themselves or nominate another member for the award. Nominations must be supported by a Principal or Senior Executive Teacher. The award recognises the contributions that a member of the MLTA ACT Inc. makes to the teaching and learning of languages in the ACT.
The nominated candidate must demonstrate that they are:
- Engaging with current theories of education.
- Modelling and promoting effective and innovative language teaching practice.
- Contributing to the education and professional development of language teachers.
Nominations should clearly address each of the three criteria. Nominations must be submitted by COB Friday 30 October, 2020 at https://forms.gle/deHPXuPKLthMP1e79
A panel comprised of MLTA ACT Inc. Executive will meet after the nomination due date and assess all nominations against the criteria. The successful recipient of the 2020 award will be announced in Term 4, 2020.
The recipient of the MLTA ACT Inc. Fiona Arthur Language Teaching Award will receive a perpetual plaque for their school, an Award Certificate and a voucher to the value of $450 for the purchase of resources from INTEXT.
Please see a flyer attached containing the above information.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Annemarie Power, MLTA Secretary.
Community consultations on role of community language schools in Canberra, posted 28 August 2020
A community consultation is to be hosted in September by the ACT Multicultural Advisory Council and the Strategic Development Group. The consultations will be held on 22 September 2020 from 9 am to 11 am and on Wednesday 23 September from 3 pm to 5 pm, in the Thero Notaras Multicultural Centre, 180 London Circuit, Canberra. Please register by Wednesday, 16 September to communityparticipation@act.gov.au.
National Survey of Languages Teachers, posted 27 August 2020
Teachers of all languages in schools or community language centres are encouraged to participate in a survey to contribute their experiences of the teaching of languages. This survey, relating to language program provision and student participation, should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
The survey data will be used to inform the development of a national picture of the current situation of languages education across Australia, including the teaching of Community Languages and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
This data collection is part of the broader project being conducted by the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA) for the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. The project involves developing recommendations that will inform future policy design for languages education in Australia.
There will be a series of 3 teacher surveys implemented across 2020. Teacher Survey 1 is NOW OPEN.
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and all information provided will remain anonymous (the names of individual schools and participating teachers are not collected). CLICK HERE to find out more and to access the survey.
NAILA Reminder: Submit Your Form and Video, posted 26 August 2020
Reminder to fill out the application form as you submit your videos. Don't worry, you have until 14 September to submit!
Click HERE for more on how to submit your speech.
NAILA team has prepared some valuable resources including speech templates and tricks, video recording tips and common mistakes.
For more information, please check our website
Salam semangat on behalf of the NAILA Team, Kind regards, Levina Risdya, Engagement Coordinator
National Australia Indonesia Language Awards (NAILA)
An iniative of Australia - Indonesia Youth Association (AIYA)
W: www.naila.org.au
E: levina.risdya@naila.org.au
French Network News, posted 20 August 2020
French Netowrk News for August 2020 from Lena Britton includes items on:- Professional Learning for French teachers
- Poetry Recital Competition
- Temporary positions and Relief teachers
- Languages Forum Update
- Updating contact details
Languages Forum update, posted 18 August 2020
Canberra Region Languages Forum update August 2020 has been sent out to subscribers by the Convener, Dr Mandy Scott. Brief overview:
- ACT the first Australian Parliement to begin each sitting day in an Indigenous language
- Independent review on investment in ACT community language schools
- Taste of languages competition
- Canberra Academy of Languages (CAL) Information Evening
- National Centre for Australian Children's Literature
- Free webinars with NSW Federation of Community Language Schools
- Statement of COmmitment and Collaboration between Department of Education and Ethnic Schools' Association of South Australia
- Inspiring presentation by Dr Maria Gindidis of Monash University, Victoria, for one of the webinars organised by the NSWFCLS
- Western Australia Languages Week
- Spotlight on languages in times of crisis - COVID and health advice
- National Indigenous Language Report published 27 July 2020
- Closing the Gap Agreement, released 6 August 2020
MLTA ACT Mini-Conference with Dr Gianfranco Conti, posted 4 August 2020
MLTA ACT Inc. proudly presents an online workshop on ‘Curriculum Planning' facilitated by internationally renowned educator Dr Gianfranco Conti. This PL will be held online on Zoom. The Zoom meeting details will be provided 2 days prior to the PL. Details:
- Saturday 15 August 2020, 9:00 to 11:30
- Via Zoom teleconference
- Register by Wednesday 12 August 2020
- Registration link: https://forms.gle/4ueQeEV2EvKXyJpC8
Please ensure you are able to use Zoom ahead of time as no technical assistance can be provided on the day. If you are not yet a member of the MLTA ACT but would like to attend the PL, become a member by completing the member information form here: https://forms.gle/GWvTQ7NJJKdMHHtHA and making payment on Trybooking here: https://www.trybooking.com/BICGJ.
Contact MLTA ACT Inc. Executive Secretary with any questions at Annemarie.Power@ed.act.edu.au.AFMLTA News in Brief, posted 30 July 2020
The July edition of AFMLTA News in Brief has been published. News items include:
- Message from new AFMLTA President, Nathan Harvey
- AFMLTA Assembly 2020
- National Languages Plan and Strategy: Project Update
- Advocacy with AITSL & AAAE
- Representation with ESA
- Professional Reading: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) TALIS
- Supporting Research: Nominations open for Penny McKay Memorial Award
- Professional Learning: Association for Language Learning (UK) webinars
- Local and International Languages Conferences: MLTAV Virtual Conference, August 2020; ACTFL Virtual Convention and World Languages Expo, November 2020; AFMLTA International Languages Conference, Adelaide, July 2021; NZALT Conference, Wellington, July 2021; FIPLV World Congress. Warsaw, Poland, September 2021
Fiona Arthur Award call for applications, posted 11 July 2020
The 19th of June 2020 saw the five-year anniversary of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Fiona Arthur. The MLTA ACT Inc. is pleased to announce that nominations for the Fiona Arthur Language Teaching Award for 2020 are open. Members are able to nominate themselves or nominate another member for the award. Nominations must be supported by a Principal or Senior Executive Teacher. The award recognises the contributions that a member of the MLTA ACT Inc. makes to the teaching and learning of languages in the ACT.
The nominated candidate must demonstrate that they are:
- 1. Engaging with current theories of education.
- 2. Modelling and promoting effective and innovative language teaching practice.
- 3. Contributing to the education and professional development of language teachers.
Nominations should clearly address each of the three criteria. Nominations must be submitted by COB Friday 30 October, 2020 at https://forms.gle/deHPXuPKLthMP1e79 A panel comprised of MLTA ACT Inc. Executive will meet after the nomination due date and assess all nominations against the criteria. The successful recipient of the 2020 award will be announced in Term 4, 2020. The recipient of the MLTA ACT Inc. Fiona Arthur Language Teaching Award will receive a perpetual plaque for their school, an Award Certificate and a voucher to the value of $450 for the purchase of resources from INTEXT. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Annemarie Power, MLTA Executive Secretary.
French Network News, posted 11 July 2020
French Netowrk News for July 2020 from Lena Britton includes items on:- Poetry Recital Competition
- French Converstion Group
- French Network Meeting Thursday 6 August from 15h30
- Prize-giving ceremony for La compétition de la Francophonie
- Taste of Languages competition
- Call for abstracts for the Postrgraduate Conference on Multilingualism Saturday 10 October 2020
- Contacts with Embassies
- Contact with feeder primary schools
- Immersion Day for Year 9/10
- Alliance Française French Film Festival
- MLTA online seminar with Dr Conti
- Part-time teaching job opportunities with the Alliance Française
- Fiona Arthur Language Teaching Award 2020
- Education Perfect - Studio Competition
- Carrousel Theatre
AFMLTA News in Brief, posted 24 June 2020
The June edition of AFMLTA News in Brief has been published. News items include:
- National Languages Strategy and Plan: Project Update
- Advocacy with ACARA I(including consultation about the review of Australian Curriculum: Languages
- University funding for languages
- Languages in new NSW Primary Curriculum
- Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education (SICLE) Online Portal
- Nominations open for Penny McKay Memorial Award
- Professional learning: MLTAV Virtual Conference, August 2020; ACTFL Virtual Convention and World Languages Expo, November 2020; AFMLTA International Languages Conference, Adelaide, July 2021; NZALT Conference, Wellington, July 2021; FIPLV World Congress. Warsaw, Poland, September 2021
Election of office-bearers at MLTA ACT ATM
See the home page for details of officer-bearers elected at the MLTA AGM on 28 May. Congratulations to Sharee Harrild, the new MLTA President. The committee thanked Veronique Canellas for her work as MLTA President over many years, from 2014 onwards.Call for articles – Contact Newsletter, posted 5 May 2020
Hello MLTA ACT members,
I hope this finds you all well and enjoying exploring online and remote learning during this term, as we all navigate these unusual times!
It is once again time for me to call for input for the Semester 1, 2020 CONTACT publication. If you or your language network have news to share, successes to celebrate or any interesting resources or events that you would like to share with your languages teaching colleagues, please send them to me at sharee.harrild@ed.act.edu.au.
As we have also embarked on adventures in online and remote learning, I would love to build a collection of resources, handy tips and tricks and stories of things tried, tested and successful that may help us all enrich our teaching and learning engagement of students in the ACT. I know that I have had ample opportunity to both refresh and build my own personal skills and knowledge, as well as be amazed by colleagues near and far in developing a range of different learning opportunities for students and each other.
I would appreciate receiving all contributions by Week 7 of this term. Pictures can be sent to me as individual images or within documents. Please ensure that your contribution is not overly formatted, as this will assist me in being better able to format it for our publication. Word documents or Google Docs work best – thank you!
I look forward to receiving and reading how everyone in the languages networks across the ACT are going.
All the best for a smooth start to Term 2! 😊
Thank you,
Sharee Harrild, MLTA-ACT Publications Officer
MLTA AGM, posted 5 May 2020
Due to the COVID-19 situation and current advice from the health authorities and government we will be holding the MLTA ACT Inc. Annual General Meeting via videoconference.
The new date for the MLTA ACT AGM is Thursday 28 May 2020 from 4pm until 5pm.
You can join the AGM by copying and pasting this link into your browser: meet.google.com/ojk-wboe-prp
Please join the meeting with your microphone on mute.
To facilitate the meeting, if you would like to nominate yourself or another MLTA ACT financial member for a position on the Executive Committee,
please fill in the nomination form and return it via email prior to the meeting.
Forms (including proxy form if relevant) to be returned to Annemarie Power at Annemarie.power@ed.act.edu.au If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Take care,
A call for nominations to AFMLTA Executive positions.
A standing item on the AFMLTA Assembly agenda is the election of roleholders.
In 2020, AFMLTA is calling for nominations to the roles of Babel Editor, Treasurer and Information Officer.
Please use this proforma in word
or this pdf proforma for nomination. Nominations can come from any financial member of any MLTA/LTA affiliated with AFMLTA.
All nominations must be duly signed by a nominator and a seconder.
Both nominators must be financial members of an MLTA.
The nominators and nominees do not have to be from the same MLTA. Completed nominations must be sent to AFMLTA Secretary.
Nominations do not need to be returned via the executive of the nominee’s MLTA.
However, if doubt exists over the financial status of a nominee or either nominator, a check can be conducted. Nominations are due by Friday 5 June 2020.
This information and the nomination forms are also available on the AFMLTA website.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Canberra Region Languages Forum update April 2020 has been sent out to subscribers by the Convener, Dr Mandy Scott. Brief overview: Mandy also previously sent out the Canberra Region Languages Forum update for January 2020. The Canberra Region Languages Forum Updates can also be accessed electronically here. MLTAACT Executive Committee have agreed that the MLTAACT AGM scheduled for Thursday 26 March 2020 be postponed
due to the COVID-19 situation and current advice from the health authorities and government.
The new AGM date will be decided based on the evolving COVID-19 situation.
As soon as we have a new date, you will be notified. We also wish to advise that we have corresponded with Dr Gianfranco Conti
about the upcoming professional learning event scheduled for Saturday 2 May 2020
and as a result of the 14 day self-imposed isolation period for all incoming international travellers
by the Australian Government we are postponing the workshop.
We are working with Gianfranco on a date for later in the year. When this has been finalised we will communicate this to you. These decisions have been made to ensure we are acting consistently with the coordinated local and national response to the COVID-19 situation.
We understand that this will cause some disruption to the planned MLTAACT events for 2020
but the safety of our members and presenters remains our paramount concern. I encourage you to attend our association's Annual General Meeting at 4:30pm on Thursday, 26 March at Telopea Park School Conference Room.
Please come along to learn more about the behind the scenes work
and maybe even consider joining the Executive Committee to support our vibrant association!
There will be afternoon tea provided. You can RSVP at: https://forms.gle/gYv6qqyVi3RKkj929. If you are unable to attend, please send a nomination form
and a proxy vote.
I have loved being part of the MLTA ACT Executive Committee –
I encourage you to come and join us to help our association run smoothly. All positions are open! I have also attached an outline of events for this year;
make sure you pencil our events into your diary!
You might want to print a copy and pin it somewhere in your staffroom/office/classroom. Annemarie Power, MLTA ACT Secretary.
The MLTA ACT Works 4U!
Annemarie POWER
AFMLTA News in Brief, posted 27 April 2020
Members will have received the April edition of AFMLTA News in Brief from MLTA ACT Secretary Annemarie Power on Friday. News items include:
AFMLTA Executive Positions: Nominations open, posted 22 April 2020
Kylie Farmer
Secretary, AFMLTA
Canberra Region Languages Forum Updates, January & April 2020
Postponement of MLTA AGM and of workshop with Gianfranco Conti, posted 16 March 2020
ANU Language Teaching Forums cancelled for Semester 1, posted 16 March 2020
France, Yanyin, and Wesley have decided to cancel the Language Teaching Forum at ANU for this semester.
They will have to see how things proceed.
They hope anyone teaching languages currently is able to switch to online
and they note that ANU colleagues in Hindi and Sanscrit are currently active in delivering language learning programs online.
James Grieve
Many MLTA colleagues would be aware that Mr James Grieve,
member of the Emeritus Faculty
and specialist in French at ANU for many decades, passed away on 15 January 2020, aged 85.
Among his great contributions in his field,
he recently made a gift of his magnum opus,
a set of "fiches correctives"
for advanced learners of French, to the ANU library's research repository. For more, see the links here and the News page on CAL website.
AFMLTA News in Brief
There have been three editions of AFMLTA News in Brief since the November 2019 edition.
MLTA ACT AGM 2020, posted 27 February 2020
Message to members from MLTA ACT Secretary, Annemarie Power:
Education Perfect workshop, posted 27 February 2020
An Education Perfect workshop has been organised by the ACT French Language Network leader, Lena Britton.
The workshop will take place at Campbell High School on Thursday 26 March 2020, 4 pm to 5:30 pm.
Previous years
MLTA ACT news items for previous years are available as pdf documents, listed below, commencing with the most recent year.
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