Book Description
Since 2001 the Asian Studies Association of Australia has commissioned biennial surveys on enrolments in Asian language programs in Australian institutions of higher education. In 2010 survey forms were sent to the 34 institutions of higher education offering Asian language programs in Australia. Respondents were requested to report on EFTSL (equivalent full-time student load) for Asian languages for the period 2008-9. Additionally they were invited to provide information about collaborative teaching arrangements for Asian languages, any recent changes in the teaching of Asian languages, and staff movements. Report highlights were: New programs have opened up in Chinese, and enrolments are up by about a third since 2001 but most new learners are of Asian background; Numbers in Indonesian have fallen dramatically since the early 2000s and a number of providers have terminated programs in Indonesian; Japanese has seen a modest increase in enrolments since 2001 and continues to have by far the largest number of enrolments of any Asian language; Enrolments in Arabic have more than doubled since 2001 from a small base; Korean and Vietnamese enrolments have grown quite strongly since the early 2000s but are offered in very few institutions.