Technology has become central to both the personal and social aspects of our lives. In the classroom, digital literacy is the pupils’ ability to discern quality sources and evaluate the appropriateness of online content as it relates to the task or activity they are undertaking, while respecting the intellectual property rights of the content owners. The chapter discusses online safety and the use of social media in a considerate and respectful manner, and examines what these issues mean for the student teacher in a modern foreign languages classroom. In addition, it looks at the benefits of technology in modern foreign languages learning and teaching, and highlights important caveats and common pitfalls.

This chapter highlights the knowledge required to work with diverse students who communicate using the different varieties of English that exist in Australia. In line with the ‘Language variation and change’ sub-strand of the Australian Curriculum: English, we discuss linguistic and cultural diversity through the concept of plurilingualism, and the transcultural and sociolinguistic competence and knowledge required by teachers working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) learners. We highlight the challenges and rewards associated with instructing students from varying linguistic and cultural backgrounds. We also stress the crucial role teachers play in nurturing learners of English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) students.

Spoken language consists of a complex system of sounds that infants first learn to perceive and produce through social interaction in their linguistic community. This initial exposure before school is critical in preparing them for school, where they learn to encode their spoken language into written language. Once children can sufficiently speak and understand most language at around the age of five, it becomes the role of educators, and parents/care providers to assist them in the development of their explicit phonological awareness. Phonological awareness, which refers to the broad understanding of the sound structure of language, plays a critical role in the development of reading and writing. For instance, before children can effectively start learning to read, they need to develop an awareness of the sound structure of words, including syllables, rhymes and individual speech sounds called phonemes, as well as the ability to segment and blend phonemes.

In contemporary Australian society, the word ‘quality’ is ever-present in professional and political discussions about early childhood education. Educators and families are told that ‘quality is important’; curriculum documents, such as Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), aim to enhance quality; services are rated for the quality of education and care that they deliver; and governments regulate service conditions and provisions in order to facilitate the provision of high quality practice. Together, these social, professional and political structures communicate a strong message that quality matters for young children’s learning and wellbeing.

British linguist David Wilkins once said that ‘without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed’. The quote is often used to highlight the importance of vocabulary learning for students. Range and accuracy in vocabulary use are considered the most significant linguistic differences between students of English as a first language and as an additional language/dialect (EAL/D). For this reason, developing vocabulary is regarded as a major task for EAL/D students alongside other tasks such as developing grammar. To prepare EAL/D students for learning subject content, teachers often need to explicitly teach students key words beforehand so that students can develop the linguistic capacity to decode subject content texts and encode their understandings for future applications. Acknowledging the critical role of vocabulary in learning, this chapter is devoted to presenting and discussing the complexity of learning vocabulary.

Chapter 1 sets out who the book is aimed at: student teachers, experienced teachers and teacher educators; and justifies why a handbook for student teachers of modern languages is needed. The chapter outlines the structure of the book and summarises the aims and content of each of the subsequent chapters. Advice is given on how to use the book most effectively with an explanation of its special features, ‘Food for thought’, ‘Try this out’ and ‘Reflective questions’. The chapter suggests how student teachers can organise and structure their thoughts on the different chapters and the idea of keeping a professional development portfolio is introduced.

In order to deliver effective lessons, teachers must choose appropriate resources, materials and equipment to suit the pedagogical aims of each lesson. Chapter 12 looks at the importance of organisation and management and how to achieve a productive, interactive and positive learning atmosphere in class. The chapter examines why planning ahead by walking through lessons in advance is essential, and warns that teachers ignore this at their peril. It also discusses how to involve colleagues in planning and the benefits of collaborative working. Finally, the chapter also examines behaviour management and how to maintain a safe and orderly environment in the modern foreign languages class that is conducive to successful learning, noting potential causes of disruption and strategies to prevent it, as well as what to do if that disruption still occurs.

This chapter takes a different approach to common ECE perspectives on physical development that, for example, focus on the stages of achievement of fine and gross motor developmental milestones. Instead, we focus on the bodily functions, movement and deep physical learning that are central to infant–toddler pedagogy. This is because embodied health and wellbeing in the first three years of life are the foundations for ongoing holistic learning and lifelong outcomes. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) acknowledges this through its recognition that cognitive, linguistic, physical, social, emotional, personal, spiritual and creative aspects of learning are all intricately interwoven and interrelated. Promoting physical health for holistic wellbeing reflects this view by acknowledging the whole body as the physical home of all these parts. The brain is the ‘control centre’ for many of the complex integrated systems within the body, including the nervous and sensory systems, that establish and guide development.

Reading is critical for learning new information, acquiring new understandings and developing new cognitive skills. It is considered an essential skill for life, study and work in today’s world. In the Australian Curriculum, reading is regarded as a core component of literacy skills alongside ‘viewing, speaking, writing and creating’ texts for ‘a range of purposes’. The texts involved in students’ development of literacy can be multimodal, as they may use oral, visual and digital texts in addition to print texts. As a result, students are expected to ‘use a range of strategies to comprehend, interpret and analyse these texts, including retrieving and organizing literal information, making and supporting inferences and evaluating information and points of view’ when reading .

Across Australia and beyond, early childhood education (ECE) services play a significant role in the everyday lives of infants, toddlers and their families. For some decades, the enrolment of infants and toddlers has increased to the extent that, in today’s Australian society, around 40% of birth to 24-month-olds and nearly 60% of two-year-olds spend at least part of their week in an early childhood service. More still balance ECE service attendance with informal care arrangements with family members and friends. With these figures echoed across many countries worldwide, the widespread uptake of infant and toddler early childhood programs has meant that this generation of infants and toddlers and their families are experiencing a markedly different start to life than previous generations. It is now the norm for infant–toddler care to be spread across multiple contexts both within and outside of the walls of the family home, and for the responsibility for early learning to be shared between family and non-familial adults.