About ULPA

Want to know what ULPA is all about? Join some animated friends as they find out about ULPA in this short video "Introducing ULPA".

Introducing ULPA

Information for Students

Are you a student who loves learning languages and wants to keep going - or would like to study one for the first time? University Languages Portal Australia is designed to help students just like you discover where to study a language, how to do it, and why it’s a great thing to do. To get started, just start searching! Search by Language or Search by University. For specific questions on how to use the website, or what to do once you’ve found something you’re interested in, see our FAQs. Need more information on why language learning is so good for you? See Why Study Languages?

Information for Careers Advisors and Language Teachers

University Languages Portal Australia is intended as a resource for anyone interested in studying a language at a tertiary institution, whether as a beginner or as a more proficient student.

If you are a language teacher, you can use ULPA to discover which universities offer continuing studies in your language - just Search by Language and use the proficiency filter at step 3 to select "Beginner" or "Post-Year 12" level.

If you are a careers advisor, it is important to understand the benefits of language learning in improving performance in other academic areas, to be aware of tertiary bonus schemes for language students, and to know that languages enhance future employability. If you are advising students on tertiary applications, use ULPA to help your students see how easily languages can be incorporated into their studies through options such as cross-institutional study. If you are looking for resources to encourage your students to take up or continue languages study, start with our Why Study Languages? page. There are also a number of other resources on the internet which highlight the benefits of language learning, such as this searchable database: 700 Reasons to Study Languages.

Information for Universities

How will ULPA benefit universities?

These are some of the ways ULPA will directly benefit universities around the country:

  • All universities are represented
    The increasing availability of online and cross-institutional study options means that students are not limited by geography when it comes to tertiary study. ULPA points students directly to university websites for detailed information. By keeping the focus on languages, ULPA makes all universities—large and small, regional and metropolitan—equally visible.

  • Smaller programs are visible
    Languages which are less commonly taught, which have smaller enrolments, or which depend on student interest beyond the local institution, are more visible than ever before with ULPA. This increased visibility has the potential to enhance program viability by letting students know of options they may not have been previously aware of.

  • Reconciliation Action Plans are enhanced by facilitating cross-institutional enrolment in Indigenous languages
    Indigenous languages are highlighted in ULPA. Facilitating cross-institutional enrolment in Indigenous languages studies will demonstrate universities’ commitment to building strong relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians—and in doing so help to realise the central goal of their Reconciliation Action Plans. Through the information made available on this website, students will be more informed about what options are available to them for the study of Indigenous languages.

How can universities help ULPA?

For ULPA to continue to be of use to students, keeping the information as up-to-date as possible is vital. We rely on universities to assist with this, by validating the data collected on language offerings (generally on an annual basis), and advising the team of any changes to offerings that take place. If you are aware of any incorrect or out-of-date links, please contact the ULPA team.

Background

Why was ULPA created?

We know that there is great interest in learning languages across Australia, but it is difficult to find out just what options are available – which languages are available at which Australian universities; whether they are available online; and how to enrol in language courses offered at other universities around the country.

University Languages Portal Australia (ULPA) was established to remedy this, through making visible in a single online location all languages taught at all Australian universities, along with helpful information for students wanting to study them. We want to ensure that languages of all kinds can be more easily and more widely incorporated into the educational experience of Australian students. This will benefit students, programs and institutions – and the nation, by building up our collective language capacity.

Who funded the creation of ULPA?

The importance of creating the University Languages Portal Australia was recognised by the Australian Government’s Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT). The project commenced in mid-2014 and was awarded funding from the OLT for two years, and received further ongoing support from the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CoEDL). CoEDL carries out research on Australian Indigenous languages and minority languages of the Asia-Pacific region as part of its goal to investigate how languages vary, how they are learned, how they are processed and how they evolve.

Since the completion of the original project, ULPA has been maintained by the Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU). LCNAU is a network of individuals, programs and institutions which exists to strengthen the tertiary languages sector through advocacy, collaboration, research and support.

In 2019, ULPA was able to undergo significant expansion - to now include post-Year 12 subjects as well as beginner level subjects in its database - thanks to generous financial support from within the sector.

Who is running ULPA?

Following the completion of the original project, the Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) has taken on responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of ULPA. The LCNAU team updates the database and site content on a regular basis to ensure the information presented is as current, accurate and user-friendly as possible.

The original project to establish ULPA was undertaken by the Australian National University, Macquarie University and the University of Melbourne. The original Project Team comprised:

All members of the original Project Team maintain an active interest in and enthusiasm for ULPA.

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