Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages

Each Aboriginal language or Torres Strait Islander language belongs to a group of people who are its Custodians and/or Traditional Owners. This means that permission and consent must be sought from Custodians and/or Traditional Owners when developing language-specific curricula and planning and implementing language programs.

This Language resource was developed to support teachers as they plan teaching and learning programs to implement the Australian Curriculum: Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages. It is a template and includes broad suggestions for a sequential development of language structures and features, where appropriate and as relevant to a language.

This resource provides categories of language structures and features that are neither exhaustive nor mutually exclusive, nor applicable across all Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages. It is intended to provide examples that will need to be adapted for individual languages. Not all language structures and features listed, nor developmental sequences, will be appropriate or relevant to a particular language. For example, some languages may not use the sound combinations of consonant clusters and others may not use a rolling or trilling r – in cases such as these, teachers can delete these categories, as appropriate.

The resource template may assist teachers to meet the diverse language needs and learning backgrounds of students at different entry points into language learning. A teacher can use the cognitive demand and content of the curriculum, supported by the resource, to assist differentiation of language structures and features.

Content is presented in 3 broad levels – beginner, intermediate and advanced – and is independent of the pathway, year bands and the time spent on task. The broad levels will vary depending on the language-learner pathway, status of the language, and variation in structures and features across languages. The levels demonstrate how a particular structure or feature could be developed at different stages of a continuum of language learning.

For example:

• A language program based on the First-Language (L1) Learner Pathway may include the full range of vocabulary, linguistic structures and idiomatic expressions of the language, whereas a program based on the Language-Revival (LR) Learner Pathway will be dependent on the state of revitalisation. This will also depend on the amount of information and knowledge that is known, available and accessible about the language, including but not limited to its vocabulary, structures and features.

Please note: This [Language] support resource is under development. It will need to be adapted for each Aboriginal Language and Torres Strait Islander Language and context. Ongoing advice regarding adjustments may mean that this document is updated accordingly. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language educators are invited to suggest improvements to this resource by submitting an online inquiry.