How Universities Can Strengthen Australian Indigenous Languages. The Australian Indigenous Languages Institute

Abstract

There is a considerable and growing interest in Australian languages, which are now widely used on ceremonial occasions in parliaments and other national institutions, as well as at sporting events. In the educational sector, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) offers a framework for Indigenous languages, while New South Wales now has Australian languages syllabuses which cater for all levels of schooling. However the severe lack of trained teachers and resources often means that the actual teaching of these languages is limited. Universities have a role to play in breaking this cycle, not only through their traditional and ongoing research into the maintenance and revival of Indigenous languages, but also through the increased provision of specialized teaching resources. It is proposed that these aims can best be achieved through the creation of an Australian Indigenous Languages Institute (AILI). This will offer a means of developing university courses in languages that are accessible and supportive for Indigenous people and that will provide in-depth teaching of languages and related topics such as linguistics and revival and maintenance processes. By drawing on the resources of a number of universities, it can use different modes of course delivery, including summer and winter schools, online and regular semester courses, to award tertiary qualifications to prospective teachers. AILI is based upon the premise that universities are committed to Australian Indigenous languages and are prepared to play a far greater role in sustaining them.