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
Metrolingual language practices in four urban sites: talking in the city. Metrolingualism has recently been coined as a term to describe the use of multilingual resources in urban contexts. Through detailed analysis of language use in four urban sites, this project will develop our understanding of metrolingual language practices as well as our understanding of the ways in which urban spaces are managed linguistically.
Cluster randomised control trial of an early childhood literacy intervention to improve literacy and language outcomes in preschool aged children. Reading failure disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities in Australia, with nearly 40% of poor children failing to read at the minimum reading benchmark in Grade three. Of more concern is the disturbing trend indicating that prior to first grade, socioeconomic status (SES) differences also exist in important antecedents of reading such as ....Cluster randomised control trial of an early childhood literacy intervention to improve literacy and language outcomes in preschool aged children. Reading failure disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities in Australia, with nearly 40% of poor children failing to read at the minimum reading benchmark in Grade three. Of more concern is the disturbing trend indicating that prior to first grade, socioeconomic status (SES) differences also exist in important antecedents of reading such as letter knowledge and phonological processing skills, yet there remains no universal program to promote early language and literacy practices in the primary care setting. We propose a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a multi injection intervention to improve literacy outcomes of children in disadvantaged communities.Read moreRead less
Investigating the relationship between literacy teaching, research and policy. An expected outcome is contribution to the development of a national literacy research agenda that includes priority areas; conceptual frameworks for characterising literacy; research approaches that help illuminate key issues and practices in literacy teaching and policy; and means for dissemination amongst researchers, teachers and policy makers. Another outcome is establishment of an Australia-based journal that pu ....Investigating the relationship between literacy teaching, research and policy. An expected outcome is contribution to the development of a national literacy research agenda that includes priority areas; conceptual frameworks for characterising literacy; research approaches that help illuminate key issues and practices in literacy teaching and policy; and means for dissemination amongst researchers, teachers and policy makers. Another outcome is establishment of an Australia-based journal that publishes substantial literacy studies, which is not currently done in Australia. With a view to internationalisation of the journal, and encouragment of submissions that explore nexus of research, policy and practice, this journal would fulfil a significant function in assisting interaction among the three fields. Read moreRead less
The National English Curriculum: Understanding the development, interpretation and implementation of disciplinary knowledge. The National English Curriculum, the focus of this project, represents a renewed national effort to improve every students' educational achievements to the betterment of their social and economic participation in society. Explicating how knowledge about the subject English is institutionalised and implemented, and the role of social structures amongst those involved in the ....The National English Curriculum: Understanding the development, interpretation and implementation of disciplinary knowledge. The National English Curriculum, the focus of this project, represents a renewed national effort to improve every students' educational achievements to the betterment of their social and economic participation in society. Explicating how knowledge about the subject English is institutionalised and implemented, and the role of social structures amongst those involved in the curriculum in shaping this process, will be key outcomes. Examples of classroom implementation will document the intellectual challenges teachers present to students and give voice to teachers in terms of how policy works for them, the challenges they face, and the support they require.Read moreRead less
A History of the Uses of Imagination and Authority in Australia, 1870-1919. This project is designed as the third and final stage of a process of connected research on the subject of European settlement in Australia. The work will focus especially on themes of oral and literary communication and the resulting sense of place and community. Prevailing attitudes to and uses of authority will be a central theme. The project will also draw together much recent work on the period leading up to the ....A History of the Uses of Imagination and Authority in Australia, 1870-1919. This project is designed as the third and final stage of a process of connected research on the subject of European settlement in Australia. The work will focus especially on themes of oral and literary communication and the resulting sense of place and community. Prevailing attitudes to and uses of authority will be a central theme. The project will also draw together much recent work on the period leading up to the federation of the Australian colonies, federation itself and World War One and in the process will explore continuities with earlier periods of Australian history.Read moreRead less
Verbs and coverbs: a cross-linguistic re-analysis of part-of-speech categories. This project will make a significant contribution to the maintenance of Australia's Aboriginal cultural heritage. Aboriginal people consistently identify the maintenance of traditional languages as one of their primary concerns. The project will result in detailed documentation of three endangered Australian languages. The material produced by the project will be an invaluable resource both to linguists international ....Verbs and coverbs: a cross-linguistic re-analysis of part-of-speech categories. This project will make a significant contribution to the maintenance of Australia's Aboriginal cultural heritage. Aboriginal people consistently identify the maintenance of traditional languages as one of their primary concerns. The project will result in detailed documentation of three endangered Australian languages. The material produced by the project will be an invaluable resource both to linguists internationally and to Aboriginal communities, to whom materials will be returned in accessible formats to support language maintenance activities. The project will maintain Australia's momentum at the forefront of digital archiving technology for language documentation. Read moreRead less
Postoccidental Englishes and Rap. This project examines the conjunction between new Englishes and rap music. Applied linguistic research on world Englishes has focused predominantly on newly emergent standardized national varieties, and thus has tended to overlook the changing oral codes in domains such as popular music. By looking at the global spread of rap in relationship to the global spread of English, this project has great significance for 1.Expanding our knowledge about the implications ....Postoccidental Englishes and Rap. This project examines the conjunction between new Englishes and rap music. Applied linguistic research on world Englishes has focused predominantly on newly emergent standardized national varieties, and thus has tended to overlook the changing oral codes in domains such as popular music. By looking at the global spread of rap in relationship to the global spread of English, this project has great significance for 1.Expanding our knowledge about the implications and processes of this spread; 2. Developing a model of postoccidental Englishes that goes beyond current frameworks; and 3. Creating educational materials that can engage with student interests and desires.Read moreRead less
Mobile Indonesians: social differentiation and digital literacies in the twenty first century. This is the first dedicated study of the social implications of mobile telephony's recent and rapid popularisation throughout the country. This project will study metropolitan, urban and rural users to understand how mobile phones create the new and unexpected social networks which will shape tomorrow's Indonesians.
Words from the sand: A lexical analysis of early Greek papyri from Egypt. The project's central outcomes will be a more systematic knowledge of the development of one of the world's three oldest continually-recorded languages, and insight into the dynamics of lexical usage in different speech communities within a multicultural context. These outcomes will maintain Australia's prominent international role in investigating the history of the Greek language over three millennia, and offer social be ....Words from the sand: A lexical analysis of early Greek papyri from Egypt. The project's central outcomes will be a more systematic knowledge of the development of one of the world's three oldest continually-recorded languages, and insight into the dynamics of lexical usage in different speech communities within a multicultural context. These outcomes will maintain Australia's prominent international role in investigating the history of the Greek language over three millennia, and offer social benefits through study of the interaction of language and social dynamics in Diaspora speech communities and multilingual societies, addressing the National Research Priority Goal of 'Understanding our region and the world' by enhancing Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with its global environment.Read moreRead less