Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect
Failure to adequately address language differences between home and school is one of the many ways in which education systems frequently disadvantage Aboriginal students. Children from predominantly Aboriginal English-speaking homes face specific challenges, as the language differences between thei...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland
2019-08-01
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| Series: | The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ajie.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/article/view/237 |
| _version_ | 1797963465699098624 |
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| author | Janet Watts Rod Gardner Ilana Mushin |
| author_facet | Janet Watts Rod Gardner Ilana Mushin |
| author_sort | Janet Watts |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Failure to adequately address language differences between home and school is one of the many ways in which education systems frequently disadvantage Aboriginal students. Children from predominantly Aboriginal English-speaking homes face specific challenges, as the language differences between their home variety and the Standard Australian English (SAE) of the curriculum and classroom are often rendered ‘invisible’, with little explicit accommodation to the fact that such children are essentially immersed into the SAE classroom (e.g. Dixon, 2013; McIntosh, O'Hanlon, & Angelo, 2012; Sellwood & Angelo, 2013). One consequence of this invisibility is that it has been very hard to see during classroom time, where these language differences appear to affect children's engagement with the curriculum. In this paper, we present a micro-analysis of a year 2 maths lesson in a class of Aboriginal learners of SAE as an additional language/dialect, where children are being taught to use location words (e.g. under, above) as mathematical language. We have examined the precise ways in which the children's home variety and SAE were used in this lesson, and where differences between these two varieties appeared to impact their understanding of the concepts being taught. We differentiate between the kinds of classroom language that provide a challenge to learners of SAE and the kinds that do not.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:28:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec64bddf85c14559b1203c62c145376a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2049-7784 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:28:46Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec64bddf85c14559b1203c62c145376a2023-01-03T10:05:51ZengAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of QueenslandThe Australian Journal of Indigenous Education2049-77842019-08-0148110.1017/jie.2017.29Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second DialectJanet Watts0Rod Gardner1Ilana Mushin2Griffith UniversityUniversity of QueenslandUniversity of Queensland Failure to adequately address language differences between home and school is one of the many ways in which education systems frequently disadvantage Aboriginal students. Children from predominantly Aboriginal English-speaking homes face specific challenges, as the language differences between their home variety and the Standard Australian English (SAE) of the curriculum and classroom are often rendered ‘invisible’, with little explicit accommodation to the fact that such children are essentially immersed into the SAE classroom (e.g. Dixon, 2013; McIntosh, O'Hanlon, & Angelo, 2012; Sellwood & Angelo, 2013). One consequence of this invisibility is that it has been very hard to see during classroom time, where these language differences appear to affect children's engagement with the curriculum. In this paper, we present a micro-analysis of a year 2 maths lesson in a class of Aboriginal learners of SAE as an additional language/dialect, where children are being taught to use location words (e.g. under, above) as mathematical language. We have examined the precise ways in which the children's home variety and SAE were used in this lesson, and where differences between these two varieties appeared to impact their understanding of the concepts being taught. We differentiate between the kinds of classroom language that provide a challenge to learners of SAE and the kinds that do not. https://ajie.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/article/view/237mathsAboriginal EnglishStandard Australian English |
| spellingShingle | Janet Watts Rod Gardner Ilana Mushin Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education maths Aboriginal English Standard Australian English |
| title | Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect |
| title_full | Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect |
| title_fullStr | Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect |
| title_full_unstemmed | Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect |
| title_short | Da Symbol Dat Under da Stuffs: Teaching the Language of Maths to Aboriginal Learners of Standard Australian English as a Second Dialect |
| title_sort | da symbol dat under da stuffs teaching the language of maths to aboriginal learners of standard australian english as a second dialect |
| topic | maths Aboriginal English Standard Australian English |
| url | https://ajie.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/article/view/237 |
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