Australian Languages and the Australian Curriculum - an overview of the panel session

1. Australian Languages and the AustralianCurriculum - an overview of the panel session Convenor: Michael Walsh AIATSIS/Linguistics, University of Sydney 18th Biennial Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations National Conference, 7 July 2011, Darwin.

2. Panel session abstract In this panel session we open up a discussion about the place of Australian Languages in the evolving Australian Curriculum for languages. The process has produced a document which sets out a broad conceptual background and guidelines for the development of specific language curricula: Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages. The first three presentations will describe the process generally with Scarino focusing on the role of achievements in curriculum design and Troy and Walsh addressing some of the issues specifically dealing with the development of a framework for Australian languages. The other two presentations will deal with matters of particular relevance to the Northern Territory: on the one hand Devlin on the contentious issue of bilingual education, and, on the other hand Guyula, McMahon, Sebbens and Yunupingu on the delivery of Australian languages in schools.

3. Panel session structure 1. Angela Scarino - The Australian Curriculum, the role of achievements in the curriculum design and their relevance to a framework for Australian languages 2. Michael Walsh - Australian languages in the Australian Curriculum process: from shape to framework - Part 1 focus on the Northern Territory 3. Jaky Troy - Australian languages in the Australian Curriculum process: from shape to framework - Part 2 Australia-wide 4. Brian Devlin - The place of bilingual education in an Australian Curriculum for the Northern Territory5. Yingiya Guyula, Kathy McMahon, Annarella Sebbens & Yalmay Yunupingu - Languages in schools - the city and the bush

4. Panellists - brief bios Brian Devlin - Associate Professor, Bilingual Education & Applied Linguistics, Charles Darwin University. Yingiya Guyula - Yolngu Lecturer for the Yolngu Studies course at Charles Darwin University. Kathy McMahon - wide experience in Indigenous school-based and adult education across the Northern Territory; currently a PhD candidate at Charles Darwin University. Angela Scarino - Associate Professor, School of Communication, International Studies & Languages.Director, Research Centre for Languages & Cultures, University of South Australia Lead writer for the Shape Paper on the Australian Curriculum for Languages

5. Panellists - brief bios Jaky Troy Director of Research, Indigenous Social and Cultural WellbeingAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [AIATSIS] Companion writer for the Shape Paper on the Australian Curriculum for Languages, with special responsibility for Australian Languages Michael Walsh AIATSIS/Linguistics, University of Sydney [more to come!] Annarella Sebbens Aboriginal Islander Education Worker, Palmerston Senior CollegeYalmay Yunupingu Artist, activist and teacher of Yolngu matha for over 30 years

6. The Australian Curriculum, the role of achievements in curriculum design and their relevance to a framework for Australian Languages AFMLTA Conference Darwin 6 - 9 July 2011 Angela Scarino Research Centre for Languages and Cultures University of South Australia Email: angela.scarino@unisa.edu.au

7. Australian Languages in the Australian Curriculum-1 • Recognises the unique status of Australian Languages as the languages of the first peoples of Australia. • Includes and values the learning of these languages, as they are the languages of this country and the property of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Australia. • Recognises the right of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to learn their own languages within the framework of the Australian Curriculum. • Recognises that these languages are part of the heritage of all Australians and the opportunity to learn Australian languages is important to all students in Australian schools. Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages

8. Australian Languages in the Australian Curriculum-2 Purposes: • learning particular languages • developing the skills both of language learning and of undertaking linguistic work (e.g. collecting, describing and recording language), in the context of language maintenance and development and, in many cases, language reclamation

9. Australian Languages in the Australian Curriculum-3 Program-types include: • second language learning • home user language maintenance and development • language revival (including language revitalisation, language renewal and language reclamation) • languages ecology (learning about the target language, learning about the languages in the region, and learning about Australian Languages) (building on the Australian Indigenous Languages Framework, SSABSA 1996)

10. Two key constructs • Curriculum content: what teachers are expected to teach and students are expected to learn… includes knowledge, skills and understanding that students are expected to learn and will be described for a particular learning area at a particular year level or bands of years  ‘content descriptions’ • Achievement standards: describe the quality of learning students should typically demonstrate by a particular point in their schooling (that is, the depth of their understanding, the extent of their understanding, the extent of their knowledge and the sophistication of other skills)  a description of the quality of expected learning and a set of annotated work samples (ACARA. Curriculum Design V.2.1)

11. Elements of the Australian Curriculum

12. Languages Learning Area – development Learning Area Shape paper Subject curricula All ACARA learning areas Procedures and guidelines Languages Shape paper Language-specific curricula Languages Framework for Australian Languages Languages Shape paper Language specific curriculum development by state/ territory/ jurisdictions Australian Languages For all program-types aims, rationale, content descriptions, achievement standards Some examples of how this is realised in specific languages for each program-type

13. Role of achievement standards • Provide a distinctive lens on learning • what is it important to learn? (domains, concepts, processes, actions, judgments) • how well?  indicative/not prescriptive (need to remove the generalising tendency that is typical of these developments)  can influence how we imagine the learning of Australian Languages  can begin a process of describing richness/depth of learning • To be developed for each program-type, bearing in mind learners, K-12 • To be exemplified  note the distinction between program-type and program  has the potential to add another dimension to the development of curricula to date

14. Process of development • A workshopping approach (developmental workshops) • Sourcing current examples from diverse programs in different contexts • Maximising the trialling process • Ongoing consultation/refinement

15. Considerations • Principles, protocols and descriptions of program-types have been developed and now may need to be fine-tuned. • How do the curriculum constructs proposed for the Australian Curriculum best serve Australian languages? Can we focus on developing statements of achievements? • Will this dimension of development actually add value?  these questions need to remain open throughout the process

16. Australian languages in the National Curriculum process: from shape to frameworkPart 1 - focus on the Northern Territory Michael Walsh AIATSIS/Linguistics, University of Sydney 18th Biennial Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations National Conference, 7 July 2011, Darwin.

17. Michael Walsh - some brief background 1972-4 - periods of linguistic fieldwork at Port Keats [now called Wadeye], mainly on Murrinh-Patha but also some study of Ami, Djamindjung, Kamu, Larrakia, Limilngan, Magatige, Marridjabin, Marringarr and Wuna 1999-2000 NSW ATSIC-sponsored survey of NSW languages c. 2002 one of the writing team for the NSW Aboriginal Languages K-10 Syllabus Strong interest in language revival and in documenting lesser known domains of language use e.g. the Wadeye Song Language Project 2004-2010

18. A brief overview of the Northern Territory language situation West of Arnhem Land - around 2 dozen languages including Bininj Gun-wok, Jaminjung, Larrakia, Murrinh-Patha, Tiwi, Arnhem Land area - Anindilyakwa, Burarra, Jawoyn, Mawng, Nakkara, Wubuy [aka Nunggubuyu], Yanyuwa, Yiwadja, Yolngu-matha varieties Central NT and Central Australia - Alywarra, Arrernte (Including varieties), Gurindji, Kaytej, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri 20 language names listed here but perhaps double that Kriol, Aboriginal Englishes and other contact varieties including: Areyonga teenage Pitjantjatjara,Gurindji Kriol, Light Warlpiri A complex language situation ranging from ‘strong’ languages like Murrinh-Patha and Yolngu through to languages that have languished like Jaminjung, Larrakia and Yanyuwa Perhaps less activity in language revitalization compared to the south-east of Australia over the last 20 years

19. ACARA and the Languages Advisory Panel

20. ACARA and the Languages Advisory Panel

21. ACARA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Expert Group Member Updated 27 January 2010

22. The situation now • Shape paper all but finalised • Expressions of interests received for the next Advisory panel for Australian Languages • Expressions of interests received for Writers for the Australian Languages Framework ………….

23. Australian languages in the Australian curriculum process: from shape to framework – part 2 Australia-wideAFMLTA ConferenceDarwin6-9 July 2011 Dr Jaky Troy Director of Research Indigenous Social and Cultural Wellbeing AIATSIS Jaky.troy@aiatsis.gov.au

24. Jaky Troy – brief background I am a Ngarigu woman and my country is the Snowy Mountains in the Monaro district of NSW. My language is sleeping, it has few speakers but its people want it to wake up. I want it to wake up so that I can teach it to my daughter and she can learn it in her school. We now live in Canberra which is on country my ancestors shared with other groups at different times of the year, including the Ngunawal and Ngembri peoples.

25. My country Lobbs Hole, near Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains of NSW

27. My languages research • Original research interest was language contact – what happened when non-Aboriginal people and Aboriginal people attempted to communicate in the late C18 and early C19. Development of NSW Pidgin. • My research led me to look closely at the languages of NSW and to reconstruct the language of the Sydney area, often called Dharug or Iyora. • Became very interested in ‘reconstructing’ and revitalising languages that are ‘sleeping’ using old records and community knowledge. • 1999-2000 with Michael Walsh and Tony Lonsdale did AIATSIS survey ‘Strong Language Strong Culture’. Could see the huge potential for language work in NSW. • 2000 managed the National Languages Program for ATSIC • 2001-2 as Senior Education Officer, Aboriginal Curriculum Unit, Board of Studies, developed the idea for a NSW Aboriginal Languages Curriculum and saw this through to the development of the NSW Aboriginal Languages Syllabus K-10. • 2003-6, Director, NSW Aboriginal Languages Research and Resource Centre, focused on language revitalisation and maintenance programs in NSW. • 2010 Assistant Professor in Education Uni of Canberra teaching Indigenous education, including developing ways to teach Australian languages in schools. • 2010 to now working with ACARA to develop the Australian Curriculum Languages, focussing particularly on the Australian languages content. • 2011 became Research Director at AIATSIS and manage a strong Languages Unit that is funded by the Commonwealth Government to do many things in the field of Australian languages including research about languages, provide workshops for communities on how to do language work and to develop and undertake the next National Indigenous Languages Survey.

28. Issues facing the development of an Australian Languages Framework • Large number of languages in Australia – at least 250 • Ecology of each language is different but broadly there are: - • Languages that are still spoken right through and are used for everyday communication in all domains • Languages that have some speakers and some level of community use • Languages that are no longer used for everyday communication but are in the processes of being revitalised; and • Languages that are ‘sleeping’ for which there may be some community knowledge but which now largely exist in the corpus of historical records (AIATSIS is a treasure trove for these languages)

29. Language program types • All languages are valued and loved by their owners and any initiative of ACARA to develop a Framework for teaching our languages in schools needs to take that high cultural value into account. • Therefore, we need to have various programs for these languages that will cater for all of them. • The Framework is called this because it is virtually impossible to develop one curriculum type to meet all the needs of these diverse languages. • Program types put forward in the Shape of the Curriculum languages are: - • Second language learning • Home user language maintenance and development • Language revival (including language revitalisation, language renewal and language reclamation) • Languages ecology (learning about the target language, learning about the languages in the region, and learning about Australian languages) • The diversity of languages and program types will create challenges for the writers and there may need to be some individual sample curricula written for languages in each of the program types.

30. People feel very strongly all over Australia about their right to learn their languages.

31. Learning an Australian language is for all school students and the Framework needs to cater for all their needs • This is mandated in the Shape of the Curriculum Languages paper. • Australian school children who have had the chance to learn an Australian language feel very happy about that experience. • For example, in western NSW ‘through the experience of learning Wiradjuri, the Student Representative Council at Parkes East Public School wrote a letter to the local government council about erecting Welcome to Country signs. In the letter the students argued that it was important to respect Wiradjuri people as the traditional custodians of the country, and to raise the awareness of non-Aboriginal people. The Parkes Shire Council has taken the students’ advice, and the signs are now in production. They will be 5 feet high, 2 feet wide and seen by an estimated 5000 cars per day on the Newell Highway.’ http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/languages/languages/aboriginal/assets/pdf/ablang_bul13.pdf p 4

32. A diverse set of resources,curriculum documents, frameworks and pedagogical thinking from across Australia that can inform the development of the Framework for Australian Languages • Every jurisdiction in Australia has a set of documents that develops the thinking for schools around teaching Australian languages. • Writers will have these to draw on in creating the Framework for Australian Languages.

33. Key sources for writers to draw up upon in developing the Australian Languages Framework Australian Capital Territory ACT Department of Education and Training, ACT (website), ‘Every chance to learn: Curriculum framework for ACT schools Preschool to Year 10’, activated.act.edu.au/ectl/index.htm Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS), Australian Capital Territory (website), Languages Course Framework 2007 and Languages courses developed from the Course Framework, www.bsss.act.edu.au/curriculum/courses New South Wales Board of Studies New South Wales, (website), K-10 Languages Syllabuses and Stage 6 and HSC Languages Syllabuses, www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/ Northern Territory Northern Territory Government Department of Education and Training (website), Northern Territory Curriculum Framework Languages Learning Area, www.det.nt.gov.au/teachers-educators/curriculum-ntbos/ntcf Queensland Queensland Studies Authority (website), Essential Learning and Standards Years 1-9, www.qsa.qld.edu.au/574.html Queensland Studies Authority (website), Languages Senior Subjects syllabus documents, www.qsa.qld.edu.au/1823.html Queensland Studies Authority (website), Languages Learning Area Year 10 guidelines, June 2009, www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/senior/yr10_guide_learning_areas_lang.pdf Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages 39

34. Resources Continued South Australia SACE Board of South Australia, South Australian Certificate of Education (website), Stage 1 and Stage 2 Languages Subject Outlines, www.sace.sa.edu.au/subjects South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (website), SACSA Languages Learning Area, www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/splash.asp Tasmania Department of Education Tasmanian Curriculum (website), LOTE– Languages Other Than English, K-10 LOTE syllabus and support materials, www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum/standards/english Tasmanian Qualifications Authority (website), Accredited courses in the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) sector Society & Culture, sub-set Languages, www.tqa.tas.gov.au/2597 Victoria Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) (website) Victorian Certificate of Education Study Designs for LOTE, www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/index.html Victorian Essential Learning Standards, October 2009, (website), Discipline-based Learning Strand Languages other than English, Revised Edition, vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/ Western Australia Curriculum Council of Western Australia (website), Curriculum Framework K-10 Learning Statement for Languages Other than English, www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/Years_K10/Curriculum_Framework Curriculum Council of Western Australia (website), Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) course syllabuses in LOTE, www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/Senior_Secondary/Courses

35. The place of bilingual education in an Australian Curriculum for the Northern Territory Dr Brian Devlin Associate Professor, Bilingual Education & Applied Linguistics brian.devlin@cdu.edu.au Charles Darwin University

36. The place of bilingual education in an Australian Curriculum for New South Wales 4 priority languages Immersion Korean Chinese Mandarin Japanese Indonesian

37. Ideology Accountability Official Unofficial Effectiveness Value

38. The place of bilingual education in an Australian Curriculum for the Northern Territory Compulsory 4 hours of English Literacy for both worlds Compulsory 4 hours of English

40. bilingual capability Preamble The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for all Young Australians recognises languages learning as an integral part of the educational experience of all Australian students. Success in developing students’ bilingual capability through languages learning in schools depends on: policy settings; curriculum; and program conditions. The Melbourne Declaration provides the policy framework for languages learning, ACARA takes responsibility for curriculum design. In developing the Australian Curriculum: Languages assumptions will necessarily be made about time allocation. School authorities need to consider their responsibility in relation to program conditions (i.e. number of hours, regularity and continuity) to ensure quality and sustained languages program provision.

42. Ideology Accountability Official Unofficial Effectiveness Value

43. Arguments for and against dual literacy programs

44. bilingual programs On p. 5 there is also an acknowledgement of “the value of bilingual programs”. That’s it! Bilingual capability and bilingual programs are not mentioned again.