Kulasingam Shanmugam
Graduate Student
Faculty of Education
University of Wollongong
E/
kulamshanmugam@hotmail.com
Teaching Tamil as a Heritage Language in Australia
Friday, June 1st |
3:00 - 5:00 PM
Teaching Tamil language to the children of Tamil
immigrants in Australia seems to be ineffective. Considering the number
of Tamils living in Australia and the strong linguistic and cultural
attachment the Tamils have, the number of Tamil children learning Tamil
is quite low.. Tamil is currently taught using the existing syllabus
designed for teaching a language other than English (LOTE) or as a
Second Language to monolingual English speakers in the Australian
context.
In this paper, I argue that Tamil is neither a LOTE nor a Second
Language to the children of Tamil heritage,. Tamil is a heritage
language for the children of Tamil immigrants and using the existing
syllabus to teach Tamil as LOTE for administrative or financial
convenience has not brought about desired outcomes.
______
Mr. Shanmugam is a doctoral candidate working towards a curriculum model
for teaching Tamil as heritage language to Tamil children in Australia.