Languages other than English are a means of communicating across cultures and promoting inter-cultural understanding and competence.Languages prepare learners for meaningful, productive lives in a culturally and linguistically diverse society and global community, and help learners relate positively to the richness of human diversity. This is reflected in Languages other than English programs when students communicate by engaging in purposeful and active use of language in tasks that contribute to students’ understanding of many diverse issues and concepts and that involve negotiation and socialisation with peers. Learning a language other than English also promotes:
· Communication skills –using process skills and strategies to deploy linguistic features in culturally appropriate ways;
· Cognitive development – using an alternative linguistic system to make explicit comparisons between languages means students are better able to solve problems, to think logically and to express themselves with clarity;
· Appreciation of cultures –critically appreciating different ways of perceiving and expressing reality gives students a wider perspective from which they might view the world and their place in it.
Years 4 to 10 LOTE Syllabuses are provided for seven priority languages — Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese and Korean. The students at Mitchelton State School study Japanese in year five and six.