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Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Content description VCASFU252

Auslan: Second Language Learner 7–10 Sequence / Levels 9 and 10 / Understanding / Role of language and culture
Content description
Understand that Auslan and Deaf culture are interrelated, that they shape and are shaped by each other, that their relationship changes over time and across contexts, and that they may be differently interpreted by users of other languages
Elaborations
  1. appreciating distinctions between Deaf cultures and other cultural minorities, such as the fact that most deaf people are born to hearing parents and acquire Deaf culture in addition to the culture of their families of origin from peers and other Auslan users in school or adults in the Deaf community
  2. exploring the nature and effect of culture, for example by comparing the cultural concept of Deaf identity with a medical model of deafness
  3. analysing and discussing core cultural concepts reflected in Auslan, such as the collective nature of the Deaf community, respect for elders, the importance of reciprocity and responsibility, for example, the signing TAP-2h++ reflects the responsibility to share information and pass on knowledge
  4. understanding that knowledge about past and present Deaf people and cultural values are embodied in and transmitted through Auslan, for example ways of producing the sign for SIGN embody cultural meaning regarding distinctions made and values placed on fluent or awkward signing
  5. identifying cultural differences between the use of personal names in Auslan and in their own background language, for example, Auslan signers not using a person’s name sign when addressing them directly, in contrast to the practice in many spoken languages
  6. considering cultural explanations for conversational strategies used by Auslan signers to avoid conflict and to maintain privacy, such as changing signing space and style, using indirect language such as signing lower or under the table, or fingerspelling instead of signing overtly
  7. appreciating the cultural value and importance of festivals and events in the Deaf community, such as NWDP, as celebrations of language, history, culture and identity
  8. recognising that Auslan signs change over time due to shifting cultural values and changing experiences, for example, the modification of the sign for APPRENTICE to refer to TAFE, and shifting values around the sign DEAF^DEAF as the sign for DEAF (culturally Deaf reference for deaf-mute) and unsuccessful attempts to reframe this with an audiological focus
  9. reflecting on the ways that culture is interpreted by others, for example by identifying how stereotypes about deaf and hearing people influence perceptions
  10. understanding that ‘sound’ is accessed differently in Deaf culture, that the meaning and importance of sound in deaf people’s lives is usually not the same as in hearing people’s experience
  11. observing that concepts may be culture and language specific, for example in relation to time and space, as in the spatial mapping of timelines in Auslan
Code
VCASFU252
ScOT catalogue terms
Curriculum resources and support
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