The purpose of this paper is to outline the relationships between:

· The Department for Education and Child Development (DECD) South Australian policy framework for Teaching and Learning, the Teaching for Effective Learning (TfEL) Framework

·The Australian Curriculum: Languages

·The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages and the language-specific curricula that have been developed from it (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] January 2011).

In so doing it highlights the intercultural orientation to language learning. This orientation represents an important shift in the teaching and learning of languages. It is captured in resources such as the Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning in Practice (ILTLP) project (Scarino 2007, Research Centre for Languages and Cultures, University of South Australia), Teaching and Learning Languages: A Guide (Scarino & Liddicoat, 2009), as well as a range of sources from research and literature in the field of language learning (in particular, Liddicoat & Scarino 2013 and Scarino 2014). For teachers of languages and leaders in DECD, the Australian Curriculum for specific languages describes the nature and scope of the content of language learning. The Australian Curriculum for specific languages incorporates the ntercultural orientation to language learning. The TfEL Framework provides the policy framework for pedagogy that will support teaching, learning and assessment, using the Australian Curriculum for Languages.