Contextualising Multilingualism in Australia Today

This paper will begin by looking at globalisation, education and transnationalism in the context of Australia's post-war immigration history leading to a brief examination of the international literature surrounding second and third generation immigration. A brief review of international educational trends in English language teaching in recent times in relation to these globalised educational contexts and an insight into the Australian context and provision for the learning of English in Australian schools will be introduced. This background will then be used to consider the current policy and curriculum context in Australia in relation to multilingual education. By definition, this will consider the Australian Curriculum with a particular focus on the efficacy of the newly framed EAL/D framework for the teaching of English in Australian schools.