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the Primacy of the Mother Tongue: Aboriginal literacy and Non-Standard English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Margaret Zeegers ,
Wayne Muir  and
Zheng Lin
Margaret Zeegers
Affiliation:
School of Education, University of Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria, 3353 , Australia
Wayne Muir
Affiliation:
Koori Liaison Centre, University of Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria, 3353 , Australia
Zheng Lin
Affiliation:
School of Education, University of Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria, 3353 , Australia
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Abstract

This article describes Indigenous Australian languages as having a history of pejoration dating from colonial times, which has masked the richness and complexity of mother tongues (and more recently developed kriols) of large numbers of Indigenous Australians.The paper rejects deficit theory representations of these languages as being inferior to imported dialects of English and explains how language issues embedded in teaching practices have served to restrict Indigenous Australian access to cultural capital most valued in modern socio-economic systems. We go on to describe ways in which alternative perspectives where acknowledgment of rich, complex and challenging features of Indigenous Australian languages may be used by educators as empowering resources for teacher education and teaching in schools. Our paper stresses the urgency of establishing frameworks for language success within which to develop other successful learning outcomes of Indigenous Australians.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 32 , 2003 , pp. 51 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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