Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100544
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$862,952.00
Summary
Unlocking the archive: reuniting Indigenous languages and their communities. Australia is experiencing a crisis in the loss of Indigenous languages. Drawing on both international best practice and local knowledge, this project aims to develop innovative and enduring resources for community-driven language maintenance and revitalisation. By collaborating with and building the capacity of Indigenous language workers and organisations, the following transformative outcomes are anticipated: (1) tool ....Unlocking the archive: reuniting Indigenous languages and their communities. Australia is experiencing a crisis in the loss of Indigenous languages. Drawing on both international best practice and local knowledge, this project aims to develop innovative and enduring resources for community-driven language maintenance and revitalisation. By collaborating with and building the capacity of Indigenous language workers and organisations, the following transformative outcomes are anticipated: (1) tools to unlock linguistic terminology and methods; (2) resources for language revitalisation; (3) an evaluation of existing strategies for language revitalisation; (4) new understanding of Indigenous people's perceptions of language change and how this informs their language goals.Read moreRead less
Teaching and testing second language pragmatic skills. This project aims to develop understanding of what it means to be communicatively proficient in English as a second language. Drawing on research in second language acquisition, pragmatics and language testing, the project will develop a set of language tests to assess learners’ ability to use English appropriately in everyday situations. The tests will then be used to evaluate the effectiveness of language instruction in developing this abi ....Teaching and testing second language pragmatic skills. This project aims to develop understanding of what it means to be communicatively proficient in English as a second language. Drawing on research in second language acquisition, pragmatics and language testing, the project will develop a set of language tests to assess learners’ ability to use English appropriately in everyday situations. The tests will then be used to evaluate the effectiveness of language instruction in developing this ability. Outcomes will include a set of novel language tests and valuable information about effective language instruction. The project will inform the extent to which migrants possess the pragmatic skills needed to live and work in Australia and how they can be helped to acquire these skills.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100719
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$449,308.00
Summary
Interpreting services for Australian Aboriginal languages . This project aims to investigate interpreting practice with First Nations Peoples. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of healthcare interpreting using an ethnographic and micro-analytical approach to actual in situ interpreter mediated interactions. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity to improve interpreter service delivery for First Nations Peoples via the development of resources for best-practice commu ....Interpreting services for Australian Aboriginal languages . This project aims to investigate interpreting practice with First Nations Peoples. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of healthcare interpreting using an ethnographic and micro-analytical approach to actual in situ interpreter mediated interactions. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity to improve interpreter service delivery for First Nations Peoples via the development of resources for best-practice communication in plain language and Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in Western Australia. This should provide significant benefits such as improving First Nations Peoples’ wellbeing and interpreter and practitioner health literacy, as well as enabling governing bodies to finetune multilingual policies.Read moreRead less
Saibai Island language and cultural knowledge project. This project aims to record the Saibai Island Kalaw Kawaw Ya dialect, using the Australian Descriptive Framework. The diaspora of Saibai Islanders, the impact of climate change, and the ageing and passing away of knowledge custodians make it crucial to capture the language and cultural knowledge. Under the direction of elders and cultural knowledge custodians, this project will record and document the dialect, particularly ‘Big’ Sabai langua ....Saibai Island language and cultural knowledge project. This project aims to record the Saibai Island Kalaw Kawaw Ya dialect, using the Australian Descriptive Framework. The diaspora of Saibai Islanders, the impact of climate change, and the ageing and passing away of knowledge custodians make it crucial to capture the language and cultural knowledge. Under the direction of elders and cultural knowledge custodians, this project will record and document the dialect, particularly ‘Big’ Sabai language. It will use recording technology and digital analysis to document cultural knowledge and language for current and future generations of Saibailagal (Saibai people). A culturally appropriate endangered language community methodology that preserves language and cultural knowledge will benefit Indigenous communities and researchers.Read moreRead less
Landscape, language and culture in Indigenous Australia. This project aims to determine how culture and social diversity interact with landscape in representing physical space in the minds and grammars of speakers of Australian Indigenous languages. The project will conduct the first Australia-wide survey of Indigenous spatial description correlated with landscape, and the first large-scale investigation of diversity in spatial behaviour among individuals within communities. The findings are exp ....Landscape, language and culture in Indigenous Australia. This project aims to determine how culture and social diversity interact with landscape in representing physical space in the minds and grammars of speakers of Australian Indigenous languages. The project will conduct the first Australia-wide survey of Indigenous spatial description correlated with landscape, and the first large-scale investigation of diversity in spatial behaviour among individuals within communities. The findings are expected to inform crucial debates on the formative role of landscape in language, and advance our knowledge of human spatial cognition. It will collect completely new experimental and natural data in six endangered languages, with significant benefits for the maintenance of Indigenous languages and cultures.Read moreRead less
Where Gesture Meets Grammar: Crosslinguistic Multimodal Communication. This project aims to investigate both differences and universal tendencies in the interplay of speech and gesture across four languages of importance for Australia. The crucial role of gestures is often overlooked in the analysis of communication. In this project, specialists from linguistics, gesture and cultural studies, psychology and cognitive science collaborate using an innovative approach to generate new knowledge abou ....Where Gesture Meets Grammar: Crosslinguistic Multimodal Communication. This project aims to investigate both differences and universal tendencies in the interplay of speech and gesture across four languages of importance for Australia. The crucial role of gestures is often overlooked in the analysis of communication. In this project, specialists from linguistics, gesture and cultural studies, psychology and cognitive science collaborate using an innovative approach to generate new knowledge about how speech and gesture interact to communicate meaning. The project can provide significant benefits for our understanding of language and cognition, cross-cultural communication in multilingual Australia, and the documentation of endangered languages.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200350
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$282,726.00
Summary
Metaphors and identities in the Australian vernacular. This project investigates the uniqueness of Australian vernacular English from the late 1800s until today. This is an area of vocabulary which most people find fascinating, and yet its formal study has been largely ignored. The project expects to develop a new understanding of Australia’s novel, often entertaining, use of words. Expected project outcomes include a better appreciation of Australian culture and identity, and by employing a new ....Metaphors and identities in the Australian vernacular. This project investigates the uniqueness of Australian vernacular English from the late 1800s until today. This is an area of vocabulary which most people find fascinating, and yet its formal study has been largely ignored. The project expects to develop a new understanding of Australia’s novel, often entertaining, use of words. Expected project outcomes include a better appreciation of Australian culture and identity, and by employing a new interdisciplinary approach. Benefits of the project include the development of podcasts, educational materials, and publications aimed at building an increased awareness of Australian English and its reflection of Australian culture and values. Read moreRead less
Deafblind communication: Building professional competencies . This project aims to improve the quality of interpreting/support services provided to deafblind Australians by analysing the communication strategies used by deafblind sign language users. Many deafblind people use a modified form of Auslan (Australian Sign Language) to communicate, yet little is known about how interpreters or support workers should adapt their signing when working with deafblind clients to ensure effective communica ....Deafblind communication: Building professional competencies . This project aims to improve the quality of interpreting/support services provided to deafblind Australians by analysing the communication strategies used by deafblind sign language users. Many deafblind people use a modified form of Auslan (Australian Sign Language) to communicate, yet little is known about how interpreters or support workers should adapt their signing when working with deafblind clients to ensure effective communication. This project would develop evidence-based training and resources for these professionals. This should provide significant benefits such as improved communication between deafblind clients and professionals, and enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of support service provision for deafblind people.Read moreRead less
When do gestures become linguistic? Understanding the gesture-language interface through a corpusbased study of pointing signs in signed languages. This project will use corpus-based and experimental studies to compare pointing signs in three sign languages with pointing gestures used by hearing non-signers in order to answer the question: What relationship do gestures have to language? It will help us understand how pointing works as part of a sign language system, and how it is used as co-spee ....When do gestures become linguistic? Understanding the gesture-language interface through a corpusbased study of pointing signs in signed languages. This project will use corpus-based and experimental studies to compare pointing signs in three sign languages with pointing gestures used by hearing non-signers in order to answer the question: What relationship do gestures have to language? It will help us understand how pointing works as part of a sign language system, and how it is used as co-speech gesture. Both spoken languages and sign languages make use of pointing, and thus it represents a unique case study for the investigation of the relationship between gesture and language. This project will provide a distinctive contribution to our knowledge about the relationship between language and other aspects of human communication. Read moreRead less
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