Languages of Barrier Islands, Sumatra: Description, History and Typology. This project aims to investigate endangered languages of the Asia-Pacific via four undocumented languages in the Barrier Islands, Indonesia. New knowledge will be generated into the languages, cultures and societies of the region on an unprecedented scale, and be made freely available to the public. New data will uncover past migration patterns in Southeast Asia, advance language theory (such as linguistic typology and lan ....Languages of Barrier Islands, Sumatra: Description, History and Typology. This project aims to investigate endangered languages of the Asia-Pacific via four undocumented languages in the Barrier Islands, Indonesia. New knowledge will be generated into the languages, cultures and societies of the region on an unprecedented scale, and be made freely available to the public. New data will uncover past migration patterns in Southeast Asia, advance language theory (such as linguistic typology and language change), and support the computational modelling of Austronesian for future language technologies. Connections with Indonesian institutions will strengthen Australia’s regional engagement, and support language revitalisation and maintenance among minority communities for the preservation of their culture and history.Read moreRead less
Dialect variation in Javanese: an integrated historical-linguistic and typological analysis. Australia has the highest concentration outside Indonesia of researchers engaged in the study of Java and this project will strengthen Australia's position as the premier Anglophone centre of Javanese Studies world wide. This project will also enhance Australia's position as a leader of academic research in Australasia by highlighting Australia's positive contribution to the study of Indonesia's cultural ....Dialect variation in Javanese: an integrated historical-linguistic and typological analysis. Australia has the highest concentration outside Indonesia of researchers engaged in the study of Java and this project will strengthen Australia's position as the premier Anglophone centre of Javanese Studies world wide. This project will also enhance Australia's position as a leader of academic research in Australasia by highlighting Australia's positive contribution to the study of Indonesia's cultural history. International links will be strengthened through cooperation between scholars in Australia and Indonesia. Research results will feed into the teaching programs in Indonesian Studies at the University of Melbourne and will strengthen Indonesian Studies across Australia.Read moreRead less
The South East Barito languages of Indonesia and Madagascar: safeguarding their past and future. This project strengthens Australia's position as the pre-eminent Anglophone centre of Indonesian Studies worldwide and enhances its position as a research leader in Indian Ocean studies. It will build links between scholars in Australia, Indonesia, Europe and Madagascar, and its results will feed into Indonesian studies teaching programs.
The languages of Minahasa: description, documentation, and support. This project works to document and preserve several endangered languages of Minahasa, one of the few Christian areas of Indonesia. Most of the languages of this area, as well as their distinctive ethnic cultures, are under pressure from mainstream Indonesian language and culture and will vanish within a generation if nothing is done.
Tangsa Wihu song: insight into culture through language, music and ritual. This project seeks to study the complex and under-researched linguistic diversity of the newly opening India–Myanmar borders. The Tangsa Wihu song-cycle is a ritual and poetic tradition common to people in a very linguistically diverse community situated in the India–Myanmar border region. This project plans to study this song-cycle, which was traditionally performed over many hours and days, examining the linguistic, his ....Tangsa Wihu song: insight into culture through language, music and ritual. This project seeks to study the complex and under-researched linguistic diversity of the newly opening India–Myanmar borders. The Tangsa Wihu song-cycle is a ritual and poetic tradition common to people in a very linguistically diverse community situated in the India–Myanmar border region. This project plans to study this song-cycle, which was traditionally performed over many hours and days, examining the linguistic, historical and musicological features of the song in its various contexts. The rich and complex linguistic diversity of Tangsa is shining a light on traditional patterns of human linguistic and social development, and this detailed study is expected to enhance our knowledge of the linguistic and cultural diversity of India and Myanmar.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
A panel study of Kobe women’s interview discourse. This project aims to investigate women’s life transitions and language use over 30 years. Analysis of changes to the languages, societies and cultures of Asia is essential to Australia’s Asia literacy. This project will analyse shifts and changes in women’s language, discourse and identities by examining ethnographic data of a longitudinal research project into working-class women’s life trajectories in Kobe, Japan. The project will research lan ....A panel study of Kobe women’s interview discourse. This project aims to investigate women’s life transitions and language use over 30 years. Analysis of changes to the languages, societies and cultures of Asia is essential to Australia’s Asia literacy. This project will analyse shifts and changes in women’s language, discourse and identities by examining ethnographic data of a longitudinal research project into working-class women’s life trajectories in Kobe, Japan. The project will research language, gender, class and mobility in Japan in the transition from young adulthood to middle adulthood. Understanding how life transitions and identities shape ways of speaking Japanese is expected to contribute to sociocultural understandings, and influence social and public policies about Japan.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101609
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$392,315.00
Summary
Telling the whole story in one sentence. This project aims to produce a framework for analysis of the ultra-long sentences that occur in hundreds of languages and to investigate the processing of these sentences by adults and children. Anticipated outcomes are enhanced models of language structure, mental processing of language, and brain functions. Understanding of drastically-different sentence types in the world’s languages will further benefit foreign language learners, machine translators, ....Telling the whole story in one sentence. This project aims to produce a framework for analysis of the ultra-long sentences that occur in hundreds of languages and to investigate the processing of these sentences by adults and children. Anticipated outcomes are enhanced models of language structure, mental processing of language, and brain functions. Understanding of drastically-different sentence types in the world’s languages will further benefit foreign language learners, machine translators, and immigrants learning English.Read moreRead less
Bilingualism in the bush: reconceptualising 'speech community' in immigrant family language maintenance in regional Australia. This project will investigate how immigrant families in regional Australian centres maintain their children's home language(s) in the absence of the critical mass of speakers, networks and resources found in metropolitan areas. It will establish how such families can best be supported through community and educational services to ensure that children grow up bilingual, w ....Bilingualism in the bush: reconceptualising 'speech community' in immigrant family language maintenance in regional Australia. This project will investigate how immigrant families in regional Australian centres maintain their children's home language(s) in the absence of the critical mass of speakers, networks and resources found in metropolitan areas. It will establish how such families can best be supported through community and educational services to ensure that children grow up bilingual, with the attendant benefits of improved cognitive, social and academic skills. The project will examine home practices and the interface between home and early childhood services. Outcomes will include a better understanding of successful family language planning practices in isolated regions and a reconceptualisation of 'speech community' through communications technologies.Read moreRead less