Australia has the highest rate of language extinction on the planet: that’s according to UNESCO who says language diversity is—like species diversity—rapidly declining. And once a language is gone, can it really be brought back to life?
Holding our tongues is an ABC Hindsight project about the long and painful task of reviving Aboriginal languages.
There are many different places on the net where people can find out about language revival and maintenance. The Holding our tongues site will be an ongoing project, aiming to bring as many of these resources as possible together in one place.
Check out the website to find out more.
Listen to the radio documentary.
Queensland Stories is the State Library of Queensland’s project to collect and display Queensland digital stories; stories about your community, your house, a special person, your favourite place, or things you love to do.
Queensland Stories is the State Library of Queensland’s project to collect and display Queensland digital stories; stories about your community, your house, a special person, your favourite place, or things you love to do.
Queensland digital stories are 3-4 minute mini movies where you are the storyteller and movie maker.
Queensland Stories is a growing resource providing a collection of digital stories which record and document the diversity of our lives as Queenslanders.
Is there a story about your Language project that you would like to tell? If so have a look at the SLQ website to find out how to be involved.
It would be great to have lots of stories from Language workers around Queensland, and we all like a good yarn so lets get talking!
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…)