School of Languages and Linguistics - Research Publications
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ItemIt's a word isn't it? Language affection as an outcome of language programmes.(School of Languages and Linguistics, 2000)Structural linguistics has a particular view of the integrity of language which may be detrimental to the construction of appropriate language maintenance programmes for small indigenous languages. In this paper I outline ways in which ‘affective’ use of language may be the most useful target of language programmes in some situations, based on my experience with Australian indigenous languages. Fluency in a language may not be the achievable outcome of a language course for a number of reasons, not least among them being the enormity of the task perceived by learners of the language. For languages with few or no speakers we should be able to construct language programmes in which the use of a small number of terms in the target language, for purposes of identity, is a sufficient and realistic outcome.
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ItemThe Aboriginal Studies Electronic Data Archive (ASEDA)(De Gruyter, 1995)
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ItemHandbooks of Aboriginal languages(Institute for Aboriginal Development, 1986)Handbooks of Australian Aboriginal languages have been or are currently being produced in various parts of the country. In this paper we wish to address some issues and problems we have encountered in compiling handbooks which may have wider theoretical import and practical applications.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableHandbook of Western Australian Aboriginal Languages South of the Kimberley Region(Pacific Linguistics Publishers, 1993)An annotated bibliography and guide to the indigenous languages of part of Western Australia. Information on individual languages can be found via a geographic, alphabetic, or language family index.
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ItemNatrausuen ni Pastor Sope ni nafsan ni ntau 1950 mana/Storian Blong Pastor Sope long lanwis blong Saot Efate we oli bin kamaot samples long yia 1950(Ms, 1999-10)This is a collection of 21 stories reproduced from a handwritten manuscript found in the estate of Arthur Capell. The original has been typed, translated into present-day South Efate and Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu. The original can be seen here: http://paradisec.org.au/fieldnotes/VEFAT.htm#VEFAT25
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ItemNatrausuen nig Efat/Stories from South Efate,Vanuatu(Ms, 2000-02)A collection of some 65 stories in South Efate language and English, divided into Kastom (Custom), Life stories, and General stories.
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ItemState of Indigenous languages in Australia - 2001, Australia State of the Environment Second Technical Paper Series (Natural and Cultural Heritage), Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra( 2001)This paper provides data for, or information about, nine environmental indicators related to the condition of Indigenous languages in Australia, being a contribution towards the 2001 national State of the Environment Report. The indicators address the following key issues about the state of Indigenous languages in Australia: * condition of Indigenous languages, * state of documentation of languages, * the wider use of Indigenous languages, * funding, research and education.The study found that in 1996: * there has been a decrease in the percentage of Indigenous people speaking Indigenous languages from 100% in 1800 to 13% in 1996, * there are about 55,000 speakers of Indigenous languages in Australia, * the number of Indigenous languages, and the percentage of people speaking these languages have continued to fall in the period 1986-1996, accelerating over the ten years, and * of the 20 languages categorised in 1990 as 'strong', 3 should now be regarded as 'endangered'.The paper comments on the usefulness of the indicators and makes recommendations to improve either the indicators or the source data collections.
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ItemLanguage maintenance: Why bother?(Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 1990-01-01)What do we mean by 'language maintenance'? It is an enterprise that, understandably, has the support of most linguists, but for what reasons, and to what possible outcome? There are at least seven arguments used in defence of the effort placed on 'maintaining' Australian Aboriginal languages, and these are discussed and evaluated in this paper. While each has merit, it is ultimately by appeal to morality and social justice that we find justification for Aboriginal language maintenance.
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ItemThe Road Less Travelled: Recording and Teaching Aboriginal Languages in Western Australia(Edith Cowan University, Claremont: Institute of Applied Language Studies, 1991)This paper discusses the treatment of Aboriginal languages in Western Australia. A brief historical overview is followed by an account of the more recent changes in approach to indigenous language work in Western Australia.
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ItemLanguage data assessment at the national level: learning from the State of the Environment process in Australia(Foundation for Endangered Languages, 2003)Language maintenance is necessarily grounded in communities and has a local focus. Federal government policy has a national and international focus, yet it is the source of funding for most Australian indigenous language (IL) work, through ATSIC. The nearest approach to a national assessment of the number of languages and their needs has come through a perhaps unexpected source, an initiative of the federal department responsible for the environment, Environment Australia. Every five years this department mounts an evaluation of aspects of the physical and cultural environment, called the 'State of the Environment'. In 1997 it proposed a set of indicators for assessing the state of indigenous languages and in 2001 these indicators were implemented in the State of Indigenous Languages (SOIL) report. Among the indicators are those which measure the level of endangerment of languages. This necessitated building an improved listing of languages and consideration of how census data can be used to extract endangerment measures. Especially given the minimal questions on language in the Australian census and issues surrounding the meaning of the responses, these measures benefit from cross-checking against local studies where they exist. This paper presents some of the most recently available census data from 2001 and compares it, where possible, with local and regional studies.