Life after death: Exploring the birth of Gurindji Kriol, a new Aboriginal mixed language. Considerable attention is currently being directed towards the problems faced by Indigenous people living in remote communities. Just how best to help the younger generations emerge from the cycle of poor health and education standards is the topic of many debates in contemporary Australian society and politics. This project addresses the issue of what it is to be a modern Indigenous person and how this ide ....Life after death: Exploring the birth of Gurindji Kriol, a new Aboriginal mixed language. Considerable attention is currently being directed towards the problems faced by Indigenous people living in remote communities. Just how best to help the younger generations emerge from the cycle of poor health and education standards is the topic of many debates in contemporary Australian society and politics. This project addresses the issue of what it is to be a modern Indigenous person and how this identity is expressed linguistically. In understanding more clearly what it means to be a modern Indigenous person, communication channels between mainstream Australia and Indigenous communities can be improved.Read moreRead less
Talking knowledge, doing learning: the early years. An enduring problem in Indigenous schooling is the discrepancy in outcomes compared to mainstream children, but little is known about one crucial factor: the role of Indigenous ways of speaking and their ways of engaging with knowledge and learning. This ground-breaking project aims to compare preparatory school students in two urban settings: a mainstream school and a school with high Indigenous enrolments. The project also seeks to examine le ....Talking knowledge, doing learning: the early years. An enduring problem in Indigenous schooling is the discrepancy in outcomes compared to mainstream children, but little is known about one crucial factor: the role of Indigenous ways of speaking and their ways of engaging with knowledge and learning. This ground-breaking project aims to compare preparatory school students in two urban settings: a mainstream school and a school with high Indigenous enrolments. The project also seeks to examine learning in children's homes to establish how the flow of knowledge is managed in Indigenous and mainstream families. By investigating these four settings, it is expected to provide important evidence for understanding how language and cultural ways of knowing contribute to the discrepancy in schooling outcomes.Read moreRead less
Trilingual language contact in an Indigenous community. The linguistic cradle of many Aboriginal children in remote Australia is a multilingual setting involving considerable mixing between languages. Children bring this linguistic background to the task of learning English. This project is the first investigation of a trilingual Indigenous community, Elliott (Northern Territory), where children grow up hearing Jingulu, Mudburra and Kriol. It aims to examine how people at Elliott manage multiple ....Trilingual language contact in an Indigenous community. The linguistic cradle of many Aboriginal children in remote Australia is a multilingual setting involving considerable mixing between languages. Children bring this linguistic background to the task of learning English. This project is the first investigation of a trilingual Indigenous community, Elliott (Northern Territory), where children grow up hearing Jingulu, Mudburra and Kriol. It aims to examine how people at Elliott manage multiple languages and how these languages have changed through mixing processes such as creolisation and code-switching. Exploring this dynamic language ecology is crucial to tailoring educational programs to suit the needs of Aboriginal children. It is expected to place Australia at the forefront of studies of complex language change.Read moreRead less
Something old, something new: Indigenous languages since colonisation. This project aims to undertake an extensive survey of colonial language change in Australia. English has changed the linguistic landscape of Indigenous Australia profoundly. Of the 300 languages spoken at first contact, only 18 remain strong. In their place is a complex array of restructured varieties, Kriol dialects and fusions of traditional languages with English. The project aims to develop new methodologies for investiga ....Something old, something new: Indigenous languages since colonisation. This project aims to undertake an extensive survey of colonial language change in Australia. English has changed the linguistic landscape of Indigenous Australia profoundly. Of the 300 languages spoken at first contact, only 18 remain strong. In their place is a complex array of restructured varieties, Kriol dialects and fusions of traditional languages with English. The project aims to develop new methodologies for investigating and predicting the mechanisms of change across languages and generations of speakers. The expected outcomes of the project include recognising new ways of speaking and providing Indigenous communities with guiding principles for language revitalisation. This will place Australia at the forefront of studies of language change.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,560.00
Summary
Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Role of Indigenous Children in Language Change. Over the last 225 years, English has left an indelible footprint on the linguistic landscape of Australia. Many Indigenous languages now learnt by children have undergone restructuring under the influence of English. One of these languages is Gurindji. This project is the first diachronic investigation of cross-generational language change in an Indigenous language. It examines the linguistic input Gurindji children ....Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Role of Indigenous Children in Language Change. Over the last 225 years, English has left an indelible footprint on the linguistic landscape of Australia. Many Indigenous languages now learnt by children have undergone restructuring under the influence of English. One of these languages is Gurindji. This project is the first diachronic investigation of cross-generational language change in an Indigenous language. It examines the linguistic input Gurindji children received from their caregivers as infants and charts its influence on their subsequent language use. Exploring these changes is crucial to understanding language shift and to tailoring educational programs to suit the needs of Indigenous children. It will place Australia at the forefront of studies of complex language change.Read moreRead less
Kaytetye and Prosodic Theory. This project addresses a central question about language. How well do we understand the structure of syllables and words? The project aims to examine the Australian language (Kaytetye), the unusual word and syllable structure of which suggests that models of syllable and word structure may require significant revision. The project aims to consider the implications of Kaytetye sound structure for general theories of phonology, and more importantly for ideas about uni ....Kaytetye and Prosodic Theory. This project addresses a central question about language. How well do we understand the structure of syllables and words? The project aims to examine the Australian language (Kaytetye), the unusual word and syllable structure of which suggests that models of syllable and word structure may require significant revision. The project aims to consider the implications of Kaytetye sound structure for general theories of phonology, and more importantly for ideas about universals in language. The project involves extensive documentation of Kaytetye, which is an endangered language. The project is expected to provide a detailed description of Kaytetye sound structures and articles addressing the implications of these findings for phonological theory.Read moreRead less
Clearing the path towards literacy and numeracy: language for learning in Indigenous schooling. The Australian and State Governments are committed to halving the gap between Indigenous and other Australians, notably in education outcomes. This project will provide a platform for a better understanding of how language is used in Indigenous classrooms, and set foundations for improving practices for teaching these students, in particular for literacy and numeracy. The project will investigate how ....Clearing the path towards literacy and numeracy: language for learning in Indigenous schooling. The Australian and State Governments are committed to halving the gap between Indigenous and other Australians, notably in education outcomes. This project will provide a platform for a better understanding of how language is used in Indigenous classrooms, and set foundations for improving practices for teaching these students, in particular for literacy and numeracy. The project will investigate how children's language use differs from Standard Australian English. Where teachers are aware of such differences, and adapt their classroom communication styles, greater engagement from children can be expected. This will ultimately lead to improved retention rates and learning outcomes, giving Indigenous students a better start to life.Read moreRead less
Singing the Dreaming: exploring the relationship between language and music in Arandic song-poetry. Positive interactions between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians are essential for our nation to grow. By assisting Arandic people maintain and promote their song-poetry, this project is a practical step towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Furthermore, performances of Arandic song-poetry play a major role in Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. These ....Singing the Dreaming: exploring the relationship between language and music in Arandic song-poetry. Positive interactions between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians are essential for our nation to grow. By assisting Arandic people maintain and promote their song-poetry, this project is a practical step towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Furthermore, performances of Arandic song-poetry play a major role in Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. These health-giving practices not only benefit Indigenous people, but may also reduce national health expenditure. Wider appreciation of Arandic song-poetry may lead to more performance opportunities, resulting in increased economic independence for Indigenous people, and assist in forging a national musical culture of international significance.Read moreRead less
Australian Aboriginal conversational style. This project aims to re-examine claims that Aboriginal Australians conduct conversations in different ways to Anglo-Australians. It will investigate and compare ordinary conversations in these groups on a large scale. The project expects to provide new evidence to explicate Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal conversational norms, pinpointing differences which may lead to intercultural miscommunication. Expected outcomes include endangered language documenta ....Australian Aboriginal conversational style. This project aims to re-examine claims that Aboriginal Australians conduct conversations in different ways to Anglo-Australians. It will investigate and compare ordinary conversations in these groups on a large scale. The project expects to provide new evidence to explicate Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal conversational norms, pinpointing differences which may lead to intercultural miscommunication. Expected outcomes include endangered language documentation, and evidence-based findings to disseminate to service providers, to communities and to Aboriginal organisations to improve ways of engaging with each other. In addition, the project will benefit Aboriginal communities with new approaches to language revitalisation.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. Language is central to human existence and to the flow of information. The Centre will address the most critical questions about language: How do languages evolve? How different can languages be? How do our brains acquire and process them? How can technologies deal with the complexity and enormous variability of language in its central role in human information processing? What can Australia do to increase its linguistic abilities at a time ....ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. Language is central to human existence and to the flow of information. The Centre will address the most critical questions about language: How do languages evolve? How different can languages be? How do our brains acquire and process them? How can technologies deal with the complexity and enormous variability of language in its central role in human information processing? What can Australia do to increase its linguistic abilities at a time of increasingly multilingual demands in trade and information? The Centre will also secure language heritage, develop new language technologies, connect policy with indigenous and migrant communities, and build strategies to help 1st and 2nd language learning and those isolated by language difficulties.Read moreRead less