Are some of the children in remote areas non-English-speaking and do they need to be taught in their own traditional language?

Posted on April 21, 2012 by QILAC

An interesting article in the Courier Mail which raises the above question.

Read the article

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Losing Language, Losing Knowledge

Posted on April 16, 2012 by QILAC

Audio, transcript and quotes from the 2011 Brisbane Writers Festival panel session with Andrew Westoll, Wade Davis, Susan Hawthorne chaired by Faith Baisden.
BWF 2011 Transcript

The audio segments are about 30mins each.
Presentations

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Questions

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Posted in International, Queensland | Leave a comment

Australian linguicide

Posted on April 10, 2012 by QILAC

ABC 612am. DRIVE. 10 April 2012 , 4:08 PM by Peter Gooch

It’s not a record to be proud of, but Australia appears to be world champions at linguicide, the killing of languages. Out of an estimated 250 spoken by indigenous people only 20 are now in common usage. Linguistics professor GHIL’AD ZUCKERMANN is urging Australians to join a global movement designed to revive endangered tongues.

Reporter TERRI BEGLEY talks with indigenous language expert, Des Crump.

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Only 10 per cent of world’s languages left by 2100

Posted on April 10, 2012 by QILAC

Linguistic analysts predict that 90 per cent of the world’s languages will disappear by the end of this century and topping the threatened list are Australian Indigenous languages.

Adelaide University’s linguistics professor Ghil’ad Zuckermann is urging the Australian community to preserve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, saying they should be better recognised as part of the country’s heritage.

Nance Haxton reported this story for AM, Radio National, on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, with Leonora Adidi.

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Strait Talking

Posted on April 9, 2012 by QILAC

Article by Living Black – 9 April 2012

As the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander languages in use dwindles there’s one Indigenous language that’s growing Yumplatok, Stefan Armbruster reports from the Torres Strait.

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Team approach to NILS planning at AIATSIS

Posted on March 28, 2012 by admin

Eastern States Group members were part of the Reference Group called to discuss the planning of the National Indigenous Languages Survey 2, with the Indigenous Languages team at AIATSIS recently. With many points to consider in drafting a ‘user friendly’ document, AIATSIS has involved some members who were familiar with the initial NILS survey in 2005.

At the meeting in AIATSIS were; Kara Young, Kazuko Obata, Doug Marmion, Faith Baisden(ESALG) , Rhonda Smith, Kevin Lowe (ESALG) and Jeanie Bell.

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The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) 2012 Conference – Perth, 12, 13, 14 November

Posted on March 28, 2012 by QILAC

The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) is the national organisation for applied linguistics in Australia. ALAA aims to provide leadership in applied linguistics and supports the development of teaching, learning and research in the field. ALAA includes national and international members and is affiliated with the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (AILA).

The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) 2012 Conference – Perth, 12, 13, 14 November

‘Evolving Paradigms: Language and Applied Linguistics in a Changing World’

For further details see the ALAA website.

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AILA World Congress 2014 – Brisbane

Posted on March 28, 2012 by QILAC

‘One World, Many Languages’

In 2014, the AILA World Congress will be held
in Brisbane AILA 2014.pdf AILA 2014.pdf (106.25 KB). We
encourage all members to register their interest
and receive regular updates at the AILA website: http://www.aila2014.com/

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Community collaboration and teacher engagement: Wiradjuri

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Geoff

Kevin Lowe visited the Parkes Wiradjuri Language Group (PWLG) in March to learn how Aboriginal communities are working together with teachers, to help build and maintain effective school and community partnerships. The news is being shared as a part of the University of Newcastle’s research project to investigate community initiated language projects.

Around the table are from left to right Lionel Lovett, Eileen Newport, Kevin Lowe, Kerry Gilbert, Ron Wardrop, Belinda Gulwell.

The PWLG is working on maintaining Wiradjuri language in the schools by producing resources and community classes. The classes are open to anyone wishing to learn Wiradjuri language.

Kerry Gilbert (pictured) is the first community language teacher to progress to the stage of enrolling in University to become a qualified teacher. Through the language program, the community has provided Kerry with a way to gain experience in teaching a class, then encouraging her to progress to become a qualified teacher.

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A new voice for dying languages

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin

Program made by Future Tense, ABC Radio National.

The program features Miromaa—the software program developed in Newcastle which is being used by Indigenous communities around the world.

Listen now.

Posted in International, New South Wales | Leave a comment