ABSTRACT
In Australia, 23.2 % of the population speak at least one of over 340 languages other than English at home. Depending on the policy of each state, up to 46 languages are offered as subjects in the final two years of senior secondary school. The new national language policy for the 2008–2012 periods aimed at doubling the percentage of secondary school graduates fluent in Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, and Korean to 12% by 2020. In the state of New South Wales (NSW), 35 languages are offered as Higher School Certificate courses by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW, and many are offered at different levels, including heritage and non-heritage tracks, in each year. In NSW, students can study languages from primary to senior secondary level. Until 2001, Japanese heritage language learners in Year 10 could select from three separate level Higher School Certificate Japanese course streams: "Continuers", "Extension," and "Background Speakers.".
