Why are non-migrant families sending their children to bilingual schools?

Australia Broadcast Center

25-05-2025

Nyssa has never been to China.
She hasn't even stepped foot in Chinatown.
But when the 6-year-old is with friends at school, she speaks Chinese.
"It's like I know how to speak every language in the world," she said.
Nyssa studies at a "bilingual school", where staff and students jump between languages in the classroom and the playground.
And these institutions — both public and private — are not just for migrants.
At Richmond West Primary School in Melbourne's inner suburbs, up to 90 per cent of the students do not speak Chinese at home and some do not have any cultural connection to China.
But grade 4 student Heidi has brought Chinese into her home, occasionally speaking it with her sister.
"It's quite fun doing Chinese. You don't need to know every single word because you learn," she said.
"When I started, I could only count up to 10 and now I can make a conversation."
Bilingual schools are not language schools; they are places where ordinary lessons are taught in multiple languages.
Entire days or various subjects are dedicated to different languages; a student may learn history in English but science from a teacher speaking in French.
Richmond West executive principal Trevor Strolla said his faculty examined the curriculum to determine what "make sense" in English and what can be covered in Chinese.
"And bringing those together so we can build a seamless experience for the kids," he said.
Monash University bilingual education researcher Marianne Turner said integrating languages into education had a broad range of benefits, from improving literacy and problem solving to "appreciating and understanding difference".
"In Australia, it's still relatively niche but it has been increasing in popularity," she said.
"In Europe, they have this mentality where multilingualism is really, really prioritised and it would be wonderful if Australia could understand the value of multilingualism."
Bilingual education exists in various forms across Australia, from "language immersion" at Queensland high schools, to the French "binational" program run in South Australia.
Richmond West is one of 11 "bilingual" primary schools funded by the Victorian government but Mr Stolla said not everyone was convinced of the benefits.
"There is a misconception that kids are missing out on something when they're learning through another language," he said.
Ms Turner said education was "not a zero-sum game" and teaching in a foreign language could make teachers more effective.
"Often teachers think that students are understanding a lot of what they say," she said.
"But when you know that students might be having trouble understanding what you say, you're a lot more careful and you can give a lot more scaffolding in your lessons."
Michelle Andersen sends her daughters to the Sydney Japanese International School, an independent school in the northern beaches.
She said other parents were "really excited" when they discovered she did not have Japanese roots or speak the language.
"But the kids love it. They think it's hilarious."
Ms Andersen was impressed by the school's smaller class sizes, strong community and student-teacher dynamic.
Having grown up with parents born overseas, Ms Andersen wanted her children to have the benefits of a second language and "not just another culture but other ways of learning".
"It's really difficult to learn a language here in Australia. Take Asia or Europe for example, kids are pretty much born learning two languages," she said.
"Being part of the cultural community has really provided [for] our family. The kids, they've made lifelong friendships and learning a language, especially here in Australia, is really a gift and an opportunity."
The cross-cultural experience at the Sydney Japanese International School extends not only to students, but staff.
Their philosophy is to unite Australian and Japanese culture, according to head of the international division Melita Abraham.
"In Japanese, we say 'takahashi', which is a bridge," she said.
Ms Abraham said the schools hosted "a real eclectic group of parents from various backgrounds" who all understood the importance of a global perspective.
"In today's world, that is very important to parents," she said.
"Students do leave here being culturally aware and [having] an understanding of different cultures and how to interact with each other."
Education reform is complex and contested; even educators do not always agree on how to improve outcomes.
While state and territory government are experimenting with more bilingual education, most language remains siloed away in separate language classes.
Ms Turner said despite Australia's multicultural society, "we don't necessarily take language education as seriously as other countries".
"The messaging for children really is that English is the only real language that they need, and we need to change that messaging," she said.
"It's a real opportunity that we're missing in Australia.
"If we speak other languages, we can see how people think a lot more clearly."
Ms Turner said along with the benefits for students, these schools could also help stop "language attrition".
"We have a lot of migration from different countries. People speak different languages but by the third generation, that language is generally lost," she said.
"And that's a real shame."
At least for grade 4 Richmond West student Heidi, her connection to culture will not be lost.
"I really like how I get to learn two languages," she said.
"One of the languages is the same as [the one spoken by] my mum's family."