Monthly Archives: July 2012

Co-ordinator position available at Ngukurr Language Centre

Posted on July 31, 2012 by australianlanguages

Ngukurr Language centre in Ngukurr, N.T. is currently looking for a suitable person to become the co-ordinator for the language centre. This is a really exciting opportunity for the successful applicant to be part of excellent endangered language documentation teams … Continue reading →

Posted in Language Work | Leave a comment

Kids books in Paakantyi

Posted on July 24, 2012 by australianlanguages

Following up from my post about language learning at Wilcannia Central School yesterday, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation has just launched two new children’s books written in Paakantyi. Written by Faith Baisden with input from Murray Butcher the books are a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Education, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Resources to support language maintenance and revival.

Posted on July 23, 2012 by australianlanguages

As the sentate inquiry into Indigenous language learning has rolled around the country collecting submissions, a common theme has been the requirement of sufficient and reliable funding. ABC news reports of another such request from Ray Ingrey, the executive officer of … Continue reading →

Posted in Language Endangerment, Language Maintenance, Language Work | Leave a comment

Traditional language used to boost school attendance.

Posted on July 23, 2012 by australianlanguages

I have blogged before about the added benefits of teaching traditional languages to young people, and here is another example. Wilcannia Central School in remote N.S.W has been teaching Paakantyi to its grade 7 and 8 students with positive results … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 1 Comment

Wagiman online dictionary

Posted on July 23, 2012 by australianlanguages

Wagiman is a highly endangered language from the Northern Territory. This website holds a Wagiman dictionary as well as background information including genetic,phonological and morphological information, texts, and a page of links and references. It doesn’t look like it has … Continue reading →

Posted in Dictionaries | 1 Comment

Bilingual education policy ‘relaxed’

Posted on July 23, 2012 by australianlanguages

More news on the NT bilingual education policy here. Minister Chris Burns will not confirm that the policy has been dropped but says “Our focus is still on kids being literate and numerate in English and we’ve moved to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bilingual Education, Education | Leave a comment

NT Drops First Four Hours of English Policy!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by australianlanguages

Wow, what great news! Greg Dickson has written an excellent blog post over at fully sic explaining the background and outcome of the Northern Territory government’s policy, hopefully this means schools in the NT can soon teach bilingually with government … Continue reading →

Posted in Bilingual Education, Education | Leave a comment

Gunai Kurnai at TAFE and Gippsland traditional placenames.

Posted on July 6, 2012 by australianlanguages

Gunai Kurnai is spoken in the Gippsland area of Victoria and is being taught at GippsTAFE and local schools in an effort to maintain and continue the spread of the language. You can learn more about Gunai Kurnai and traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in Dual Place Names, Education, Language courses, Language Revival | Leave a comment

Jeannie Adams talks about Indigenous literacy

Posted on July 6, 2012 by australianlanguages

Jeannie Adams of Black Ink Press discusses some reasons behind low rates of Indigenous childhood literacy in this radio interview broadcast on Radio National. Included in the  sometimes complex reasons she gives are the language books are written in, namely … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Education, Identity, Indigenous youth | Leave a comment

Palawa Kani in the news

Posted on July 6, 2012 by australianlanguages

Happy NAIDOC week everyone! I hope you’ve had a great week of celebrations which will continue over the weekend. Before I head down to town for the local NAIDOC week march I would like to share a few links about … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Culture, Education, Events, Language Revival, Music, Radio, Sport | Leave a comment