Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand (MGSAANZ)
Abstract
The teaching of some languages in Australia is under threat due substantially to small
enrolments. There is considerable need to preserve Australia’s community languages
as part of the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity. However, it can be difficult to
generate sufficient numbers to sustain the provision of a specific language course in any
one location in Australia. Online technologies can provide a solution to this problem.
According to the New Media Consortium Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education
Edition “education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning
and collaborative models”. Models such as these present a possible
solution to the problems associated with providing small enrolment language topics
such as Modern Greek.
The Logos Australian Centre for Hellenic Language and Culture was established at
Flinders University in 2011. Promotion and preservation of Greek language and culture
is the focus of the centre which is funded by the South Australian Government with
support from the Greek Government. In 2012 the centre moved towards enhancing
the delivery of Modern Greek by developing and delivering four language topics and
two culture topics online. The delivery of these topics identified assessment as an area
which needs further investigation. This paper describes the importance of an assessment
strategy for foreign language (FL) learning which is based on the principles of authentic
assessment and describes how synchronous technologies can support this strategy