rnld newsletter Newsletter Autumn 2012.pdf · McLaren and Caroline Bradshaw. Wordless books are another effective language immersion tool used in the Master-Apprentice program. Talking

rnld newsletter

Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity33 Drummond St Carlton VIC 3053PO Box 627 Carlton South VIC 3053

(03) 9662 [email protected]

autumn 2012

Skype: rnldorgTwitter: @rnldorg0488 086 031

Welcome to the second issue of the RNLD newsletter! This issue is primarily dedicated to the Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program workshops we held in Alice Springs and Kununurra in March. The workshops were run by US trainers Leanne Hinton, Nancy Steele and Stan Rodriguez and were organised by RNLD in partner-ship with Batchelor Institute in Alice Springs, Mirima Dawang Woorlab-Gerring Language Centre in Kununurra, and the Koori Centre at the University of Sydney. 34 participants came from all over the country and represented 25 languages. The workshops were a great success thanks to the enthusiasm of the trainers and participants alike. We were also joined by representatives from the Indigenous Languages Support program, which funded the workshops: Wallace McKitrick and Sue Glyde spent a day with us in Alice Springs, while Wendy Dalitz and Gay Messer came to Kununurra. We’ve got some great photos from the different exercises we learnt at the workshops to help rebuild speaker communities across the country.

Welcome

Peter Abbott with Marg Carew of Batchelor Institute welcoming participants to the Alice Springs workshop

The MALLP group from Alice Springs

The US training team (from left): Stan Rodriguez, Leanne Hinton and Nancy Steele

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autumn 2012


Phil Brown makes Jangu Nundhirribala a cup of tea as part of the ‘Get someone to do something’ exercise

Ema Bovoro gets Murray Butcher and MDWg volunteer Lizzie Damiano up and dancing

Participants in the workshops learned and practised a range of games and methods to help them leave English behind and immerse themselves in their heritage languages. The first exercises helped participants to relax and to use nonverbal communication to get someone else to do something.

Participants then practised immersion sets - planning in English as necessary, and then using the target language to have someone complete a task. In this exercise, the apprentices first learned to understand what the master was saying through nonverbal cues, and then began to understand and imitate the language being used by the master.

Jacqui Allen follows Bunny Nabarula’s language instructions to make a bed

Denise Smith-Ali follows Charmaine Bennell’s instructions to use trainer Leanne Hinton’s improvised bathroom

during an immersion set

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autumn 2012


Michael Jarrett using a wordless book to teach Gumbaynggir to (seated from L-R) John Waterton, Martha Maka, Sharon Phineasa and (standing from L-R) Donna

McLaren and Caroline Bradshaw

Wordless books are another effective language immersion tool used in the Master-Apprentice program. Talking about the pictures in the books helps the team to build vocabulary through listening and speaking, and extensive repetition.

John Waterton plays a counting game, watched by Stan Rodriguez and John Hobson

In Alice Springs, trainer Stan Rodriguez set up several tables with rocks and sticks to teach participants games involving numbers and counting.

Dwayne Newry is watched by Martha Maka and Nancy Steele as he tries his hand at the game table

Jimmy Paddy, Knut Olawsky, Lawford Benning and Dwayne Newry work with a wordless book

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autumn 2012


Greg Pascoe with his puppet and US trainer Stan Rodriguez

Puppets proved to be a fun and effective language learning tool in both workshops. Puppet-making activities brought out the artist in the participants. Feathers, googly eyes and pom poms were flying as everyone created their own puppets, while continuing to be be immersed in language — learning to describe colours, animals and body parts and developing words for modern items such as scissors and glue.

Joy Bonner, Jangu Nundhirribala, Leonie Murrungun and Jacqui Allen creating their puppets

Karina and Lucy Lester practice immersion with puppets

David Newry works on making his puppetEma Bovoro and her puppet

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autumn 2012


Donna McLaren talks about her group’s notes from the planning session in Alice Springs

The alien game was another very popular nonverbal exercise in which participants have to try to draw a picture of an alien as it is described with gestures by another participant.

Charmaine Bennell displays her drawing from the ‘Alien’ exercise

Leonie Murrungun with her drawing from the ‘Alien’ exercise

A future planning session was held at the end of each workshop to discuss how the participants might apply their training in their regions.

Brad Steadman presents his group’s ideas from the planning session in Kununurra

Estelle Miller displays her ‘Alien’ that Rossetta Thomas described to their group

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autumn 2012


In Kununurra, participants were seated along a ‘language line’ facing each other while trainer Stan Rodriguez gave them topics to talk about using their languages and gestures for short periods of time. It was wonderful to hear the buzz of 11 endangered Aboriginal languages being spoken simultaneously along the line.

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autumn 2012


Marg Carew and the US training team present Ben Pascoe with his certificate

Leonie Boddington and her certificate with Knut Olawsky and the US training team

The MALLP group from Kununurra

Marg Carew and the US training team present Caroline Bradshaw with her certificate

Glennis Galbat-Newry and her certificate with Knut Olawsky and the US training team

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autumn 2012


Wow, what can I say about the Master-Apprentice workshop in Kununura WA? It was a fantastic opportunity to be a part of this great workshop and for me as an Aboriginal Elder reclaiming my language and for Mandy Thomas as a young Aboriginal woman, seeing different ways to get our meaning across in the few language words that we do have and the other ways to share the language with our communities. The whole experience was enlightening and got the juices flowing in how we can get language spoken again in our communities. Just listening to the Miriwoong people speaking in language was empowering to listen to, but also humbling to hear them say that their language is endangered as well! The setting of the workshop in Kununurra WA was incredibly beautiful, the land, the hospitality of the Miriwoong people was humbling and greatly appreciated by myself and Mandy. You could not have gotten a more passionate group of presenters in Leanne, Nancy and Stan, what a beautiful group of people sharing their knowledge and love for their languages with us in a fun filled atmosphere. They as presenters made each session exciting, interesting, fun and inclusive of all, which made for some hilarious sessions to be involved in. A great deal of networking occurred throughout this workshop between the participants and presenters and new friendships were formed which was another great outcome from the workshop as well. Again thank you for allowing us to participate. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and thank you so much for all the hard work you all put into bringing this Master-Apprentice workshop to fruition.

- Fay Stewart-Muir (Boonwurrung)

Participant response

Annette Chunama and Leanne Hinton The training team (from L-R): Kath Dabrowska (Batchelor), Susan Poetsch (University of Sydney), Knut

Olawsky (MDWg), Margaret Florey (RNLD), Nancy Steele, Leanne Hinton and Stan Rodriguez

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autumn 2012


Other training activitiesThis year, RNLD began running Documenting and Revitalising Indigenous Languages training workshops in Woorabinda Aboriginal Community, Queensland in partnership with Central Queensland Language Centre and Sharing Culture Inc. In the April workshop, community member John Waterton shared the Master-Apprentice skills which he learned in Alice Springs with other community members. The group also learned to digitise heritage recordings and to use Audacity to edit recordings and produce language resources.

Through the next few months, DRIL workshops will be held at Papulu Apparr-Kari Language Centre, Tennant Creek NT, Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre, Kununurra WA, and Lockhart River Community in Cape York, Qld.

Uncle Anthony Henry (left) describes an alien drawing to Uncle Wally Saunders and language team coordinator

Milton Lawton (right)

Terrence (Kruger) Adams (left) begins to make Barada recordings with support from Gadj Maymuru (right) from Sharing Culture and Woorabinda Cultural Officer John

Waterton

Sharing Culture’s Jodie Maymuru with her alien drawing

Gangulu language teacher Shem Leisha using finger puppets in a MALLP exercise

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autumn 2012


20-25 May - Oklahoma Breath of Life, Silent No More Workshop, Sam Noble Museum, Department of Native Languages, Oklahoma, USA31 May — 1 June - Language Revitalization in the 21st Century: Going Global, Staying Local, CUNY Graduate Center, New York6 July — Language Endangerment: Methodologies and New Challenges, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

RNLD is funded under the Indigenous Languages Support program (formerly Maintenance of Indigenous Languages and Records).

ParticipateIf you or your organisation would like to join RNLD’s training program please contact us.

Join our email discussion list to ask questions and share information and your expertise.

Join our Facebook group for recent articles and links to sites supporting endangered languages.

Follow us on Twitter for news items, conference calls, updates on our activities and an online dialogue.

RNLD AwardRNLD has created the RNLD Award for Creativity in Indigenous Youth Language Projects which recognises young Indigenous people’s achievements in sustaining Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languag-es. The award aims to encourage greater youth participation in Indigenous language activities and bring wider public attention to Indigenous language issues.

Entrants must be of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent and aged 25 years or younger. There are three age groups:

- 12 years and under - 13-18 years - 18-25 years

We are currently accepting applications and submission closes 29 June 2012. Prizes include Zoom Q3 video recorders, Zoom H1 audio recorders and Jackal recordable readers.

For more information, or to download the award guidelines, an application form or a poster to display you can visit the RNLD website: <www.rnld.org/award>.

Winners will be announced at RNLD’s Annual General Meeting in August.

Upcoming events

Documents

rnld newsletter Newsletter Autumn 2012.pdf · McLaren and Caroline Bradshaw. Wordless books are another effective language immersion tool used in the Master-Apprentice program. Talking