In this paper Peter Friedlander will argue that current developments in Hindi teaching on-campus and on-line have to be seen in relation to the history of how Hindi teaching has developed in Australia. He will contrast the demands for Hindi in terms of expectations set out in the Australia in the Asia Century white paper (2012) and the reality of the expectations that students have expressed to him whilst studying on-campus and through distance and online programs. In particular he will suggest that much can be learned by considering the student profile of those online students who were studying Hindi through Open Universities Australia. A major factor complicating Hindi teaching is the mix of absolute beginners and background learners which creates great challenges.
Dr Friedlander will also argue that globally Hindi teaching is still dominated by a pedagogy which is a blend of the grammar paradigm and communicative styles and a new online Hindi program also needs to consider how ideas from the task based learning style can be incorporated into contemporary Hindi teaching. 
Dr Peter G. Friedlander has taught Hindi since 1990. He came to Australia in 1996 when he was appointed by La Trobe University to set up a distance education Hindi program which he then ran, along with on-campus Hindi at La Trobe from 1998 to 2008. He was then appointed at the National University of Singapore where he established a new on-campus Hindi program. Since joining ANU in 2012 he has taught the on-campus Hindi program and is now involved in setting up a new online Hindi program for ANU.

This forum is jointly coordinated by the College of Arts & Social Sciences (the School of Literature, Languages & Linguistics, the Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies) and the College of Asia & the Pacific (the School of Culture, History & Language).
For more information, contact:
Ms France Meyer  (CAIS, CASS)                                                                    
E france.meyer@anu.edu.au