1st & 2nd of April, 2009. Melbourne, Victoria
This year the forum aims to showcase technology which all has the potential to assist Indigenous Language programs. Technological tools will be explained through demonstrations, presentations and hands-on workshops.
The program should have something for everyone ranging from the use of basic equipment such as audio and video recorders, to computer based programs that support the teaching of languages and the production of resources.
The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO says more than 100 languages in Australia are in danger of extinction.
The latest edition of UNESCO’s atlas of world languages in danger was launched in Paris yesterday and shows almost half the 6,700 languages spoken worldwide could disappear.
Sarah Cutfield from the Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies says the map is a great resource for those working to preserve traditional languages.
Unesco Endangered languages Worldmap (9M PDF)
A keen group of Queensland language workers traveled to Newcastle in late January for training in how to use the Miromaa language program. Representing over 20 different Queensland languages, the team made the trip to Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Centre in Newcastle to undertake training with the creators of Miromaa.
The Wôpanâak language (Wampanoag) was once spoken throughout eastern Massachusetts, but had no remaining speakers by the mid 18th century.
The awakening of Wôpanâak after seven generations without speakers is a uniquely inspiring story of cultural survival and tribal unity. Tribal citizens founded the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project in 1997, and its participants and students are the first Native American community to successfully reclaim a language with no living speakers.
A community meeting held at Toowoomba created a surge of new interest for involvement in language projects. The Toowoomba Languages Expo and Planning workshop was coordinated by the Yugambeh Museum, Language Heritage and Research Centre at Beenleigh and attracted over 45 participants over the 1st and 2nd of December. (more…)
The Age: by Russell Skelton and Jewel Topsfield
AUSTRALIA’S human rights watchdog has accused the Northern Territory ALP government of threatening the existence of the world’s “longest surviving continuous culture” by severely restricting the teaching of Aboriginal languages.
Tom Calma, the nation’s race discrimination commissioner, said yesterday that the decision to mandate four hours of English in a five-hour school day would destroy bilingual teaching programs and prevent written culture being passed on to future generations.
The Minister for Education, the Hon Julia Gillard, today released the Indigenous Language Programs in Australian Schools — A Way Forward report.
The report was prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), funded by the Australian Government’s School Languages Program.
The report provides a snapshot of the current situation of Indigenous language education in schools across Australia.
Over 16 000 Indigenous students and 13 000 non-Indigenous students located in 260 Australian schools are involved in an Indigenous language program. (more…)
An article for Queensland Teachers Union Professional Magazine, November 2008. By Denise Angelo & Baressa Frazer, Far North Queensland – Indigenous Schooling Support Unit.
Language
Teaching is all about communication and that is precisely what languages are for: Languages encode meanings, transmit cultures, express identities, recognise rights, confer justice and word history.
In Queensland schools, only one language variety is “sanctioned” for classrooms and this is Standard Australian English [SAE]. This variety is used for teacher education courses, for school enrolment forms, for year 3, 5, 7 tests. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families do not use SAE at home. So many Indigenous students come to school thinking and speaking with other language varieties. Language difference becomes a language gap when teachers are not appropriately equipped to meet these students’ language learning needs.
(more…)
Question: Where can you get an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flag for your school?
Answer: From your Federal Member or Local Council.
Local Federal Member provides flags (Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) to schools in their electorate
Local councils give out Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to schools in Queensland.
Thank you Desmond Crump and Camille Neilson for letting us know!
Putting the hope into Hopevale
Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor, The Australian | November 15, 2008
THREE little boys, aged about eight or nine, are sitting in front of a computer. One is manipulating the mouse, one operating the keyboard and one is half-reading a picture book while he also looks at the computer. What are they looking at?