Learning languages in addition to English extends students' literacy repertoires and their capacity to communicate. It strengthens students’ understanding of the nature of language, culture, and the processes of communication.
The languages included in the Victorian Curriculum F–10 are grouped into six categories (outlined in the table below).
All language-specific curriculum has now been released through the Victorian Curriculum F-10.
The VCAA has included generic curricula for Roman and Non-Roman Alphabet languages, which will allow any world language to be offered by a Victorian school, and the Framework for Classical Languages, which schools can use to develop language-specific programs for Classical languages other than Classical Greek and Latin.
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| Roman Alphabet Languages | These are languages whose writing system, or means of being visually recorded, is Roman alphabetic, and whose reading demands on learners are similar to those of English. |
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| Non-Roman Alphabet Languages | These are languages whose writing system is alphabetic but non-Roman, and for which a learner needs to acquire a new alphabet. |
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| Character Languages | These are languages whose writing system is either syllabic, ideographic, or a combination of syllables and ideograms, involving different reading processes from alphabet reading and the learning of the new script. |
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| Classical Languages | These are ancient languages that are no longer used as a means of everyday communication by a contemporary community. |
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| Sign Language | This is the language of the Australian Deaf community. For most learners, this will also involve reading in English. |
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| Aboriginal Languages | Each Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language is unique. It gives voice to the landscapes, thoughts and ways of seeing and interpreting the world. When the language of the Land is spoken, it brings together all of the elements of the landscape and its people. It encompasses the relationships of these people with one another and with the landscape, past, present and future. |
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Information Communication Technologies (ICT) are powerful tools that can support student learning. Students can develop and demonstrate their understanding of concepts and content in Languages using a range of ICT tools. It is also important that students know how to use these ICT efficiently and responsibly, as well as learning how to protect themselves and secure their data.
Details of how ICT can support student learning in Languages is set out in the attached Information Communication Technologies and Languages pdf.
