From little things, big things grow: how children learn a morphologically complex Australian indigenous language. This project investigates the acquisition of Murrinh-Patha, one of a small number of Australian indigenous languages still being learned by children. The results of this research will inform our understanding of the ways in which children learn grammatically complex languages, and facilitate the maintenance of this and other indigenous languages.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100399
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
He's not heavy, he's my brother: the acquisition of kinship terminology in a morphologically complex Australian language. Murrinh-Patha is one of the few Australian indigenous languages still being acquired by children. This project investigates how children acquire the grammar and lexicon of kinship. It will inform our understanding of how children gain social competence and learn complex kin-based grammars. It will help to maintain this and other indigenous languages.
Learning to tell a narrative in Murrinhpatha. This project aims to examine the linguistic, social, and cognitive stages of children’s narrative development in Murrinhpatha, an Indigenous Australian language spoken in Wadeye. Until they encounter the bilingual education system at primary school, the children of Wadeye grow up in a largely monolingual Murrinhpatha environment. The research will examine how children structure narratives in this typologically unusual language. It will provide insigh ....Learning to tell a narrative in Murrinhpatha. This project aims to examine the linguistic, social, and cognitive stages of children’s narrative development in Murrinhpatha, an Indigenous Australian language spoken in Wadeye. Until they encounter the bilingual education system at primary school, the children of Wadeye grow up in a largely monolingual Murrinhpatha environment. The research will examine how children structure narratives in this typologically unusual language. It will provide insights into how information interacts with linguistic complexity, cognitive constraints and social interaction. This project aims to maintain the vitality of Murrinhpatha in the community and contribute to the development of bilingual education programmes.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: De220100356
Funder
Australian Research Council
Summary
Mother Tongue: Language revitalisation through immersive practice. This project aims to expand and enhance Gunditjmara language ecology. It will examine Gunditjmara language acquisition and learning through practical methodologies in everyday settings and across the spectrum of cultural revitalisation praxis. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about the value and efficacy of traditional Aboriginal pedagogical and methodological approaches in language acquisition and intergenerational knowle ....Mother Tongue: Language revitalisation through immersive practice. This project aims to expand and enhance Gunditjmara language ecology. It will examine Gunditjmara language acquisition and learning through practical methodologies in everyday settings and across the spectrum of cultural revitalisation praxis. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about the value and efficacy of traditional Aboriginal pedagogical and methodological approaches in language acquisition and intergenerational knowledge transmission. A cultural model of immersion practice, toolkit and digital resources will support cultural continuity, survival and thriving of First Languages into the future. Benefits include increased Aboriginal language use and improved transmission to safeguard and revitalise enduring Aboriginal traditions.
Read moreRead less
Meeting point: integrating Aboriginal and linguistics knowledge systems for description of contemporary revival languages in Australia. Past policies of assimilation have been extremely detrimental to the Aboriginal languages of many parts of Australia. As part of the process of healing from this past, many Aboriginal communities are moving to revive their languages. This research will support communities by developing an accessible and theoretically robust model of language revival which emerge ....Meeting point: integrating Aboriginal and linguistics knowledge systems for description of contemporary revival languages in Australia. Past policies of assimilation have been extremely detrimental to the Aboriginal languages of many parts of Australia. As part of the process of healing from this past, many Aboriginal communities are moving to revive their languages. This research will support communities by developing an accessible and theoretically robust model of language revival which emerges from their own as well as academic approaches to the subject. Practical outcomes will include clearer, more extensive and rigorous information available to Aboriginal communities and the linguists who work with them, and recommendations for optimal pathways for language revival which respond to the priorities and directions of the communities concerned.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100232
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,190.00
Summary
What makes a multilingual community? The life of languages at Warruwi community. Through the study of an Australian Aboriginal community where many Indigenous languages flourish alongside English, this project aims to identify strategies that can keep endangered languages thriving. Warruwi Community, in north-west Arnhem Land, supports four of the 18 Australian Indigenous languages that are still being learned by children. Until recently, there were 250 Australian Indigenous languages spoken and ....What makes a multilingual community? The life of languages at Warruwi community. Through the study of an Australian Aboriginal community where many Indigenous languages flourish alongside English, this project aims to identify strategies that can keep endangered languages thriving. Warruwi Community, in north-west Arnhem Land, supports four of the 18 Australian Indigenous languages that are still being learned by children. Until recently, there were 250 Australian Indigenous languages spoken and most Indigenous communities were highly multilingual. This detailed study of language practices at Warruwi Community will shed light on the practices that support traditional multilingualism. The results of this project will contribute key data to international debates about how linguistic diversity can be maintained worldwide.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100356
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,628.00
Summary
Mother Tongue: Language revitalisation through immersive practice. This project aims to expand and enhance Gunditjmara language ecology. It will examine Gunditjmara language acquisition and learning through practical methodologies in everyday settings and across the spectrum of cultural revitalisation praxis. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about the value and efficacy of traditional Aboriginal pedagogical and methodological approaches in language acquisition and intergenerational knowle ....Mother Tongue: Language revitalisation through immersive practice. This project aims to expand and enhance Gunditjmara language ecology. It will examine Gunditjmara language acquisition and learning through practical methodologies in everyday settings and across the spectrum of cultural revitalisation praxis. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about the value and efficacy of traditional Aboriginal pedagogical and methodological approaches in language acquisition and intergenerational knowledge transmission. A cultural model of immersion practice, toolkit and digital resources will support cultural continuity, survival and thriving of First Languages into the future. Benefits include increased Aboriginal language use and improved transmission to safeguard and revitalise enduring Aboriginal traditions.
Read moreRead less
Hearing the future: supporting Indigenous linguistic diversity. This project aims to find new ways to support the extraordinary diversity of Indigenous languages spoken in Australia. In Arnhem Land the ability to understand but not speak a language is widespread and plays a crucial role supporting linguistic diversity. This ability, receptive multilingualism, will be examined using an innovative interdisciplinary methodology, generating new understandings about the relationship between multiling ....Hearing the future: supporting Indigenous linguistic diversity. This project aims to find new ways to support the extraordinary diversity of Indigenous languages spoken in Australia. In Arnhem Land the ability to understand but not speak a language is widespread and plays a crucial role supporting linguistic diversity. This ability, receptive multilingualism, will be examined using an innovative interdisciplinary methodology, generating new understandings about the relationship between multilingualism and linguistic diversity that are crucial to tackling the global decline in Indigenous languages. The findings will help communities, educators and policymakers develop new strategies to support Australia’s Indigenous languages which are vital to Indigenous health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100873
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,897.00
Summary
Visible talk: Using Australian Indigenous sign languages. This project aims to investigate how traditional sign languages are used in Indigenous communities. Traditional sign languages are part of everyday life in Indigenous communities in central and northern Australia. The project aims to investigate how speech and sign are coordinated, the ways that new signs are added to traditional repertoires, and the ways that other forms of communication, such as drawing, are used together with sign. It ....Visible talk: Using Australian Indigenous sign languages. This project aims to investigate how traditional sign languages are used in Indigenous communities. Traditional sign languages are part of everyday life in Indigenous communities in central and northern Australia. The project aims to investigate how speech and sign are coordinated, the ways that new signs are added to traditional repertoires, and the ways that other forms of communication, such as drawing, are used together with sign. It is intended that the results of the study will assist Indigenous people in safeguarding their cultural heritage, and support cross-cultural communication in the education, health and legal sectors, and contribute to international debates about how sign languages of the world vary.Read moreRead less
Learning to tell a narrative in Murrinhpatha. This project aims to examine the linguistic, social, and cognitive stages of children’s narrative development in Murrinhpatha, an Indigenous Australian language spoken in Wadeye. Until they encounter the bilingual education system at primary school, the children of Wadeye grow up in a largely monolingual Murrinhpatha environment. The research will examine how children structure narratives in this typologically unusual language. It will provide insigh ....Learning to tell a narrative in Murrinhpatha. This project aims to examine the linguistic, social, and cognitive stages of children’s narrative development in Murrinhpatha, an Indigenous Australian language spoken in Wadeye. Until they encounter the bilingual education system at primary school, the children of Wadeye grow up in a largely monolingual Murrinhpatha environment. The research will examine how children structure narratives in this typologically unusual language. It will provide insights into how information interacts with linguistic complexity, cognitive constraints and social interaction. This project aims to maintain the vitality of Murrinhpatha in the community and contribute to the development of bilingual education programmes.Read moreRead less