Abstract
There are important efforts being made to revitalise Aboriginal languages in Australia, which are both pedagogically and culturally appropriate. This research seeks to expand the current knowledge of the effectiveness of gesturing as a teaching strategy for young children learning the Gathang language. An experimental method was used to investigate the effectiveness of gesture by employing a context in which other variables (e.g., other teaching pedagogies) could be held constant. Participants, age range 4–5.2 years, were taught Gathang nouns with gesture and without gesture, alongside verbal and pictorial instruction. After the teaching sessions, each child was assessed for their receptive and expressive knowledge of the Gathang nouns, at two time points, two days after instruction (post-test 1) and one week after (post-test 2). At post-test 2, children had stronger receptive knowledge for words they had learned with gesture than without. These findings contribute to a growing body of research attesting to the effectiveness of gesture for improving knowledge acquisition amongst learners. In the context of Aboriginal language revitalisation, gesture also aligns with traditional teaching practices and offers a relatively low-cost strategy for helping teachers assist their students in acquiring Aboriginal languages.
Highlights
The language of the Birrbay, Warrimay and Gurigay, is one of thirty-five Aboriginal languages spoken in New South
Gathang belongs to the Pama-Nyungan family of Australian languages and many grammatical relations are expressed through the use of suffixes
Aboriginal languages in New SouthWales (NSW) were severely impacted as NSW was one of the first parts of Australia to be colonised (Lowe and Walsh 2009)
Summary
Upon the invasion of Australia by the British, there were approximately 250 individual Aboriginal languages spoken (Power 2013). The language of the Birrbay, Warrimay and Gurigay, is one of thirty-five Aboriginal languages spoken in New South. Gathang belongs to the Pama-Nyungan family of Australian languages and many grammatical relations are expressed through the use of suffixes Aboriginal languages in NSW were severely impacted as NSW was one of the first parts of Australia to be colonised (Lowe and Walsh 2009). English became the predominant language in NSW, as Aboriginal people were forbidden from speaking their languages (Lissarrague 2010)
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