Indonesian is taught from Prep to Year 6. In these classes the students don't just learn the words and phrases of another language, they are immersed in a culture and learn about the similarities and differences we have with different cultural identities. The students begin to understand the world extends far beyond our local community. See below for the content that is covered.
Prep to Year 2:
In these years there is an emphasis on developing learners’ oral language to enable them to participate in class activities such as shared reading, chants, rhymes, songs and games. They repeat sounds, particularly of vowels, the letters c (ch) and r (trilled), as modelled by the teacher and aural texts. Learners use formulaic language and single-idea phrases. They will recognise the same alphabet as they are learning for writing English and need to observe that some letters have different sounds (for example, c = ch). Learners write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to write words and sentences independently using modelled language, for example, matching pictures with single words, labels and captions.
Year 3 and Year 4:
Learners participate orally in classroom routines and tasks and share ideas about how Indonesian works. They respond to teacher-generated questions about texts, participate in games and give brief presentations about topics such as family, pets, or a favourite game or object. Learners follow instructions, read stories and captions, and use computer games for word-building and language exercises. They participate in shared reading and create texts such as descriptions, captions and simple reports using modelled language.
Year 5 and Year 6:
Learners use formulaic phrases in Indonesian to participate in classroom routines, presentations and structured conversations with the teacher and peers. They focus on aspects of their personal world and are introduced to content related to Indonesia and other learning areas. Learners develop oral language through scaffolded tasks and texts such as songs, descriptions and stories. They extend their oral fluency by focusing on sentence-level intonation and stress. In pairs and as a class, learners read texts such as signs, posters, scripts, lyrics and instructions (for example, for recipes or games). They are learning to apply their knowledge of keywords and textual features to predict the meaning of unfamiliar languages.