How the short course will benefit my teaching, including my plans for materials development and their dissemination

I believe this short course will benefit both myself personally and enhance my

teaching. Personally, I want to develop and improve myself as an Indonesian

teacher. The program would enable me to increase the depth of my knowledge

and understanding of certain cultural aspects; increase my vocabulary

(colloquially); gain a greater understanding of the way Indonesia operates and

increase my teaching strategies.

I believe that the study of Indonesian is extremely important, as Indonesia is

Australia’s closest neighbouring country. It is important to understand your

neighbour. Learning the language and having knowledge of their culture is a step

towards this comprehension. It is this understanding that fosters a respect for the

country and its people. Sharing this concept with my students will help encourage

the students to become more tolerant and accepting of other countries and

cultures. Learning a language also helps students better understand the English

language. With the opportunity for me to better understand our neighbour,

improve my language skills and experience more culturally than I can from a

DVD, this in turn will have a flow on effect to the students as they will also benefit

from my experiences.

Future language students will also undoubtedly benefit from my involvement in

the short course. This intensive immersion experience will enable me to improve

my spoken Indonesian and increase my understanding both culturally and

politically. I will be able to share these experiences and the knowledge I gain with

my students, in a way which they will be able to relate. With an increased

knowledge in specific areas such as politics, I will be able to encourage more indepth comparisons between Australia and Indonesia, especially within the upper

years of primary school.

As far as professional development goes, there is no better environment for a

language teacher to further develop themselves as a teacher, than to experience

the country first hand. I firmly believe that travel is the best education for any

person and it is particularly true in this situation. I have recently returned from

visiting an orphanage and sister schools in Bali. Since my return I have found it

easy to genuinely promote the value of learning the language and studying the

culture. As a result of this the students have shown a greater interest in the

country itself as well as increasing their interest in the language. I find students

who were at times more reluctant to involve themselves in certain activities have

now become more willing to participate. This is as a direct result in sharing my

firsthand experiences.