Key indicators of development in adolescent writing. The project aims to identify significant indicators of development in the writing of adolescents at various stages of secondary education. There are a number of students who struggle with the demands of secondary schooling because they have not developed control over the more abstract, technical, and metaphorical language required in written assignments and examinations. This study will map the development of those linguistic resources critica ....Key indicators of development in adolescent writing. The project aims to identify significant indicators of development in the writing of adolescents at various stages of secondary education. There are a number of students who struggle with the demands of secondary schooling because they have not developed control over the more abstract, technical, and metaphorical language required in written assignments and examinations. This study will map the development of those linguistic resources critical to success in secondary learning, drawing on and extending Halliday's functional theory of language. An understanding of typical patterns of development will enable teachers to productively intervene in those cases where students' academic progress is impeded.
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Phonological development in child speakers of mixed language. In Northern Territory Aboriginal communities where traditional languages are mostly spoken fluently by older people, the home language for many children is a kind of mixed language combining elements of traditional languages, Kriol and English. This project will document for the first time the sound system of this language, and investigate how children's background knowledge of this sound system prepares them to learn words in English ....Phonological development in child speakers of mixed language. In Northern Territory Aboriginal communities where traditional languages are mostly spoken fluently by older people, the home language for many children is a kind of mixed language combining elements of traditional languages, Kriol and English. This project will document for the first time the sound system of this language, and investigate how children's background knowledge of this sound system prepares them to learn words in English and traditional languages. This information is important because it can help parents, teachers and speech pathologists assess and teach Aboriginal children from mixed language backgrounds.Read moreRead less
Address in Some Western European Languages: A Study of Language and Social Change. This project investigates how recent sociopolitical events and developments have impacted on the ways in which people address each other in French, German, and Swedish. Comparisons will be made with Italian and Dutch and between nations using the same language. There is to date no comparative study of this kind. The project is innovative in its use of qualitative and quantitative methodology and will lead to a new ....Address in Some Western European Languages: A Study of Language and Social Change. This project investigates how recent sociopolitical events and developments have impacted on the ways in which people address each other in French, German, and Swedish. Comparisons will be made with Italian and Dutch and between nations using the same language. There is to date no comparative study of this kind. The project is innovative in its use of qualitative and quantitative methodology and will lead to a new conceptual framework for the study of address. It will provide insights for inter-cultural communication and second language acquisition as well as the relation between language, cultural values, and sociopolitical change.Read moreRead less
The linguistic use of space in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): semantic roles and grammatical relations in three dimensions. Research into the structure of Auslan provides information for the production of assessment and teaching tools for practitioners to use in adult education settings (for second language learners of Auslan and Auslan interpreters) and in special education for signing deaf children. It will also serve as a basis for further research into the acquisition of grammatical use ....The linguistic use of space in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): semantic roles and grammatical relations in three dimensions. Research into the structure of Auslan provides information for the production of assessment and teaching tools for practitioners to use in adult education settings (for second language learners of Auslan and Auslan interpreters) and in special education for signing deaf children. It will also serve as a basis for further research into the acquisition of grammatical use of space by native signing deaf children. These outcomes will further benefit the deaf community, improving deaf people's access to education, health, government services and the employment sector.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal-English speaking students' (mis)understanding of school literacy materials in Australian English. Aboriginal students have a right to quality education that gives them skills for full participation in Australian society. However, in the past the education system in Australia has largely failed to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal students and has to a large extent failed to equip teachers of Aboriginal children with the relevant professional development that they need. This ....Aboriginal-English speaking students' (mis)understanding of school literacy materials in Australian English. Aboriginal students have a right to quality education that gives them skills for full participation in Australian society. However, in the past the education system in Australia has largely failed to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal students and has to a large extent failed to equip teachers of Aboriginal children with the relevant professional development that they need. This project will directly focus on this issue of highest national priority and will make an attempt to explore Aboriginal-English speaking students' understanding of school materials. The results will be used in Aboriginal teacher education.Read moreRead less
The role of feedback in second language learning processes. Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time providing feedback to second language learners on their written work. This research investigation has two stages. Stage one aims to examine the effectiveness of different kinds of feedback, the extent to which learners take notice of the feedback, and the extent to which learners are able to incorporate the feedback into their developing second language systems both in the short term, and th ....The role of feedback in second language learning processes. Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time providing feedback to second language learners on their written work. This research investigation has two stages. Stage one aims to examine the effectiveness of different kinds of feedback, the extent to which learners take notice of the feedback, and the extent to which learners are able to incorporate the feedback into their developing second language systems both in the short term, and the longer term. In the second stage we investigate the success with which the findings from the first stage can be transferred into the classroom context.Read moreRead less
The Cultural Model of Ageing in Australian English. Prolonged old age is one of the most significant medical and societal breakthroughs of our time. As countries like Australia prepare themselves for this ‘longevity revolution’, the current research delivers the much-needed linguistic support for this important interdisciplinary area. By exploring the expressions that contemporary Australians use to talk, directly or indirectly, about growing old, the project will reveal how our society now conc ....The Cultural Model of Ageing in Australian English. Prolonged old age is one of the most significant medical and societal breakthroughs of our time. As countries like Australia prepare themselves for this ‘longevity revolution’, the current research delivers the much-needed linguistic support for this important interdisciplinary area. By exploring the expressions that contemporary Australians use to talk, directly or indirectly, about growing old, the project will reveal how our society now conceptualises a topic so often considered taboo. In addition to scholarly outcomes, this work has a very practical application in the form of information booklets and professional development courses aimed to improve the quality of aged-care services and ultimately the course and outcome of ageing.Read moreRead less
De-tabooing depression and anxiety: Mental health communication in old age. This project aims to uncover how older Australians talk about and understand depression and anxiety, and it seeks to raise awareness of these debilitating conditions via new media. There has been much medical research in this area, and while language has been identified as highly relevant for recovery, little is known of how people express their experiences around mental well-being. The research gap is even wider for the ....De-tabooing depression and anxiety: Mental health communication in old age. This project aims to uncover how older Australians talk about and understand depression and anxiety, and it seeks to raise awareness of these debilitating conditions via new media. There has been much medical research in this area, and while language has been identified as highly relevant for recovery, little is known of how people express their experiences around mental well-being. The research gap is even wider for the worst affected in the population — older adults. These illnesses are shrouded in taboo, and symptoms often go undetected. The expected outcomes of the project are improved communication about mental well-being and the celebration of the lives and stories of older Australians — an integral but vulnerable segment of society.Read moreRead less
An instrumental investigation of consonant sequences in a northern Australian language. Australian indigenous languages are of great interest, due in part to their unique phonetic structure relative to many other languages of the world. Most advances in speech science and phonetic theory are based on studies of English, or other European languages, yet an important goal of phonetic science is to account for speaking and listening processes that are deemed to be universal. Our proposal seeks ....An instrumental investigation of consonant sequences in a northern Australian language. Australian indigenous languages are of great interest, due in part to their unique phonetic structure relative to many other languages of the world. Most advances in speech science and phonetic theory are based on studies of English, or other European languages, yet an important goal of phonetic science is to account for speaking and listening processes that are deemed to be universal. Our proposal seeks to address key aspects of current phonetic theory and models of speech sound production, by providing data from an indigenous Australian language.Read moreRead less
Unveiling the mystery of tone perception: How does native language prosody affect adults' perception of foreign tones? This project provides new knowledge about how humans perceive non-native lexical tone categories. The results of this large-scale cross-language study will indicate how native languages constrain human perception of non-native speech (consonants, vowels, intonation). These data will greatly facilitate the research in second language acquisition and teaching, speech perception mo ....Unveiling the mystery of tone perception: How does native language prosody affect adults' perception of foreign tones? This project provides new knowledge about how humans perceive non-native lexical tone categories. The results of this large-scale cross-language study will indicate how native languages constrain human perception of non-native speech (consonants, vowels, intonation). These data will greatly facilitate the research in second language acquisition and teaching, speech perception modeling including automatic speech recognition with tone languages, human speech processing. The findings will also be useful to clinical speech and hearing research for speech and hearing impaired persons, and commercial applications in foreign language teaching, and computer assisted language learning for language learners.Read moreRead less