Auslan (Version 8.4)

Understand how Auslan works

Introduction

As a native user of Auslan, and as an advocate for the language and for the Deaf community, I am thrilled to see a national curriculum in Auslan come to fruition. For the first time, deaf children will have access to a formal first language learner pathway for acquiring Auslan, acknowledging their status and strengths as visual learners and offering a ‘Deaf gain’ perspective to their lives.

Rationale

The formal study of Auslan contributes to the overall intellectual and social enrichment of both first language (L1) and second language (L2) learners by providing:

opportunities for engagement with the Deaf community and insight into its rich cultural heritage

Aims

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Auslan aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to enable students to:

communicate in Auslan
understand language, culture and learning and their relationship, and thereby develop an intercultural capability in communication

Learning Auslan

Some linguistic features of Auslan are similar to properties found in spoken languages and others are not. For example, the 26 fingerspelled letters of the Auslan alphabet are based on the 26 letters of English.

Learner diversity and learner pathways

Pathways
There is diversity in the background of learners of Auslan. Learners may be deaf, hard of hearing or hearing, and may be learning Auslan as a first language or as a second language.

Developing teaching and learning

Sequences of learning
The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Auslan has two learning sequences: one from Foundation to Year 10, and another from Year 7 to Year 10 (Year 7 Entry).

PDF documents

Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Languages – Auslan are available as PDF documents.
Languages - Auslan: Auslan glossing conventions and principles
Languages - Auslan: Auslan Glossary

Glossary

Context Statement

Years F–10 Sequence

The second language learner (L2) pathway caters for students learning Auslan as a second or additional language. This will usually be students who are not members of the Deaf community; typically, hearing students who may or may not already know a second language. The L2 pathway may also include deaf or hard of hearing children already fluent in another language, such as a different signed language in the case of a recent immigrant, or spoken English for some deaf children who have residual hearing or access to speech. These students are introduced to Auslan as a language to add to their existing linguistic repertoire. Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences.

The first language of most L2 students will be a spoken language, and this pathway gives them an opportunity to study a language that is very different from a spoken language. If L2 learners are learning in a school attended by deaf students, they will have a unique opportunity to use their new language on a daily basis in an authentic context.

L2 programs occur with constant involvement from a variety of fluent signers from the community. A key expectation is that students will have opportunities to interact with elders and members of the Deaf community.

Years 7–10 (Year 7 Entry) Sequence

The second language learner pathway Years 7–10 sequence offers students the opportunity to learn Auslan as a second or additional language commencing in their first year of high school. These learners are typically hearing students with little prior exposure to the language or to the Deaf community; but many will have learnt an additional language in primary school and some have proficiency in different home languages. They consequently bring existing language learning strategies and intercultural awareness to the new experience of learning Auslan. This cohort also includes deaf or hard of hearing students already fluent in another language, such as different signed languages in the case of recent immigrants or spoken English for deaf children who have residual hearing or access to speech. These students are introduced to Auslan to add to their existing linguistic repertoire. Teachers will use the curriculum to cater for learners of different backgrounds by making appropriate adjustments to differentiate learning experiences.

The first language of most L2 students will be a spoken language, and this pathway provides an opportunity to study a language that is very different from a spoken language. L2 learners learning in a school attended by deaf students have a unique opportunity to use their new language on a daily basis in an authentic context.

Years 7 and 8

Years 7 and 8 Band Description

The nature of the learners

The transition to secondary schooling involves social and academic demands that coincide with a period of maturational and physical change. Learners are adjusting to a new school culture with sharper divisions between curriculum areas. There is a need for continuity through change in relation to their language learning. Students in this pathway are continuing to study Auslan, bringing with them a capability to communicate, with some assistance, about their immediate world and the Deaf community. They have experience in analysing the major features of the language system and in considering intercultural exchanges, including their role in these. However, learners at this level may find themselves in classes that include learners with a range of previous experience with Auslan and Deaf culture. A multilevel and differentiated approach to teaching and task design responds to this diversity of prior experience.

At this level, students bring a range of learning strategies to their language learning. They are increasingly aware of the world beyond their own and are engaging with broader issues of youth and society, land and environment, education and identity, while establishing a balance between increasing personal independence and social responsibilities. They are considering their future pathways and choices, including how Auslan might be part of these.

Auslan learning and use

Learners interact using Auslan in classroom routines and communicative tasks. They use Auslan to compare and contrast, sign instructions, problem-solve, make announcements, persuade, and recount experiences in increasing detail. They are able to express their feelings and emotions creatively in Auslan.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context for learning remains the Auslan class; however, there may be opportunities for interacting with deaf students from other schools and with other learners of Auslan, for example through technology and sister-school relationships. Learners may be exposed to Auslan signers from the Deaf community through visiting speakers, media and community events.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a range of increasingly complex live and digital signed texts designed for learning Auslan in school. Authentic texts created for Deaf people, such as websites, provide extra opportunities to extend understanding of language and culture. Texts come from a range of domains or genres, such as community announcements, vlogs and stories, and serve a variety of purposes, such as informative, transactional, communicative, imaginative and expressive. The Deaf community is the most important resource for learning because it is the origin of most of the texts and communicative situations engaged with by learners.

Features of Auslan use

Learners are extending their grammatical knowledge, such as how language structures and features are used in texts. They are using more elaborate sentence structures, including conjoining clauses, and are increasingly making their texts cohesive by setting up and maintaining referents in signing space. Learners are exploring non-manual features (NMFs) and their relationship with clause types, and are beginning to use constructed action to represent multiple participants in a text. They are increasingly aware of connections between language and culture, comparing them to concepts in their own language and culture. They are learning to reflect on their own language and culture and on how identity impacts on intercultural experiences.

Level of support

Particular support is required at this stage of learning to manage the transition to secondary schooling and to encourage continued engagement with language learning. Opportunities to review and consolidate prior learning are balanced against provision of engaging and relevant new experiences and tasks that are more challenging. Learners require modelled language use and explicit instruction in grammatical knowledge, with comparison between English and Auslan. They need support in using dictionaries, particularly in determining base signs and choosing appropriate meanings for the context. Learners continue to access visual glossaries, charts and examples to support their receptive and productive language use. The teacher continues to provide implicit and explicit modelling and scaffolding in relation to meaningful language use in a range of contexts, and explicit instruction and explanation in relation to language structures, grammatical functions, vocabulary and abstract cultural concepts. Learners at this level are encouraged to self-monitor, for example, by keeping records of feedback and through peer support, and to self-review and adjust language in response to their experiences in different contexts.

The role of English

Auslan is used for classroom interaction, language learning tasks and experiences, and, with support, reflection on learning. Auslan may also be used for learning new content drawn from other learning areas. English is used for analysis, comparison and reflection in relation to abstract concepts and more substantive discussion. English may also be used to research cultural issues where a source text is not available in Auslan. Learners continue to develop a metalanguage for thinking and talking about language, culture, identity and about the experience of learning and using Auslan.

Years 7 and 8 Content Descriptions

Communicating

Socialising

Interact appropriately with people in different contexts, sharing experiences, interests and opinions about current events or school and community experience

[Key concepts: protocol, turn-taking, interaction; Key processes: socialising, comparing, turn-taking, clarifying] (ACLASFC181 - Scootle )

Engage in different processes of collaborative learning, including planning, problem-solving, task completion and evaluation

[Key concepts: design, communication, reflection; Key processes: collaborating, designing, creating, presenting, problem-solving, reflecting] (ACLASFC182 - Scootle )

Participate in extended interactions by explaining and clarifying answers, responding to others’ contributions, asking follow-up questions and observing protocols in and beyond the classroom

[Key concepts: interaction, signing space, discussion, context, environment, protocols; Key processes: responding, commenting, adjusting, contextualising] (ACLASFC183 - Scootle )

Informing

Collate and analyse information accessed through a variety of signed texts to present an overview or develop a position on issues or interests

[Key concepts: perspective, representation; Key processes: collating, analysing, researching, interviewing, evaluating, surveying] (ACLASFC184 - Scootle )

Present information on different events or experiences to inform, report, promote, instruct or invite action

[Key concepts: action, experience; Key processes: instructing, reporting, persuading, inviting] (ACLASFC185 - Scootle )

Creating

Interpret different types of texts that involve the expression of feelings or experiences and the representation of imagined people, places and scenarios, sharing and comparing their responses to different elements

[Key concepts: expression, manner, metaphorical iconicity; Key processes: comparing, evaluating, describing, exploring, profiling] (ACLASFC186 - Scootle )

Create and present entertaining individual or collaborative texts that reflect real or imagined people, places or experiences

[Key concepts: improvisation, diorama, role-play, theme; Key processes: creating, improvising, collaborating, re-creating, role-playing] (ACLASFC187 - Scootle )

Translating

Translate and interpret less familiar short texts and compare their translations to those of their classmates, considering why there might be differences in interpretation and how language reflects elements of culture and experience

[Key concepts: equivalence, meaning, interpretation, culture, ethics; Key processes: translating, interpreting, comparing, paraphrasing, summarising] (ACLASFC188 - Scootle )

Create bilingual texts to use in the wider school community, identifying words/signs or expressions that carry specific cultural meaning in either language

[Key concepts: equivalence, bilingualism; Key processes: captioning, creating] (ACLASFC189 - Scootle )

Identity

Consider their own and each other’s cultural experiences and ways of expressing identity and reflect on the role of Auslan in building and expressing identity for Deaf people

[Key concepts: identity, perspective, belonging, wellbeing; Key processes: reflecting, comparing, describing, discussing, investigating, analysing] (ACLASFC190 - Scootle )

Reflecting

Reflect on their intercultural interactions and experiences, for example by considering their responses when engaging with Auslan users or digital resources, and on how these responses reflect their own languages and cultures

[Key concepts: intercultural experience, ways of knowing and being, discrimination; Key processes: comparing, analysing, explaining, reflecting, exploring] (ACLASFC191 - Scootle )

Years 7 and 8 Achievement Standards

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 8, students use Auslan to interact and to exchange information, experiences, interests and opinions with teachers, peers and others. They initiate and maintain conversations and use strategies such as fingerspelling to replace unknown signs to support continued interaction, such as PRO2 MEAN [FINGERSPELL]? They engage in different processes of collaborative learning, including planning, negotiating, and problem-solving, using familiar and some spontaneous language, for example PRO1 AGREE-NOT, PRO1 THINK DIFFERENT. Students participate in class discussions, explaining and clarifying positions, asking follow-up questions, using non-manual features (NMFs) for topicalisation or negation. They use appropriate protocols to join or leave conversations, for example, waiting for eye gaze or for the signer to finish, not asking for a full recount when arriving mid-conversation, and providing context for a new participant joining a conversation. Students locate, interpret and analyse information from a variety of texts, such as signed announcements, interviews or media reports, using context and familiar language to work out unfamiliar meaning. They demonstrate understanding of different types of signed texts by paraphrasing, summarising and explaining main ideas, key themes or sequences of events. They interpret different types of creative and imaginative texts, such as Deaf performances or expressive art forms, describing and comparing their responses. They plan, draft and present informative and imaginative texts, linking and sequencing ideas using connectives, such as BUT, WHEN or WELL, and strategies such as repetition, stress and pausing for emphasis. They create bilingual texts to use in the wider school community, for example by captioning short stories, poems or interviews with members of the Deaf community. Students reflect on how their own ways of communicating may be interpreted when interacting with deaf people; and they modify elements of their behaviour such as eye contact, facial expression or body language as appropriate.

Students identify and describe the different types of NMFs, and understand their function and how they interact with clause type. They identify iconic signs and discuss how these match their referents, such as COMPUTER-MOUSE. They understand how handshape and movement represent different things in each type of depicting sign (DS). They identify and categorise instances of signers using spatial modifications to signs and know that signs can be iconic in a number of ways. They analyse clauses to see where signers create composite utterances with elements of constructed action (CA), DSs, points and fully-lexical signs in the same utterance. They recognise that Auslan is constantly evolving and changing, for example, by identifying changes to Auslan that reflect changes in social relationships, community attitudes and changing technology. They understand that the most unifying factor of the Deaf community is the use of Auslan. Students reflect on how all ways of language use are influenced by communities’ world views and identities, for example by comparing the cultural concept of Deaf identity with the medical model of deafness.