Η γλώσσα δένει τους ανθρώπους. “Language binds people together.”
Community languages are so much more important than just family heritage. They can actually build social cohesion and enrich the wider society.
In Sydney, it’s very normal to hear several languages before you even reach the school gate. 25% of Sydney students are from a language background other than English. For many families, English is the public language, and a community language is the family language, the cultural language, the “home” language.
As you’d expect, community language learning supports belonging by helping people connect across generations and participate in our modern multicultural society. However, the host society also benefits from this cultural richness, and they should also be working alongside communities to preserve this benefit.
The research says that community languages are not just a nice-to-have. The evidence base points to a bigger opportunity and need.
Community languages - glue for social cohesion
Sometimes seeing the news can be discouraging. Conflict seems to everywhere. People in so many countries have conflict with others over religion, politics, policy, education, geopolitical issues, natural resources, immigration, infrastructure, and just about anything else. We can see the strains in social cohesion in many societies around the world today.
The European Centre for Modern Languages chose “languages for social cohesion” as a program theme from 2004-2007 because improving social cohesion is a major challenge for modern societies.
And community languages can be part of the answer here. Senior Lecturer in Global Cultures and Languages in the School of International Studies at Macquarie University Dr Patricia Koromvokis notes:
“Community languages benefit the wider community because they strengthen social cohesion, participation, and access. When more people can communicate across generations and cultures, communities are less isolated and more connected, which supports wellbeing and civic life.”
Joseph Lo Bianco’s chapter, “Social cohesion and language learning” from Languages for Social Cohesion, says social cohesion is an issue shaped by globalisation and mobility, where multicultural societies are now the norm. He also points to the tension between older government directives that aimed for linguistic uniformity, contrasted with the reality of diverse communities.
In plain language, if a society is diverse, insisting on one single linguistic mould for everyone can backfire.
Social infrastructure - not just a cultural club
Community languages mean we can keep our backgrounds and traditions, or in my case, learn about a new society. We need not all end up in the, ‘sea of sameness.’
In NSW, the Community Languages Schools Program supports community language schools to deliver classes in more than 60 languages to more than 36,000 students. These numbers show community languages is not a sideline activity. It’s mainstream, with many families being involved.
A growing body of research is finding community language schools should be treated as educational and social assets, not simply language gatherings and cultural clubs.
And for good reason. Senior Lecturer in Global Cultures and Languages in the School of International Studies at Macquarie University Dr Patricia Koromvokis notes:
“Community languages improve how society functions day to day: people can engage more confidently within schools, health services, aged care, and emergency information, and community organisations (cultural groups, clubs, media, festivals) stay active and contribute to the cultural richness of the whole city, not just one group.”
In fact, the University of Sydney’s Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education published a multi-paged series summaries of research into the benefits of heritage/community language schools for students, parents, and the broad community, based on a scoping review of research from 2001 to 2023. The Institute collated research summaries and bibliographies highlighting the educational, family and community benefits of community language schools.
The findings are there in front of us. We need to act.
What we can do: take pragmatic steps
The key takeaways tell us we need to act, and we have some of answers already:
Social cohesion is a major challenge for multicultural societies, and language education can help address it.
Research summaries and academic work increasingly advocate that community language schools are educational and social assets.
If we want community languages to benefit the whole community, we need to ensure we’re providing support for them.
Governments can: meaningfully support community language schools with additional funding, support for best in class teaching resources and training for teachers.
Schools can: celebrate student learning in community languages, and treat community language learning as the achievement that it is to ensure it doesn’t feel like an optional add-on or a distraction.
Communities can: ask more of governments and education departments to meaningfully commit to community languages for the benefit of the whole of society.
Closing reflection
This article may seem like an overly academic article for a blog. But these articles spoke to my experience.
I began learning Greek as the only non-Greek student at a community language school. The community welcomed me, and with my learning grew my affinity for Greek language, culture and people.
Community languages bring a raft of wider-community benefits. So let’s support their growth so we can benefit and keep, still speaking Greek.
Sources cited:
Lo Bianco, J. Social Cohesion and Language Learning, in Languages for Social Cohesion.
NSW Department of Education. About Community Languages Schools.
University of Sydney’s Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education
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