Spreading the Arnhem word (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Spreading the Arnhem word

Ebru Yaman
30nov05
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17408201%255E12332,00.html

THE Yolngu language belongs to the indigenous people of East Arnhem Land
and there are up to 30 different registers. Teaching this complex,
living tongue to Japanese "didgeridoo freaks", then, is some feat.

"We have a strong online course," Charles Darwin University's Michael
Christie, one of the course's creators, said last night. "It attracts a
lot of international students."
It has a particular appeal to Japanese students interested in Aboriginal
culture.

Indeed, almost all of the 50 or so students - undergraduate and
postgraduate - are not indigenous but have been drawn to the study from
other areas.

Associate Professor Christie said the course was especially popular
among health professionals - doctors and nurses - who wanted to know
more about the culture, history and ancestral stories of the Yolngu
people.

The course, the only university-level one of its kind, is mostly taught
by indigenous speakers of Yolngu and has the authority of Aboriginal
elders. As such, it is unique.

Professor Christie, a linguist, created the course 12 years ago with
colleague Waymamba Gaykamangu, a senior Yolngu woman. She was a teacher
in Arnhem Land when she helped develop the course.

Professor Christie, Ms Gaykamangu and CDU colleagues Betty Marrnganyin,
who is also a senior Yolngu woman and teacher, and John Greatorex, a
linguist and researcher, last night won two Australian Awards for
University Teaching. As a team they won a teaching award in the
humanities and arts category, and also won the overall Prime Minister's
Award for University Teacher of the Year.

Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson said the award was for the
group's "outstanding work on developing teaching and learning resources
as part of the Yolngu Studies Project".

Professor Christie said while the Yolngu language was in no danger of
dying out, it was at some risk of losing its vital links to the land
and to kinship.

"Our teaching is based on stories about land ownership, ancestral
stories, kinship and history," he said. "These are all integral to the
language and its use.

"The Yolngu language is not so much in danger of being lost as being
depleted and its links to land and culture and ceremony being lost."

He said relationships in part determined the use of and variations in
the Yolngu language.

To demonstrate that, students are introduced to the kinship system.

"Every student is put into the kinship system and they must learn to use
that to relate to each other, so they can understand the use of the
language."

The 2005 Australian Awards for University Teaching, sponsored by The
Australian, were established by the federal Government in 1997 to
recognise and reward excellence in university teaching and aim to raise
the status of the profession.

The CDU team receive a total of $75,000 from a prize pool of $565,000.

Winners were announced last night at a function at Parliament House in
Canberra. Eleven university teachers and five university teams received
awards. This year, 117 applications were received from 35 universities
in 12 categories.

>From next year, the awards will be known as the Carrick Awards for
University Teaching and will be managed by the Carrick Institute for
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

Next year, the awards receive a boost: they will be worth $3 million in
total and 251 prizes will be given.

For a full list of award winners and information on the Yolngu Studies
Project, go to the following websites:

www.theaustralian.com.au/highered

www.cdu.edu.au/yolngustudies

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