“Many people are very worried about the future. But what about our wildlife? How will they respond?"24 September: The importance of knowing more than one language in our multicultural and globalised society will be a focus at the University of Canberra Language Expo this Sunday.
The University will combine with Canberra Multicultural Community Forum and the ACT Ethnic Schools Association to celebrate the International Year of Languages.
University of Canberra lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Dr Marina Houston who has raised a daughter in two languages, believes raising a child bilingually and maintaining a parents’ mother tongue helps family cohesion.
“It helps sharing ideas, emotions, supporting each other at many levels as most families aim to do. It also helps raise a happy, balanced and socially well adjusted child, friendly outgoing and open to learning new things and accepting of people’s differences,” said Dr Houston.
Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Canberra, Dr Mandy Scott believes that the expo is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the languages and cultures of the ACT region and also to find out where languages are learnt – in the family and from preschool to university level.
“Learning more than one language has multiple benefits,” she said. “As well as promoting better communication and understanding, it can help children be more creative and flexible in their thinking.”
The Language Expo is a free family event and will feature:
• ACT election candidates, John Hargreaves and leader of the ACT Liberals Zed Seselja, discussing their policies on language education in the ACT
• Workshops on Indonesian, Mandarin, Greek, Korean, Arabic and Gamilaraay a language of NSW.
• Panel discussion for parents raising a child in more than one language
• Language development activities for preschoolers
• Ethnic food and dance
WHAT: University of Canberra Language Expo
WHEN: Sunday 28 September, 10am – 5pm
WHERE: University of Canberra Main Concourse
