Advisory Committee

A/Prof David Reeve

A/Prof David Reeve from UNSW is the ILTI Academic Coordinator and Convenor of the ILTI Advisory Committee. David has been visiting Indonesia for 40 years, as a diplomat, researcher, historian, visiting lecturer, beachcomber and project manager. He has lived in Indonesia for twelve years, and worked at four Indonesian universities.

Dr Margaret Gearon

Dr Margaret Gearon is from Monash University. Her research interests are assessing foreign and second language teachers’ oral and written proficiency; the classroom oral discourse of second language teachers; curriculum renewal and the development of a communicative syllabus in languages other than English; and the development of teacher education models for teachers of second / foreign languages in universities and ethnic schools.

A/Prof Lesley Harbon

A/Prof Lesley Harbon of the University of Sydney. Lesley’s work with language-teacher education developed through positions she has held since the mid 90s in teacher-education faculties at the universities of Tasmania and Sydney. For 15 years, until early 1990s, Lesley edited Pelangi, a publication for the teaching and learning of Indonesian in Australian schools published at the University of Southern Queensland Press. From 2002 until 2006 Lesley edited Babel, the journal of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Assocations. She continues to research in the areas of language-teacher education, intercultural-languages education, bilingual-immersion education and study-abroad short-term programs for language teachers.

Dr Lindy Norris

Dr Lindy Norris from Murdoch University. She works in the areas of second language research, professional development for language educators, curriculum design, and program evaluation and change management. Her research has encompassed many dimensions of languages education in the Australian context including factors impacting on program sustainability, the proficiency potential of second language programs, language learning and children with special needs, and links between literacy development and second language learning. Her work has made a significant contribution to the development of policy and practice in the learning of languages within Australia.

Dr Paul Black

Dr Paul Black of Charles Darwin University. Paul was educated as a linguist in the US in the 1960s and 70s, completing a comparative study of the Lowland East Cushitic languages of the Horn of Africa for his doctorate in 1974. He then came to Australia on a research fellowship to pursue research on indigenous languages in North Queensland. After a temporary visit in 1981, in 1982 he took a position with the School of Australian Linguistics program for the education of indigenous literacy workers and interpreters. In 1990 he joined the applied linguistics program of the then Northern Territory University, now Charles Darwin University, where he has specialised in linguistics, language acquisition, and language teaching pedagogy. In 1991-93 he also spent two years as a visiting lecturer in English at Waseda University in Tokyo, a position he returned to for another year in 2003-2004.

Mr Greg Ashmam

Mr Greg Ashman is from the University of Tasmania. Greg currently lectures within the literacy and languages strands of the Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Teaching programs. As well, he works with students in developing appropriate professional practices prior to entering the teaching profession, with specific relevance to teaching within a primary school setting. Mr Ashman assists with the coordination and preparation of students to study overseas as part of the Faculty’s exchange program. Mr Ashman’s research interests centre within the languages field of study and the discourses surrounding the teaching of languages within primary schools. This notion is currently under investigation for his doctoral studies.

Ms Michelle Kohler

Ms Michelle Kohler is an experienced secondary teacher of Indonesian and researcher at the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education, University of South Australia. She has worked as the Indonesian language consultant and Curriculum Policy Officer, Languages for the SA Education Department. Michelle has been a collaborator on a number of projects including the Report on Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning, ALPLP, ILTLP, Standards for Languages Teaching and The Current State of Indonesian Language Education in Australia Schools (forthcoming). She is long standing member of the MLTASA and INTAN, former secretary of AFMLTA and a setter and examiner for the SSASBA for many years. Michelle is completing a PhD on intercultural language pedagogy and collaborating on a new textbook series for Indonesian in the middle years.

Dr Marina Houston

Dr Marina Houston (Aidman) graduated from the Moscow State University of Linguistics and initially taught French and English as foreign languages. In Australia, she completed a Master of Education degree and a PhD at the University of Melbourne, specialising in child bilingualism and bilingual literacy learning through preschool and primary years. For the last 10 years she has been Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra in the area of Primary English Language and Literacy Education and Teaching English as a Second Language. Marina is passionate about fostering students’ success in both English and other languages, and works with schools as bilingual education advisor. Her particular interest is promoting language programs in Australian schools.

Ms Leonie Wittman

Ms Leonie Wittman is the leader of the languages team at the NSW DET Centre for Learning Innovation (CLI). She coordinates the design and production of online resources for languages. Before undertaking her Dip ED, Leonie lived in Indonesia for 12 months. She has extensive experience teaching Indonesian in schools and has held various positions in the NSW DET Curriculum Directorate, including 9 years as Indonesian Consultant. She has presented workshops on curriculum implementation, assessment, intercultural languages learning and integrating ICT into languages programs. She has worked with the Board of Studies in curriculum design and assessment teams for Indonesian and has been a HSC marker for many years. She is a member of the MLTA and was on the organising committees of the 2009 AFMLTA and ASILE conferences.

Ms Ilian Yang

Ms Ilian Yang is head teacher at Open High School, Sydney, where she leads school-wide curriculum and professional development and teaches Indonesian. She also teaches Indonesian language methodology at the University of New South Wales, and holds various roles with the NSW Board of Studies—most recently as Supervisor of HSC Marking. Ilian has also been the convenor of the Sydney Indonesian Language Teachers Association. For seven years Ilian managed the development of multi-media resources for ten languages and developed a distance education Year 11 and 12 Indonesian course for the NSW Department of Education and Training. During this time Ilian represented New South Wales in the National Materials Development Network. Ilian is currently co-authoring a series of Indonesian textbooks.

Ms Ida Harsojo

Ms Ida Harsojo is an experienced primary and secondary and TAFE teacher of Indonesian. She has worked as Indonesian Language Consultant at Department of Education and Training, NSW. She has presented workshops on curriculum implementation, assessment and intercultural languages learning. Ida has also worked with the Board of Studies as syllabus and assessment writer for HSC Indonesian and has been an HSC marker and senior judge for many years. She is a member of the MLTA and was on the organising committees of the 2009 ASILE conference. Currently Ida is co-authoring a series of Indonesian textbooks for high school students.

Ms Miriam Doi

Ms Miriam Doi trained in law, Japanese and German and worked for the Japanese Business department of a commercial law firm in Sydney before moving to Japan in 1990. She worked as a paralegal for an international firm in Osaka during 7 years living in Japan and has continued to work remotely for the same law firm since moving back to live in Tasmania in 1997. For the past 6 years, Miriam has also worked as a sessional staff member of the School of Asian Languages & Studies (SALS) at UTAS, teaching 3rd-year level Japanese language reading and translation skills. Miriam took up the position of Academic Coordinator for SALS late last year, following a grant to SALS of NALSSP funding to build new pathways in Tasmanian education for teaching and learning of Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian.