Australia: Aboriginal Languages Slowly Making Way into Schools

[Harold Schiffman]

Aboriginal Languages Slowly Making Way into Australian Schools
By Nicola Fell
Sydney 04 December 2007

On the eve of European settlement in Australia, around 250 indigenous
languages were spoken. Today most of them have been lost, and only 17
are thought likely to survive for another generation. But in the state
of New South Wales, the government is attempting to reverse this. In
schools with a large indigenous population, learning an aboriginal
language will be available to all students, as Nicola Fell reports
from Sydney. Here at Broulee Primary School on the southeastern coast
of Australia, Waine Donovan is greeting his students in the local
Aboriginal language, Dhurga. "I didn't learn the actual Dhurga
language… because traditionally, Aboriginal people were forbidden from
speaking their own language. If they were caught doing it, they could
be punished by beating, or they could be killed. So, a lot of our
elders still don't speak the language. They also don't feel that it's
valuable," he explained.

Donovan, who is half Aboriginal and grew up here in Broulee, says the
new emphasis on native languages is popular among Aboriginal students.
"For Aboriginal people in Australia, if you do something that draws
attention to yourself, it's seen as a shame. But since we've been
doing this language course in our school, we actually use the language
a lot more, in the staff room, we hear it being used in the
playground, it permeates throughout the school. That shame aspect has
actually been turned around, to pride," said Donovan.
In New South Wales, all students have to learn a second language, and
this policy being pioneered by the state government aims to make
indigenous languages the main option, along with Chinese and French.

Rob Randal of the New South Wales Department of Education says that so
far, 5,000 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students are learning an
indigenous language local to their area. In a nation where indigenous
culture suffered greatly since European settlement, Randal says the
reason for this new program goes beyond mere education. "This move is
as much about reconciliation as it is about enhancing their cultural
identity, as it is about the educational reasons," he said.  Randall
says the reception to the language courses has been striking. He says
one school had a 12 percent suspension rate the year before the
language was introduced. The following year, suspensions dropped to
zero.  He says there was also a 25 percent increase in attendance at
the school, and he hopes this enthusiasm will help eliminate the
achievement gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students.

"Having children attend school and engage in school leads logically to
improved results," he said. "Our goal is by 2012 to have Aboriginal
student achievement on a par with non-Aboriginal student achievement.
At the moment, there's a significant gap."

When European settlement began in Australia more than 200 years ago,
250 Aboriginal languages were spoken. Today there are only 20, and
fewer than 3,000 people speak an indigenous language in New South
Wales.

Michael Walsh, a linguist at the University of Sydney, says
revitalizing languages can help people like Australia's Aborigines
recover their lost identity.

"I've seen specific instances where Aboriginal people have had a
terrible life, and the mere reintroduction of their language has been
enough to turn their life around from one of despair and hopelessness
to one of optimism, and an ability to function much more effectively
in the wider society," he said.



Aboriginal children playing at Hopy's town camp at Alice Springs, 19 May 2007
Many teachers believe that this policy can make a real difference to
how Aboriginal children perform in school. Currently only 33 percent
are completing high school - which is less than half the national
average.

Tiahnnya Smith is 10 and lives near her school in Broulee.

"I'm Aboriginal and I think I should know Aboriginal words," said Smith.

Q: "The teachers say that when children learn an Aboriginal language,
like you, then they do better at school. Do you think that's true?"

A: "Yes because makes me feel good because I'm learning my own culture."

Frances Kerkham, who is nine, says non-Aboriginal students also enjoy
learning the language.

"I reckon it's really interesting because I get to learn about the
language of the people who originally lived on these grounds," said
Kerkham.

Interesting to a girl like Frances - but important to a girl like
Tiahnnya. For her and students like her, this is a part of personal
history.

Tiahnnya is teaching her mother to speak their native language, she
says. Doing so makes her proud.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-04-voa15.cfm

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