The uptake inthe study ofEnglishinternationallymasks many problems confronting languages education such asthedropinuppersecondary school study of languages and themarginalization ofminority languages. Theineffectiveness of government planning in the UK, North Americaand other English-speaking countriesto halt thedecline of languages study has been a constanttheme inresearch.In Australia there have been some 70 government reports and reviews in the past four decades and yetonly 10% of final year secondary studentstake a language.The decline has been attributed to the ‘top down’ nature of muchlanguageprogramand policyplanning and policy and thefailure toaddress issues oflocal diversity and resources, particularlyissues of minority languages.

This paper presents the findings of a major study into the uptake and provision oflanguages across all systems and sectors in two cities inNSW, Australia.The study took as its starting point the language learning experiences of young people in specific sites; mapping languages provisions in detail across stages of schooling, different school sectors and a range of community factors such as SES and language background. The study considered how to account for the diversity of language uptake, use and learning in an urban andaregional cityand explored the implications of this for languages policy and planning. It also looked at what would count as effective language programs in the different contexts and how to build on local resources.The broader study consisted of four stages: Stage 1 involved mapping and analysing of existing data of language teaching provisions. Stage 2 focused on young people’s experiences and perceptions of language learning. Stage 3 investigated the resources in terms of teachers and other school staff across the sectors: the languages and teacher training they have and need. Stage 4 will involve the development of profiles to inform models for assessment frameworks appropriate to the range of languages, curriculum/syllabus documents and learners and places of delivery.

This paper draws on a cross section of data from the larger study, focusing on three groups of young people – one friendship group attends a low-SES state secondary school with a high proportion of students from language backgrounds other than English; the second is a friendship group attending a high-SES selective secondary school; the third group attends a non-government school in a mid to low-SES area mainly of English-speaking background families. The paper explores the language learning experiences of these young people and the opportunities presented to learn, use and develop a second or their home/ heritage language in a variety of domains.

Working from these groups in specific sites, the paper will discuss home, community and virtual domains and the impact of these on language learning and attitudes. It then shifts to the narratives of schooling and the implications of these. The paper addresses the question of how to explain the diversity of language and learning experiences and attitudes in different sites by different groups of young people. What are the implications of this information for school language programs and for government language policy and planning?

The paper draws on the work of Extra and Yagmur  (2003, 2004) methodology combining the tools of large scale mapping and surveys with in-depth case studies of schools across systems and sectors and Gorter and Cenoz (2011, 2013) in its focus on place and sites.  The presentation will outline the way in which the theoretical framework for the project enhanced the development of a layered approach that was deeper and more extensive than previous accounts of languages provision and uptake. 

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