Language and the Aboriginal Child

Extract

The language used by Aboriginal and Islander children has become in recent years a major focus of attention, with concern being felt on two broad fronts. There has been an increasing awareness that many use a mother tongue which is not English; at the same time there has been a growing realisation that many of those Aboriginal and Islander children who do use English as a first language use a form of language which differs from that normally used in the school. Whereas originally the tendency was to see these deviations from mainstream language use in terms of language deficit, they are now increasingly accepted as examples of language difference. A major philosophical shift has therefore occurred in the area of language teaching: an early emphasis on remediation and compensation has given way to a stress on language development; and language programs are now based on a philosophy of acceptance of the child’s language, and on the belief that it is necessary to start from where the child is. Thus programs no longer aim to ‘stamp out’ the child’s language or to ‘overcome’ the influence of the home, but instead have as their goal the extension and broadening of the child’s already existing language abilities. The emphasis has shifted from ‘correctness’ in terms of standard English, to ‘appropriateness’ in terms of language use in different social situations.