Aboriginal Language : The Importance Of Aboriginal Language

Using the text alongside the illustrations engages in critical literacy, revealing the hidden power relationships and ideological assumptions that underline texts (Winch 2014, p.539), and strike in-depth discussions. For example, about being lost and how you managed to find your way again, what the differences are between your approach and her approach, what do you notice about where they live, how is it different from where you live, and what are all the amazing things you could possibly do if you lived there. The idea is helping to develop a child’s knowledge of their world and the knowledge about a world that is not their own (Winch 2014, p.536). Majority of Indigenous content learning occurring in the younger years found in the Australian Curriculum, is remembering, understanding and applying, in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy (Lowe, 2015). This book can be used to unearth these cognitive processes but can further be explored beyond the elaborations of the curriculum with the grade ones to build a greater depth of understanding through analysing, evaluating and creating (Lowe, 2015).

Language is a very import part in our life, we carry it with us through all the steps, processes, moments experiences of our life, language built us and make us grow and the most important thing is that it grows with us, changes, modifies itself, and becomes more appropriate and specific. As we pointed out language help us to create and understand the world around us, gives meaning to everything and gives birth to emotions and feelings; a world without language would be meaningless and very lonely. Language it’s what help us grow up, the more we learn through it, the more we desire to experience and study in deep, leading us to new prospective, opening our mind to more specific and deep concepts, ideas, projects, goals. We really can’t

In this essay we will try to provide a brief overview of educational issues of Aboriginal communities in Australia and Victoria and the elements that influence the educational outcomes of young Aboriginal people, such as culture and contemporary challenges. In addition to this, the inclusion of Aboriginal content in the Victorian curriculum and classroom practices will be explored as well as contemporary government policies.

Good communication with the families may improve the impact of excessive drinking by family members. This can be done understanding how to best communicate with Aboriginal and/or Torres Straight Islanders. In the Aboriginal culture, silence is important and it is not uncomfortable to have pauses in conversations. Also ‘going around’ sensitive topics is more respectful and polite in the Aboriginal culture. Talking about their mother-in-law or sister is also a subject that is not considered polite to talk about, especially if their have any issues with their relationship. Also understanding that if an Elder is needed to deal with an issue, they must be treated with a high level of respect and dignity

Teachers in Australia have the responsibility of catering to the learning needs and abilities of the students in their classroom. Additionally they are also responsible for catering to the unique cultural backgrounds of each student, in particular the cultures of Indigenous Australians. The teacher can cater to the diverse and complex Indigenous cultures by creating a learning environment that is based on effective student engagement for Aboriginal students. Studies have shown that Aboriginal students are currently not academically achieving as well as non-Aboriginal students (What Works: Core Issue 5). Closing the academic performance gap is considered a national priority. As a result, the Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework has been developed to ensure that schools are delivering the best possible education to all students, specifically those who identify as Aboriginal. During term 3, 2017, I completed my final practicum at Baler Primary School in a year 4 classroom. The students in my class came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, many of which identified as Aboriginal. Throughout this essay I will use examples from my final practicum at Baler Primary School in South Hedland to discuss how to make learning engaging, accessible and culturally responsive for Aboriginal students.

Indigenous education is utmost challenging to incorporate throughout the holistic approach in schools. This is why educators need to incorporate Indigenous perspectives in all units of work to build a safe, positive, yet constructive learning environment for students, families and the community. By undertaking this all students can learn in different ways to build an understanding of the history, beliefs, and Australian heritage.

Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum has now become a high priority amoungst schools across the nation. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2013), recognises “that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority is designed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures”. By including this, the curriculum will continue to see Indigenous culture throughout school become part of the norm. Furthermore Indigenous Australian perspectives can and should be included in the classroom and any barriers that arise can be overcome.

Education is fundamental to growth, the growth of the individual, and the growth of a nation. Anthropologically this can be seen from the earliest of developments of human societies where practices emerge to ensure the passing of accumulated knowledge from one generation to the next. In the centuries since the invasion and colonisation of Australia in 1788, colonist authorities and governments have dominated the making of policies regarding most major aspects of Australian life, including the lives of Indigenous Australians. The enactment of these policies and legislation, whether targeted at society as a whole or directly at education, has had significant and most often negative causal impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, resulting in not only poor educational outcomes, but the loss of cultural identity, the development of serious issues in health and wellbeing, and the restriction of growth of Aboriginal communities. Moreover, there has been an ongoing pattern of the adoption of ill-informed policies in Australia, resulting in these poor outcomes and cultural decimation. Aboriginal people have developed a wariness, a mistrust, and even an attitude of avoidance to engage with non-Indigenous officials and those who they associate as their representatives, i.e. personnel working within

It is vital for teachers to recognise indigenous literacies and aboriginal English in all classrooms as it builds a sense of equality and a non-discriminating environment. As a future teacher I believe that it is my role to create a classroom that mirrors these key factors, as it will build the foundations for a nourishing learning environment. This type of learning environment will aid in linking the students parents and the surrounding community together that encourages an equal society.

Jaky Troy (2012) mentions, “without knowledge of our language we feel culturally and spiritually diminished.” There are over 250 original languages and majority of indigenous people in Australia belong to one or more of them. Nonetheless majority of them cannot remember or hardly speak it (Troy, 2012). Consequently, many Aboriginals do not speak their languages but rather speak one or more forms of Aboriginal English. This results in Aboriginal students feeling uncomfortable regardless of the amount of good teachers that were there to help them (Troy, 2012). According to (Hanlen, 2002) Aboriginal kids are given next to nothing in terms of learning Western literacy or the English language, resulting in separation from the Mainstream society inevitably leading to marginalisation. When Aboriginal students use Aboriginal English they feel inadequate and inferior. In relation to intelligence, students are said to be or even been given the impression, that they lack and must seek intelligence (Shipp, 2012). Throughout

Language is a communication method that makes everything easy to communicate with others. The language barrier is the biggest challenge and hurdle of most people whom their English is a second language. Growing up in a family with parents that only speak another language could be viewed very similarly to a double-edged sword. This challenge with society forces people to learn the English language. Although there a lot of difficulties with the second language, eventually the transition between both languages would become easier by time and more practice. Starting to be able to comprehend the English language is the best way overcomes this barrier. Although these challenges were not easy to overcome, persistence, dedication and hard work would facilitate everything. Despite the fact that language is considered the biggest barrier, culture comes as a second harder barrier in means of communication. Effective communication with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Culture on the other hand, provides people with ways of thinking, seeing and hearing and, then understands the things around. Thus, the same word can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the same language. Stella Ting-Toomey describes how culture involves with cultural understanding where ach culture has its own rules about proper behavior which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. How close the people stand to each

The last twenty years has seen these themes played out in both policy and practice. Indigenous self-determination had played a big part in educational policy since the 1970s but by 2012 Marcia Langton in her Boyer Lectures attacked the concept as a “vaporous dream” (Schwab, R.G., 2013,p. 212)with critiques fuelled by the Little Children Are Saved Report. Langton saw Noel Pearson’s Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy as an alternative model focused on outcomes but incorporating Indigenous art, culture and sport. This is actually a “top down”

In Aboriginal culture the language isn’t only a form of communication, it is used to mark territory. It is possible that people from tribe only fifty kilometres away cannot understand the other tribes language at all.

These myths and rituals were also a source of inspiration for much aboriginal art, including paintings, carved objects, symbolic weapons and poetic chants. The forms of art varied according to region, with differences in the decoration of objects and weapons depending on local myths and traditions.

Australian Aborigines are thought to have the longest continuous cultural history in the world. Yet, within a hundred years, the near extinction of the Aboriginal culture almost occurred. This single event, the invasion of the Australian continent by European settlers, changed the lifestyle, the culture, and the fate of Australian Aborigines. Their entire lives were essentially taken away and they were forced into a white, European world where the lifestyle change could not have been any different. Aborigines in Australia today are struggling to deal with a past in which they lost touch with their culture and now are trying to regain some of that cultural identity.