Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages (Version 8.4)

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Rationale

Nganki - ka Kardu thipmam - wa! I Murrinh warda ngatha. The nganthin ngumpanngerren. I ku ngakumarl, da ngarra ngugumingki wurran. The da matha nganthin ngala i da bere matha wangu ngumamath ngumpan ngarra magulkul nganki.

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Aims

The Australian Curriculum: Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to ensure that students:

communicate in the language

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What is the Framework?

The Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages (the Framework) is the first national curriculum document Foundation to Year 10 to provide a way forward for all schools in Australia to support the teaching and learning of the languages indigenous to this country.

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Guiding principles

Appropriate consultations with relevant Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities are always central to the development of language-specific curricula and the provision of language learning programs in schools.

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Structure

Pathways
To cater for differences between the ecologies of languages and the communities who are owners and custodians of those languages, and to cater for students who come from a variety of learner backgrounds, the Framework has three pathways:

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Using the Framework

The Framework is general in its structure and approach because it needs to be applicable to all Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages in Australia, across the full range of language ecologies.

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PDF documents

Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Languages -  Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages are available as PDF documents.
Scope and Sequence 
Sequence of Achievement - First Language …

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Languages studied in the Second Language Learner Pathway (L2) are typically languages used in spoken form as the language of everyday communication by whole communities across all generations.

The second language learner pathway has been written on the assumption that learning will occur off-Country, involving students who are typically not from the language community and have little or no experience of the language and culture. They are introduced to learning the language at school as an additional, new language.

The language chosen for curriculum development should have a sizeable set of resources in a variety of media, such as local documentaries, bilingual narrative and descriptive texts, and educational materials in print and digital form. Learning is enriched and authenticated by interaction with visiting Elders and community speakers, and where possible visits to Country/Place. Information and communications technologies provide additional resources to support a range of language and culture experiences.

The Second Language Learning Pathway provides students with an opportunity to study a language that is structurally very different from English, and from a culture quite distant from the English-speaking mainstream. Such study develops a deeper appreciation of the nature and diversity of languages and cultures, and requires the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary to learn and understand an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language and its cultural context.

For students who are from the language community but who did not grow up speaking the language, this pathway provides an opportunity to reaffirm their cultural identity through learning the language of their community.

The curriculum content and achievement standards in the Second Language Learner Pathway are generalised in order to cater for the range of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander languages that may be learnt as a second language. The content descriptions, content elaborations and achievement standards will need to be adapted for use with the particular language being taught; it will need to modified if the program occurs on-Country or if the learners are from the language community.

Summary of Key Features of the Second language learner pathway

Second Language Learner Pathway

Spoken right through (full linguistic code)

Substantial range of speakers across all generations

Curriculum written on the assumption that L2 programs will occur off-Country/Place and learners are typically not from the language community

Foundation to Year 2

Foundation to Year 2 Band Description

The nature of the learner, the pathway and particular language

Languages studied in the Second Language Learner Pathway (L2) are typically languages used in spoken form as the language of everyday communication by whole communities across all generations.

The second language learner pathway has been written on the assumption that learning will occur off-Country involving students who are typically not from the language community and have little or no experience of the language and culture. They are introduced to learning the language at school as an additional, new language.

The language chosen for curriculum development should have a sizeable set of resources in a variety of media, such as local documentaries, bilingual narrative and descriptive texts, and educational materials in print and digital form. Learning is enriched and authenticated by interaction with visiting Elders and community speakers, and where possible visits to Country/Place. Information and communications technologies provide additional resources to support a range of language and culture experiences.

The curriculum content and achievement standards in the Second Language Learner Pathway are generalised in order to cater for the range of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander languages that may be learnt as a second language. The content descriptions, content elaborations and achievement standards for the Second Language Learner pathway will need to be adapted for use with the particular language being taught and will need to be modified if the program occurs on-Country or if the learners are from the language community.

Children enter the early years of schooling with established communication skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy acquisition. For young students at this level, learning typically focuses on the immediate world of their family, home, school, friends and local environment. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others, and participate in structured routines and activities at school.

Language learning and use

The language is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy development. Learning in the two languages progresses at very different levels but each supports and enriches the other.

The language is used in classroom interactions, routines and activities and is supported by the use of visual and concrete materials, gestures and body language. At this stage, there is a focus on play and imaginative activities, games, music, movement and familiar routines, which provide scaffolding and context for language development.

Oral language is developed through listening to the sounds, shapes and patterns of the language, through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games and through imitating and repeating sounds in aural texts as modelled by the teaching team, visiting Elders and community speakers.

Learners experiment with simple formulaic expressions and with one- or two-word responses and single-idea phrases to prompts and cues. As they progress to using language for interactions such as greetings, asking for help, talking about self, friends and family, or asking and answering questions, they notice that the language behaves differently in different situations and that speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. Creative play provides opportunities for exploring these differences and for using language for purposeful interaction.

Students learn about Country/Place and community by interacting with visiting Elders and community speakers when possible, and by engaging with stories and songs and other texts such as videos, maps and pictures. They learn about the concepts of kin and social groupings, and how these are symbolised in the natural environment.

Students learn to use appropriate respect terms and to demonstrate respectful and appropriate behaviour when interacting with Elders, community speakers and community texts.

Learners will recognise the same alphabet they are learning for writing English. They write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to read and write words and sentences independently using modelled language, for example, matching pictures with single words, labels and captions. The use of repetition and recycling in instruction helps children to identify high-frequency words and simple phrases and to recognise the purpose and intention of simple texts.

They begin to understand how the language works, to compare it with English and to understand its place in relation to regional and national language diversity.

Contexts of interaction

Across Foundation to Year 2, learning occurs largely through interaction with peers and the teaching team, supplemented by some access to visiting Elders and community speakers. Information and communications technologies (ICT) resources provide additional access to language and culture experience.

Texts and resources

Children engage with a variety of spoken, visual, written and digital texts, which are short, clearly structured and supported by visuals and paralinguistic devices, for example, tone of voice, facial expression, gesture, with much repetition and recycling of structures and vocabulary. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas and join in with song, dance, story and rap, and various forms of play, performance, conversational exchanges and activities mediated by language. Print and digital texts include stories, shared Big Books, songs, visual designs, photos, videos, environmental maps and wall charts and teacher-generated materials such as games, flashcards and items from both the local community and the target language community.

Level of support

Learning is supported through the provision of experiences that are challenging but achievable with appropriate scaffolding and support. This involves modelling, monitoring and moderating by the teacher; provision of multiple and varied sources of input; opportunities for revisiting, recycling and reviewing learned language, and continuous cueing, feedback, response and encouragement.

The role of languages

Learners are encouraged to use the language being learnt whenever possible in class interactions and daily routines with the teaching team, visiting Elders and community speakers. Using English for explanation and discussion allows learners to talk about differences and similarities they notice between the language and their first language(s) and culture(s), to ask questions about language and culture, to consider how they feel when they hear or use the language and to talk about how they view different languages and the people who speak them. This introduction to the ‘meta’ dimension of intercultural learning develops the ability to consider different perspectives and ways of being as mediated by language.


Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptions

Socialising

Interact with each other, the teaching team and visiting Elders/community speakers using simple language and gestures for greeting and farewelling, talking about self and family

[Key concepts: self, family, relationships; Key processes: interacting, sharing, listening] (ACLFWC067 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • participating in everyday exchanges, such as greeting and farewelling
  • interacting with the teaching team and visiting Elders/community speakers using appropriate protocols such as respect terms, behaviour and forms of address, including, for example, using assigned kinship roles
  • introducing and describing self, family, friends, favourite objects and pets using familiar and modelled language, supported by visual props, for example, drawings, photos
  • listening to questions (such as what, who, where) about self, family, friends and immediate environment, and responding with words and actions, including gesture
  • expressing likes and dislikes using simple statements
Participate in guided group activities such as games, songs and simple tasks, using movement and gestures to support understanding and to convey meaning

[Key concepts: cooperation, play; Key processes: turn-taking, matching, choosing, cooperating, following instructions] (ACLFWC068 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • participating in games, tasks and activities that involve turn taking, guessing, matching and choosing objects using modelled questions and responses
  • participating in action games and songs by matching actions to words
  • following instructions by moving around or locating objects in the classroom
  • using rehearsed language to collaborate and follow instructions, for example, in craft activities using traditional materials such as nuts, twigs, bark, seeds, shells
  • working collaboratively to decide on a class performance, activity or action
  • working collaboratively to adapt and perform action songs, for example, by changing lyrics, substituting words and phrases based on modelled patterns, rehearsing and performing songs with appropriate gestures and actions
Interact in classroom routines and respond to teacher instructions

[Key concepts: routine, instruction; Key processes: participating, responding, following instructions] (ACLFWC069 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • participating in routine exchanges such as asking and answering questions, responding to the class roll, describing the weather, requesting classroom objects
  • responding to and using routine classroom language, for example, ‘sit down’, ‘stand up’, ‘listen!’ ‘look this way’, ‘tidy up’ in the target language
  • following instructions related to transition activities, for example, ‘form a circle’, ‘get into groups of three’, ‘put on your hat’, ‘line up’
  • responding to requests and instructions in verbal and non-verbal ways, such as movement, gesture and action, for example, in class and outdoors, in games and songs, or on visits and excursions

Informing

Locate specific words and familiar phrases in texts such as charts, lists, photos, maps, and use information to complete guided oral and written tasks

[Key concepts: natural and built environment, community life, Indigenous knowledge; Key processes: identifying, selecting, sorting, matching, labelling, mapping Country/Place] (ACLFWC070 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • identifying, naming, and labelling key topographical features of the target language region, for example, creeks, springs, rocky outcrops, estuaries, reefs, desert landforms, by viewing environmental maps, photos, videos and objects
  • listening to an Elder/community speaker sharing knowledge about Country/Place and recording key information
  • identifying and labelling significant features of the built environment, for example, dwellings, settlements, community store, health clinic, school, places to play, roads and tracks
  • locating key information about the target language region, for example, weather, seasons, daily and seasonal behaviour of animals, using resources such as charts, photos, videos, films, visual prompts and by listening to visiting Elders/community language speakers
  • naming, labelling and sorting bush foods, animals, plants and natural objects from the environment into culturally appropriate categories, such as, edible/non-edible, meat/non meat, salt water/fresh water, day/night animals, rough/smooth, hard/soft
  • describing aspects of shared knowledge about the target language region, for example, by pointing to places on a map or at pictures of food sources, plants and animals
  • identifying and labelling animal tracks in the sand, dirt or mud
  • labelling, drawing and matching body parts
Give factual information using simple statements and descriptions, gestures, and captions

[Key concepts: Country/Place, community life; Key processes: labelling, describing, presenting, recounting] (ACLFWC071 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • using some location terms to talk about and describe the region of the target language, for example, up, down, near, far and using topographical words such as swamp, soakage, reef
  • presenting information about the target language region, for example, in relation to animals, plants, food, artefacts, using modelled sentences, matching captions to pictures and filling in gaps
  • collaboratively recounting details about shared events, such as sports day, excursions, a class visit from an Elder, a visiting performing group from the target language community, for example, by making a BigBook, digital presentation or display
  • labelling aspects of daily routines, selecting captions or attaching word bubbles and sharing the information with others
  • developing a pictorial story to describe typical activities and routines at home and at school

Creating

Participate in shared listening to, viewing and reading of texts and respond through singing, reciting, miming, play-acting, drawing, action and movement

[Key concepts: storytelling, response; Key processes: responding, performing, sharing, expressing; Key text types: songs, raps, dances, traditional and contemporary stories, paintings and visual design, video clips (IndigiTUBE)] (ACLFWC072 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • performing songs or stories that include repeated phrases, rhythms and non-verbal forms of expression, such as clapping, gestures, facial expressions and dance
  • participating in shared reading of traditional and contemporary stories, responding through mime, drawings with captions, matching captions to images, dance, play-acting and other forms of expression
  • listening to Elders/community speakers tell stories and responding by drawing, labelling and captioning or re-enacting with puppets, props or actions
  • identifying key animals, birds and other characters in stories, songs, performances and dances and identifying the significance of particular dance or performance elements
  • identifying and naming significant places, landscapes and topographical features through which travelling stories pass
  • identifying key messages expressed in stories, song, dance and visual art, for example, rules for living
  • predicting the content/meaning of narrative texts such as picture books, including titles, covers and illustrations, and giving reasons for their predictions
  • responding to simple questions about characters and events in texts such as stories, songs, dances
Create and present shared stories, songs and performances using familiar words and patterns and support materials

[Key concepts: story, performance; Key processes: retelling, singing, re-enacting, dancing, drawing, performing; Key text types: songs, dance, stories, paintings and visual design, performances] (ACLFWC073 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • making a shared Big Book based on an event, experience or performance
  • creating own stories by sequencing a series of pictures with captions or by creating a storyboard with labels, using modelled language and repetitive phrases
  • re-enacting or retelling simple stories, episodes or interactions with puppets, props, actions or gestures, using modelled language
  • creating digital texts based around familiar contexts and characters, using pictures and captions
  • creating simple songs or new versions of contemporary songs and raps, for example by substituting words and phrases, such as animal names, places or geographical features, adding characters, incorporating non-verbal forms of support, such as clapping, gestures and facial expressions
  • creating new dance sequences, paintings and visual designs, using models from the target language and culture

Translating

Translate frequently used words and phrases using visual cues and resources such as word lists

[Key concepts: translation, similarity, difference, meaning; Key processes: noticing, identifying, translating] (ACLFWC074 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • using classroom resources such as word banks, wall charts, visual dictionaries, word lists and pictures to translate the meaning of single words and common expressions
  • translating and explaining in English the meaning of target language words, phrases and gestures used in everyday contexts and situations
  • explaining to others culture-specific words, for example, names of artefacts or implements, kinship terms of address
  • noticing elements of the target language and of English that are the same, such as the letters of the alphabet and some sounds
  • showing others how different signs and hand talk are used and explaining basic signs for elements of the natural environment, for example, water, animals
  • explaining symbols and their iconographies to others
Create simple oral, print or multimodal bilingual texts for the classroom environment, such as captions, labels and wall charts

[Key concepts: meaning, bilingualism; Key processes: labelling, captioning, displaying, matching] (ACLFWC075 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • creating picture word lists and picture dictionaries and contributing to bilingual class books of words and their meanings
  • creating bilingual texts for the immediate environment, for example, school/classroom signs
  • performing presentations for the school community that involve both target language and English language elements, such as a contribution to an assembly or a performance for Grandparents’ Day
  • creating sets of word cards in the target language and in English and playing matching-word games
  • writing captions, with support, for a photographic display to show parents/others about a class event, an experience such as sports day or a project to care for the school environment

Identity

Describe aspects of self, such as family, school/class and language/s spoken, noticing how these different elements contribute to one’s identity

[Key concepts: identity, self, family, belonging; Key processes: describing, explaining, identifying] (ACLFWC076 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • describing self and drawing pictures of family or creating a family tree, labelling with appropriate kinship terms for immediate family members
  • identifying self as belonging to a family, class or peer group, representing these relationships through captioned pictures or photos or by creating digital presentations
  • exploring the concept of collective identity, for example by considering the symbolic meaning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, items of dress, use of colour and patterns
  • describing friends, favourite places, objects and languages they know/ are learning as markers of their identity
  • noticing and comparing their use of words or expressions from different languages when communicating in English
  • recognising the relationship between language, place and family in the formation of identity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and comparing these to relationships in their own lives

Reflecting

Notice what is similar or different to their own language and cultural expression when interacting with songs, stories, games, pictures and artistic expression from the target language and culture

[Key concepts: language, culture, similarity, difference, respect; Key processes: noticing, comparing, responding, reflecting] (ACLFWC077 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • responding to teacher prompts in the target language or English, for example, What do you see?...or What do you notice about…? Why do you think that …? ‘How is this similar / different …? to capture and express their impressions when viewing images or video-clips, singing songs, dancing or reading stories from the target language region
  • comparing aspects of the lives of children in their own communities with those of children in target language communities as represented in digital images, video clips, IndigiTUBE and stories, for example, comparing ways of playing games, eating food, telling stories, or interacting at school, at home and in the community
  • noticing similarities and differences in language that relates to culture, such as names of foods and animals particular to different climates and environments; and in cultural practices, such as sharing involved in extended families, special times, story-telling, yarning

Systems of language

Notice and imitate characteristic sounds, intonation patterns and rhythms of the target language(s) and how these relate to the written language

[Key concepts: pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, writing; Key processes: imitating, noticing, distinguishing, reading aloud] (ACLFWU078 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • noticing and distinguishing sounds of the language and matching these with written symbols
  • distinguishing sounds in the language from English sounds and recognising when the target language is being spoken
  • experimenting with pronunciation to capture and produce speech patterns within and across single words and phrases
  • recognising, imitating and distinguishing between intonation patterns in statements, questions, commands, requests, exclamations and song, and noticing how these are distinguished in written language
  • learning that writing systems represent sounds and meanings, and becoming familiar with the alphabetic principles that associate individual sounds/ a range of sounds with particular letters/ combinations of letters
  • noticing that English and the target language share the same alphabetic base
  • associating spoken language with written morphemes, words, phrases and sentences
  • recognising alphabetic conventions particular to the target language, for example, digraphs representing a single sound, diacritics that alter the regular value of a letter
  • experimenting with sounds in songs and noticing how syllables can be separated to fit different tunes and rhythms
  • reading texts aloud, showing knowledge of sound–symbol relationships
Notice types of words in the target language and understand and use some elements of the target language structure

[Key concepts: word function, word order, variation, patterns, rules; Key processes: identifying, recognising, noticing] (ACLFWU079 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • identifying people, places, things and events using:
    • nouns, for example, relating to family, kinship, items in the immediate natural and built environments
    • pronouns, for example, personal, interrogative, kinship and demonstrative
    • verbs for simple actions, states and processes
    • terms to qualify and quantify, for example, size, colour, number, or to classify or compare things
    • adverbs, for example, of location, time and manner
    • simple negation
  • identifying particular forms and structures in the language, for example, those that specify, identify and describe objects and actions, time and place; those that state ownership, ask questions, convey commands
  • noticing that compared to English and other known languages some words may be left out (ellipsis), or must be included or repeated in phrases and sentences, for example, “(it) went”, “big (dog) ate (it)”
  • becoming aware how word order may differ from English or other known languages, for example, noun + qualifier vs qualifier + noun, ’child happy’ vs ’happy child’
  • recognising the use of common affixes to nouns, for example, ’the man’s dog’, ’to the river’, ’in the sea’
  • recognising the use of common affixes on verbs, for example, to indicate tense and mood
  • recognising influences across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, for example, shared words
  • understanding and using elementary metalanguage to describe word types, for example, noun, pronoun, verb
Recognise there are many ways of communicating messages in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages

[Key concepts: communication, narrative; Key processes: recognising, identifying] (ACLFWU080 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • understanding that there are different ways of telling a story, such as Elders yarning, song, dance and music and associated visual design and spectacle, and through painting (body, bark, rock, sand)
  • recognising that communication can also occur through sign language; identifying and using basic signs for things from the everyday environment
  • understanding that texts have a purpose, for example, greetings, Welcome to Country/Acknowledgement of Country/Place, traditional stories, paintings, songs and dances convey community-wide messages
  • identifying some features of narratives, for example, they are usually about journeys across Country, involving landforms, animals and plants
  • recognising that writing, like speech, is rule-bound and involves following the conventions according to text type
  • noticing how texts such as storybooks are sequenced and organised, for example, by identifying the main title and connections between pictures and text
Identify elements of the kinship system and its role in linking story and natural species and phenomena

[Key concepts: kinship, totemic relationships, place, cultural practices; Key processes: identifying, recognising] (ACLFWU081 - Scootle )

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • using kinship charts to identify kinship terms for immediate family, comparing with terms used in their own family
  • recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have their own personal relationships with animal species and natural phenomena
  • recognising that people have a personal relationship with place, for example, birth place
  • identifying skin names where appropriate
  • understanding that ceremonial body markings, designs and paintings are determined by family, skin and story
  • identifying which stories belong to which natural features, including animals and natural species, and discussing their significance

Language variation and change

Recognise that different words and language forms are used to address and communicate with people according to relationship and context

[Key concepts: kinship, context, relationship; Key processes: noticing, recognising] (ACLFWU082 - Scootle )

  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • noticing that different forms of address and kinship terms are used depending on the relationship between participants
  • recognising that the way someone is related to others affects how he or she speaks to them
  • recognising that ways of speaking vary according to context and situation, for example, language used when interacting with peers during playground games is different to that used with the teaching team and with visiting Elders/community speakers
  • recognising that language used in particular interactions can vary between cultural contexts, for example, the use of titles in English compared to kin categories in the target language
Recognise that languages borrow words from each other

[Key concepts: relatedness, word borrowing; Key processes: identifying, recognising, comparing] (ACLFWU083 - Scootle )

  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • noticing and describing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander words and phrases used in everyday Australian life e.g. jarrah, koala, euro, dingo, billabong
  • recognising words in the target language that are borrowed from English
  • recognising that some words in the target language have come from other Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander languages

Language awareness

Identify the region of the target language and notice how it is part of the broader regional and national language diversity

[Key concepts: linguistic diversity, language revival; Key processes: identifying, recognising] (ACLFWU084 - Scootle )

  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • identifying regions, places and communities where the target language is spoken
  • identifying immediate neighbours of the target language wherever it is spoken
  • recognising that there are many different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in Australia, for example, by viewing Language maps of their region, their state and the whole of Australia
  • recognising general geographic types of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, including the target language region, for example, desert, coastal, rain forest, sub-alpine, riverine and seas
  • recognising that linguistic diversity in contemporary Australia includes Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous languages, and that Australia has many languages, for example, by identifying languages used by classmates by creating a class profile or language map
  • recognising that some Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages in Australia are strong, while others are endangered or in the process of being revived or reclaimed
  • recognising shared vocabulary across groups of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, for example, ‘hand’, ‘water’, ‘crow’
Understand that language belongs to communities and that language learning requires the application of respectful and appropriate behaviour

[Key concepts: ownership, belonging, respect; Key processes: demonstrating, applying] (ACLFWU085 - Scootle )

  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • understanding that each Aboriginal language or Torres Strait Islander language is recognised as belonging to a group of people who are the language owners or custodians
  • demonstrating and applying respectful and appropriate behaviours, including the use of appropriate language forms, in the presence of visiting Elders/community members
  • understanding the purpose of Welcomes to Country/Acknowledgements of Country and talking about their experiences of participating in welcomes and acknowledgements, for example, at school, sporting events, festivities

Role of language and culture

Notice that people use language in ways that reflect their culture, such as where and how they live and what is important to them

[Key concepts: Country/Place, Language, Culture, symbol; Key processes: noticing, recognising, questioning, making connections] (ACLFWU086 - Scootle )

  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • Sustainability
  • exploring culture as an essential part of human life, understanding that it is shared and passed on between generations; that it includes observables such as ways of cooking and ways of greeting, symbols such as flags and colours, as well as invisible elements such as beliefs and values, how people think about themselves and others, and how they relate to their environment
  • recognising that in each culture there are general rules of what to say and do, when, where and with whom, and that these rules differ from culture to culture
  • recognising that beliefs and behaviours are woven into languages and cannot be separated from them
  • noticing how respect for Elders and Country/Place is built into the language
  • recognising significant symbols and features in the target language, for example, in song, visual design, dance moves
  • recognising that languages encapsulates values held about land and Country, for example, caring for Country

Role of language building

Recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are transmitted from generation to generation

[Key concept: oral transmission; Key processes: noticing, recognising, considering, valuing] (ACLFWU087 - Scootle )

  • Intercultural Understanding
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
  • recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages have been maintained through an oral rather than a written tradition
  • recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages have been maintained and passed down through generations by means of storytelling, performance, songs and viewing Country/Place as text
  • recognising that language speakers are the most important primary source of language knowledge
  • considering why learning an Aboriginal language/Torres Strait Islander language is important to the school community and considering how this promotes Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages more generally

Foundation to Year 2 Achievement Standards

The achievement standards for the Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages Second Language Learner Pathway are generalised in order to cater for the range of languages that may be learnt as an L2 in the school context. The achievement standards will need to be adapted for specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

By the end of Year 2, students interact with the teaching team, visiting Elders and community members to talk about themselves, family, friends and immediate environment using familiar language supported by gestures. When interacting with Elders and community speakers, they use appropriate forms of address and terms of respect. They use movement, gestures and rehearsed language to participate in guided group activities, such as adapting and performing action songs. They interact in familiar classroom routines by responding to requests, following instructions and using routine classroom language, for example, to request classroom objects. Students listen to, read, view and comprehend texts that are short, clearly structured and supported by visuals and paralinguistic elements, for example, tone of voice, facial expression, gesture and repetition and recycling of structures and vocabulary. They demonstrate their understanding of the target language region, for example, by making simple statements and giving descriptions of animals, food and artefacts, labelling and sorting these into categories, or by pointing to key topographical features on a map or at pictures of food sources, plants and animals in response to questions. They respond to texts such as stories, songs, dance and visual art through singing, miming, play-acting, drawing, action and movement. They demonstrate understanding by naming key characters, significant places, landscapes or topographical features and by identifying key messages. Students use familiar words, patterns and support materials to create and present shared stories, songs and performances. They translate and explain in English the meaning of target language words, simple phrases and gestures used in everyday contexts and situations. They create simple bilingual texts for the classroom environment, such as captions, labels and wall charts. They identify markers of their own identity, such as family, school/class and language/s, and compare these to the importance of language, place and family in the formation of identity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Students identify similarities and differences in the ways they interact when communicating in English and the target language.

Students distinguish between the sounds of the target language and English and link sounds to written symbols and conventions. They use simple metalanguage to describe elemental structures of the target language, such as word order and word types. They identify how messages in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages can be communicated in a number of ways, such as Elders’ story-telling or through song, dance and visual design. Students identify kinship terms used for immediate family members and recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have their own personal relationships with place, natural species and phenomena. They identify which stories belong to which natural features, including animals and natural species. They know that different forms of address and kinship terms are used and depend on relationship and context. They identify some words in the language that have been borrowed from other languages. They identify regions, places and communities where the target language is spoken and recognise that there are many different languages spoken in their class, their local community and in Australia. They recognise that language speakers are the most important primary source of language knowledge and that language use reflects where and how people live and what is important to them.