ATS3381 · Aboriginal languages

Overview

Around 490 Indigenous languages were spoken in Australia 200 years ago. While only a dozen or so of these languages are still being learned by children as their first language, Indigenous communities all around Australia have strong connections to language, with many of them working to revitalise their ancestral languages. Though these languages are incredibly diverse, there are certain hallmarks of Aboriginal languages that most of them shared, including similar phonologies, cognate words, and recurrent patterns of meaning. In this unit, you will consider the features often considered typical of Australian Aboriginal languages, and will explore how/whether these can be related to features of the local cultures. This includes a consideration of the relationship between language and country, kinship and the sociocultural contexts of language use. We will also consider the many points of variation. Our focus on traditional forms of these languages will be balanced by an examination of the roles Aboriginal languages play in Australia today, including emergent languages (such as mixed languages and creoles), multilingualism, language policy, sociolinguistics and the role of linguistics in language maintenance and revitalization.

Areas of study: Indigenous studies Linguistics

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. describe key structural features of Australian Aboriginal languages, and identify these features in a number of different Aboriginal languages;
2. discuss relevant sociolinguistic issues including language status, bilingualism and the role of linguistics in language maintenance and reclamation, and the implication of these for educational, legal and other institutions;
3. analyse and interpret language data;
4. critically assess evidence supporting or challenging various theories and thereby evaluate these theories;
5. devise your own research topic and formulate and communicate logical, coherent arguments relating to that topic both orally and in writing.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.