Conference Program at a Glance

Celebrating First Nations Languages and Language Learning in Australian Schools: Stories Across Generations of Language Activism, Advocacy and Allyship

Co-chairs: Carly Steele, Robyn Ober, Rhonda Oliver

Discussant: Rhonda Oliver

Time: 1 hour

Overview

At a critical time for Indigenous languages across the globe, the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) draws attention to the endangerment of these languages and advocates for the role of education to preserve and revitalise Indigenous languages. At the same time, many new language varieties spoken by Indigenous peoples often remain unrecognised in education systems, and their English language learning needs are left unaddressed. The presentations in this colloquium yarn about the advocacy, activism, and allyship for First Nations languages and language learners undertaken by educators, education systems, and researchers in Australia. With a practical focus, the authors illustrate innovative and contemporary approaches to language learning for First Nations students.

Presentation 1: Teaching First Nations Languages in Queensland Schools, Samantha Disbray & Des Crump

Teaching First Nations languages is on the rise in Australian schools, fostering community involvement, student well-being and language revitalisation, and raising public awareness. This is an important step towards acknowledging and addressing the destructive impacts of invasion on traditional languages and their speakers. This presentation describes the broad range of language situations and contexts in Queensland. Recent top-down language policy moves in Queensland and nationally are creating space for a growing number of practitioners and communities to teach Language in Queensland schools. It explores some of these moves and foregrounds the voices of languages teachers who are leading two programs, to understand elements key to thriving and sustainable programs and languages.

Presentation 2: Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for Learning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages, Jacquie Hunter & Helen McCarthy

In this presentation, we introduce Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a theoretical and pedagogical approach to language learning and teaching. We then describe how this approach may be effective for learning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Using a case study and illustrative examples from a remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia, we describe how CLIL can facilitate students’ learning of the Bardi language, Bardi Jawi culture, and science through a two-way approach to learning. We also describe how the language, skills, and understanding learned in this CLIL context have not only been taken up by the students but also transferred for use in other areas of the curriculum.

Presentation 3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Language Learning for Literacy Development, Grace Lewis & Debra Hannagan

In this presentation, we describe ways to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are speakers of traditional or contact languages and are learning Standard Australian English (SAE) as an additional language or dialect. We focus on acquiring literacy in SAE in particular because of societal power structures and the currency of SAE in Australia for these students. We describe how these power structures, when replicated in SAE instruction, may impact students’ agency, and consequently, their learning outcomes. We argue that translanguaging pedagogy may facilitate a more equitable, affirmative, and effective approach, while at the same time fostering positive identity formation. Lastly we outline applications for reading and writing instruction.