Auslan: First Language Learner 7–10 Sequence / Levels 7 and 8 / Understanding / Language variation and change
Content description
Recognise that there is variation in in how Auslan is used depending on context, environment and influences of other signed languages
Elaborations
exploring different ways to show the same concept, for example though a picture, a spoken word, a sign, a home sign or a gesture
exploring similarities and differences in the two main Auslan dialects, the northern dialect used in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, and the southern dialect used in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, for example through building webcam relationships with other schools or by identifying and collecting signs that differ in the two forms
noticing different ways that English words are borrowed into Auslan, for example, the use of fully fingerspelled words, such as D-U-E, N-O-U-N, the fingerspelling of the first letter of corresponding English words, for example TOILET, FATHER, or abbreviations of English words, for example, state names: S-A, N-S-W, V-I-C, T-A-S, and organisation names: N-A-B-S, W-A-A-D, N-S-W-A-D, D-C-S-S-A, and lexicalised fingerspelling, such as HOW, BUT, ABOUT, FOR
noticing the variation in ‘handedness’ between signers in relation to signs and to fingerspelling: right handers using their right hand as their dominant (main) hand; left handers doing the opposite
considering adaptations to language use when communicating in different physical environments, such as in video chats, across a large yard, or when one or both hands are occupied, for example choice of vocabulary, size of signing space, clarity of signs, use of fingerspelling and NMFs
