Languages Other Than English

LOTE or Languages Other Than English is the name given to language subjects, other than English, at Australian, New York, and other schools. The name evolved from 'heritage language', a term first used to refer to languages other than French and English in Canada. Later modified in relation to Australia to refer to languages other than English. LOTEs have often historically been related to the policy of multiculturalism, and tend to reflect the predominant non-English languages spoken in a school's local area, the idea being to play a part in the maintenance of cultural identities in local communities.

LOTE is also used to describe written material presented in languages other than English.

LOTE is becoming an increasingly popular subject in Australian Schools. The Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages, produced by ACARA, has suggested three tiers of languages to be taught in Australian schools:

Tier 1 languages were chosen because they cater for the needs of the greatest number of students. Italian is learnt by the most number of students and Chinese is a national priority.

Tier 2 languages were chosen because French, Japanese, Indonesian and German are some of the most frequently taught languages in Australian schools, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean are national priorities and Spanish "is a language of global importance".

Tier 3 languages were chosen because Arabic, Modern Greek and Vietnamese are the most frequently spoken foreign languages in Australian homes, and Arabic "is a language of global importance".

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