Grammar Rules, OK? What works when teaching a highly endangered Aboriginal language versus a stronger language?

dc.contributor.authorGale, Mary-Anneen
dc.contributor.conferenceAustralian Linguistic Society Conference (42nd : 2011 : Canberra, A.C.T.)en
dc.contributor.schoolSchool of Humanities : Linguisticsen
dc.date.issued2012en
dc.description.abstractThis paper examines the pedagogy of teaching an Aboriginal language under revival such as Ngarrindjeri, versus a stronger language, such as Pitjantjatjara—both languages of South Australia. It challenges the current recommended methodologies based on theory inspired by teaching European and Asian languages, which are invariably spoken fluently by language teachers. These communicative and/or functional approaches are often not possible for the revival situation, particularly if there are no fluent speakers or teachers, and the main source of language texts are written. For this reason, the use of the traditional Grammar Translation Method, once used successfully to teach text-based languages such as Latin and Classical Greek, is arguably a very useful approach for the revival situation. The paper explores the different approaches to teaching languages, and challenges teachers’ fears of criticism from advisers driven by theory that sees ‘eclectic’ as a dirty word.en
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityMary-Anne Galeen
dc.description.urihttp://www.als.asn.au/conferences.htmlen
dc.identifier.citationProceedings of the 42nd Australian Linguistic Society Conference – 2011, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, 2-4 December 2011 / M. Ponsonnet, L. Dao & M. Bowler (eds.): pp.75-96en
dc.identifier.isbn9780980281545en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/78239
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAustralian Linguistic Societyen
dc.rightsCopyright remains with the author.en
dc.subjectlanguage revival; grammar translation method; Ngarrindjeri; Pitjantjatjara; language teaching methodology; language pedagogyen
dc.titleGrammar Rules, OK? What works when teaching a highly endangered Aboriginal language versus a stronger language?en
dc.typeConference paperen

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