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Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Content description VCASFU251

Auslan: Second Language Learner 7–10 Sequence / Levels 9 and 10 / Understanding / Language awareness
Content description
Understand the range of factors that influence the profile, diversity and distribution of Auslan use in the wider Australian society, and consider the concept of Auslan vitality in comparison with other spoken and signed languages used around the world
Elaborations
  1. understanding that strong and healthy languages are those used by many people across generations in most domains to communicate about most topics
  2. mapping the distribution of Auslan users across Australian states and demographics, using data from censuses and other sources to present findings in graph/visual representation forms
  3. describing the role religion has played in influencing the usage and spread of Auslan, for example, through religious orders, early Deaf Societies and Bible translation projects
  4. considering the impact of historical international events such as the Milan Congress (1880) and the linguistic recognition and documentation of signed languages in the1960s and 1970s on the use of signed languages in education, and on deaf people’s feelings of ownership and pride in their languages
  5. analysing the impact of migration and the settlement of deaf people from the UK and other countries on the development of Auslan
  6. investigating the geographical location, origins and history of deaf schools in Australia and the impact of these institutions on the transmission, use and status of Auslan
  7. exploring how Auslan is used by deafblind people and their role in the Deaf community
  8. investigating historical patterns of employment of deaf people in certain trades and fields of employment, and the impact these traditional domains have on the development of Auslan
  9. reflecting on the role of Auslan interpreters in raising awareness and understanding of Auslan in the wider community, and considering ways in which they influence the function and nature of Auslan, for example by the introduction of neologisms
  10. identifying language documentation as an important way of recording, transmitting and maintaining the vitality of languages
  11. recognising that some languages have no written form and have historically been passed on face to face/orally, and so are less well recorded and documented
  12. understanding that some languages used in Australia, such as English, have large numbers of users, while others, such as many spoken and signed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, are endangered or in the process of being revived or reclaimed
  13. recognising that languages may be perceived as ‘weak’ or ‘strong’ based on community values and the existence of documentation and literature in the language
  14. exploring the vitality of different languages by obtaining information from the UNESCO interactive online atlas and/or Ethnologue to compare numbers of speakers/signers of different languages
  15. considering ways that Auslan is evolving due to various influences, including the capacity for new technologies to store, record and share sign languages internationally
  16. exploring the role of globalisation in terms of what technology offers signed languages in terms of maintaining their vitality, for example, the use of ELAN for capturing and documenting Auslan
  17. understanding the importance of advocating for Deaf rights to address existing gaps in services, for example in relation to issues such as the increased provision of Auslan interpreters, Deaf interpreters or captioning
  18. responding to Deaf elders' guidance on how cultural values, beliefs and traditions are connected through shared life experience, language and visual ways of being, and how they are demonstrated in community behaviour and interactions with the wider community
  19. comparing strategies used by deaf and hearing adults to negotiate physical environments, for example, different behaviours at a bank of lifts, and identifying how deaf people draw on additional perceptual resources in ways hearing people are unaware of
  20. exploring technologies such as videoconferencing apps used by deaf people to communicate visually, to support social networks, to strengthen a sense of individual or shared identity as sign language users and to promote language vitality
  21. considering likely contemporary influences or pressures on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander signed languages and the possible impact on their future
  22. understanding how and why some deaf children face challenges with communication in hearing families or in social settings
  23. recognising the important role of deaf families and deaf schools in preserving and maintaining Auslan and cultural identity
  24. identifying behaviours, rights, roles and responsibilities in relation to the ownership and maintenance of Auslan and how such ownership rests with the Deaf community and is determined by traditional social groupings/families, significant places, history and stories
  25. describing the visibility and use of Auslan in the wider community, for example in television programs, on the news, at community events, sporting fixtures and in emergency announcements
  26. discussing the diversity of Auslan users in the Australian community, including people who are deaf, those who are hard of hearing and hearing people such as CODAs and interpreters
  27. identifying examples of deaf people who have been recognised for different reasons in wider Australian society, for example, Alastair McEwin or Drisana Levitzke-Gray, and discussing how such recognition contributes to broader awareness of Auslan in Australia
  28. researching the status and recognition of signed languages in other countries, for example, New Zealand, the USA, the UK or the Scandinavian nations, considering issues such as language rights, language documentation and development efforts
  29. identifying the changing status of significant sites in different international Deaf communities, for example, the loss of Deaf clubs or the closure of deaf schools in some countries, comparing this to the Australian context and reflecting on how such changes impact over time on Deaf communities and on Auslan
  30. recognising different philosophical and social views about deafness, considering the impact of varying attitudes on a deaf person’s understanding of their rights and how they are represented and perceived in wider society
Code
VCASFU251
ScOT catalogue terms
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