A World of Indigenous Languages by Teresa L. McCarty;Sheilah E. Nicholas;Gillian Wigglesworth;

Author:Teresa L. McCarty;Sheilah E. Nicholas;Gillian Wigglesworth;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: A World of Indigenous Languages
Publisher: Book Network Int'l Limited trading as NBN International (NBNi)
Published: 2019-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

5Language Vitality In and Out of School in a Remote Indigenous Australian Context

Inge Kral and Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis

All too often it is assumed that Indigenous language learning should take place in the classroom. But such assumptions do not consider the sociocultural aspects of language acquisition, particularly in settings where the Indigenous mother tongue is still the first language. In this chapter, Inge Kral and Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis draw on their experience as language educators and researchers to consider language vitality in and out of school in a remote Indigenous Australian context. They consider the history of language pedagogy in the ‘Ngaanyatjarra Lands’ desert region of Western Australia and critically reflect on language education policy locally and nationally. Highlighted in this chapter is the effect of changing modes of communication in the Western Desert and the impact on oral traditions. Addressed also is the ensuing erosion of culturally relevant traditional roles and the language practices that underpin social organization. Kral and Ellis argue that in the quest to maintain language vitality and ensure intergenerational language transmission, everyday language policies and practices are urgently required. Such community-based language maintenance strategies would include language use through digital communication technologies and social media.

Introduction

In this chapter we present two perspectives on Indigenous language learning in the region known as the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Western Desert of Australia – an area of some 188,000 square kilometres, three times the size of Tasmania, fanning out from the tri-state border region of Western Australia – with a population of approximately 2000 (Figure 5.1). Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis is an Indigenous linguist and speaker of multiple Western Desert dialects. She has worked as a Ngaatjatjarra/Pitjantjatjara language teacher, interpreter and translator, and dictionary worker over many decades. Having been awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Award at the Australian National University, Ellis is now documenting and analyzing the verbal arts of her speech community.1 Inge Kral is a linguistic anthropologist at the Australian National University with some 30 years’ experience as an educator and researcher in Indigenous language settings in Australia. Kral and Ellis have worked together over many years and recently collaborated on research documenting the changing modes of communication in the Western Desert and the impact of communication technologies on language use.2

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