Subject description

Australian Languages — Revival Language is a 20‑credit subject at Stage 2.

In this subject, ‘Australian Languages’ refers to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and cultures of Australia. (For information about the teaching and learning of Auslan, another Australian language, please see the Auslan Continuers Level subject outline.)

The importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, cultures, communities and knowledge is affirmed through the study of Australian Languages. Students can study:

• Australian Languages — First Language. This subject is mainly for students who use an Australian Language as their first language.
• Australian Languages — Additional Language. This subject is mainly for students who wish to study an Australian Language as an additional language. A language chosen for this subject will be a well‑resourced language that has a sizeable first‑speaker base.
• Australian Languages — Revival Language. This subject is mainly for students with a heritage in an Australian Language that has been marginalised since colonisation.

Students of Australian Languages — Revival Language learn to communicate using an Australian Language that has been marginalised since colonisation. The language may have been experiencing a revival over time or as part of more recent processes.

Students develop understanding about how some Australian Languages have managed to survive despite the impact of colonial policies and practices on Australian Languages and cultures. They explore the relationship between language and cultural knowledge, and consider the broader significance of the loss of Australian Languages.

Informed by closely related Australian Languages that remain vibrant, students develop an awareness of the sound and written systems and structures of and protocols for using [Revival Language]. They compare these systems and structures with English, in order to develop an awareness of the unique sounds and structures of Australian Languages. They identify ways in which [Revival Language] is likely to differ from what was spoken as a first language before European settlement.

Drawing on continuing oral traditions, students move between oral and written representations of the language. Recognising the centrality of written representations of Australian Languages within most revival contexts, students develop skills in representing [Revival Language] in written form.

Students develop understandings about the process of reclaiming sound and written systems and structures of languages that are no longer spoken, and explore the linguistic and cultural relationships that existed between language groups before and after colonisation. They develop their understanding of language ecologies, including the ways that languages come into contact with each other historically, and the impacts of language contact.

Students consider the role of language‑revival programs within the ongoing processes of cultural renewal and reconciliation. They reflect on how their language learning relates to these processes.