Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

A digital collection of endangered languages, co‐managed by the University of Melbourne, has been added to the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World collection to protect it for future generations.

Dr Nick Thieberger from the newly formed Research Unit for Indigenous Language in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne has been awarded a Ludwig Leichhardt Jubilee Fellowship by the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

University of Melbourne press release: http://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/researchnews/

Alexander von

Humboldt Foundation press release:  http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/newsletter-2-2013-7-en.html.

Professor Gillian Wigglesworth, the Director of the University’s Indigenous Language Research Unit, said bilingual education was vital to the development of young children in communities where languages other than English were spoken at home.

From: http://phys.org/news/2012-09-academics-urge-heed-indigenous-language.html#jCp

“Without a bilingual program, children are being taught in a language they are not familiar with. This means they often don’t understand what is going on, and then don’t engage,” she said. According to the Our Land Our Language report—tabled in Federal Parliament by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs—teaching children in their first language in preschool (before gradually increasing the amount of English used in the classroom) resulted in higher literacy rates by Year 7 in English and the first language. “We know from many studies both here and internationally, that teaching children using their first language is the best way for them to learn anything, including a second language,” Professor Wigglesworth said. “Children come to school with a lot of knowledge about language – their first language – and we need to build on this knowledge.”The report recommended several other measures to slow the loss of indigenous languages and improve educational outcomes for indigenous people in remote areas. These included constitutional recognition of indigenous languages, support for interpreter services

(especially in the health and justice sectors) and ways of ensuring that Australia’s linguistic heritage is protected into the future, by supporting regional language centres and archives. Professor Wigglesworth is optimistic the report will have an impact. “Hopefully now that this report has been tabled, various governments will see that the weight of evidence supports measures such as bilingual education, appropriate language and cultural training for teachers working in indigenous communities and recognition of the contribution that indigenous teachers can make, as well as alternatives to NAPLAN testing that doesn’t discriminate on the basis of a student’s language. “We have a real chance of improving the lives of the tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for whom a one-size-fits-all education system has not been successful.” “But for that to happen, we need the governments to get behind the committee’s findings and act immediately,” she said. More information: www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=/atsia/languages2/report/full%20report.pdf

http://jobs.unimelb.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=831808&lWorkTypeID=&lLocationID=&lCategoryID=&lPayScaleID=&stp=AW&sLanguage=en

The Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC), a formally constituted university centre located within the School of Languages and Linguistics, is an international leader in research and development in language assessment and language program evaluation. The Centre plays a key role with regards to the research strategy of the School of Languages and Linguistics in terms of research income, project development, capability building in both research and research training,

and stakeholder engagement. Research and academic articulation between the Centre and the rest of the School is excellent, in particular with the Linguistics and Applied Linguistics program.

The LTRC is currently seeking a Director to lead the Unit. In this role you will be responsible for the management of the Centre within the organizational, policy and strategic framework established by the University and the Department. Your primary role will be to attract revenue for the Centre from both international and external sources, to develop and implement the Centre’s business strategy under the direction of the Head of School, to encourage the pursuit of excellence in research, to seek new opportunities for the enhancement of the international standing of the LTRC and the SOLL, to provide academic and administrative leadership within the Centre and to facilitate a collegial and productive working environment. You will also be expected to make a substantial contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs in Applied Linguistics.

Is it possible to obtain justice in a language or dialect that is not your own?

A panel of linguistic and legal experts discuss language and the law.

At the very best of times courts can be confusing but if you don’t understand spoken English it can be overwhelming whether you are a victim, suspect or  a witness . The rituals and the language used are not ones that most of us are familiar with and as one of our guests today’s put it “The monolithic immovable smug nature of the legal system,

which sits there expecting people to come to it on its terms “ doesn’t help.

So if English is not your first language can justice be denied?

The podcast of this discussion can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/language-and-the-law/3832062