17 December 2004
A Charles Darwin University graduate has been awarded an Endeavour Language Teaching Fellowship to undertake an intensive study tour to France next year.
With a Bachelor of Education from the University of Leeds and a Master of Arts in Physical Education from the University of Western Ontario, Mr Rugin's completed his Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics externally through Charles Darwin University in 1997.
"The Applied Linguistics course I undertook through the Northern Territory based University was the most valuable course I have ever enrolled in," Mr Rugins said.
"It gave me an excellent introduction to systemic functional linguistics, provided a qualification in teaching English to speakers of other languages and reinforced my approach to teaching French."
Mr Rugins, who is now teacher in charge of Languages Other than English at Eumundi and Cooroy State Schools on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, where the language taught is French, said that his Endeavour Language Teaching Fellowship includes a three-week intensive language and cultural in-country study programme in France.
"The Fellowships provide teachers an opportunity to improve their knowledge, skills and understanding of the target language culture and help develop a group of language teachers with recent in-country experience and expertise as a resource within the contexts of their own school, their education system, state-wide and nationally," Mr Rugins said.
"By participating in the France 2005 Fellowship Programme, it is hoped to strengthen linkages between schools in Australia and France, to strengthen mutual understanding between the people of France and Australia, and to promote the value of languages education in Australian schools."
"Recent initiatives in languages teaching and learning methodology have seen a move towards learning about the culture of the target language, and specific steps towards achieving Intercultural Competence have been mapped out."
Setting up an online forum is also one of Mr Rugins' objectives.
"I see it as recruiting the French students and teachers to help our students learn about French language and culture, and getting our students to help their partners learn English. Until recently, such an idea might have stalled on the issue of 'modelling' the language, but language is evolving more rapidly than ever; keeping pace and heralding the changes in a rapidly changing world".
Mr Rugins will take up the commonwealth government Fellowship in January. The program also offers Fellowships in Chile, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Japan.
For information about linguistic studies at Charles Darwin University contact student services on 08 8946 7766.
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