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FL 7-8 Content Descriptions - Understanding language and culture

Understanding systems of language

apply knowledge of conventions of sign production to enhance fluency, and respond to and create texts in familiar and unfamiliar contexts

AC9L1AU8U01

  • identifying and applying movements of signs, such as local and path movements, for example,

    local movement – HAVE, path movement – DAY (sideways)

  • applying the various types and functions of NMFs, such as movements of the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, shoulders and body
  • using DSs that represent a whole object or part of an object such as the body or the legs
  • modifying dominant and non-dominant hands for effect or using one hand only to convey the same meaning as the original 2-hand sign
  • understanding and applying the need to modify pace for emphasis, in familiar and unfamiliar texts, such as when recounting an exciting event

  • understanding that the elements of a sign can be arbitrary, such as the handshape or movement of the sign WHY, or that the handshape and movement may be meaningful, such as in the sign GIVE

  • applying the fluid patterns of fingerspelling rather than speed, and the use of exaggerated fingerspelling for emphasis, for example, when clarifying a name
  • recognising that Auslan has fully-lexical signs that may be found in the dictionary, and standard HOLM and partly-lexical signs that cannot be listed in a dictionary in all forms, for example, when gesture changes the form each time they are signed
  • comparing the production of a signed discourse with and without mouth morphemes

Personal and social capability

apply understanding of grammatical structures and expressions to compose and respond to a range of texts

AC9L1AU8U02

  • applying various types of clauses such as questions, topicalised sentences, negation or conditionals and recognising that these often co-occur with particular NMFs
  • identifying the ways that signers add spatial elements to communication, for example, using DSs from a viewers perspective to refer to the same referent throughout a text
  • applying the knowledge of where and how DSs are used, through close and distant focus, to move from one frame of reference to another, for example, zooming in or showing the whole scene
  • describing real or imagined experiences at a different time, using CAs to shift from one role into another, through eye-gaze change, body shift, head orientation change, and matching facial expressions
  • applying citation form of plain verbs and indicating that verbs change when depicting more than 2 people
  • recognising that nouns can be pluralised by locating them repeatedly, regardless of their original location

  • using both directional and locational indicating verbs, for example, GIVE PRO3 and GIVE PRO1; and OPERATION (cochlear implant versus appendix operation)

  • intensifying adjectives using NMFs, for example, signing HOT with great emphasis and depicting wide-eyed expression for EXTREMELY HOT, or signing TOUGH with great exertion to show VERY TOUGH

  • knowing that, typically, signers use DSs to show spatial relationships/prepositions, not separate signs such as ON or UNDER

  • using conjunctions such as PLUS, IF or BUT to create cohesion in a narrative, recount or procedural text

  • identifying when and how some verbs and nouns use the same sign but change the movement in a regular way making noun-verb pairs, such as SCISSORS versus CUT-WITH-SCISSORS

Literacy

Personal and social capability

reflect on similarities and differences between Auslan and English language structures and features, using metalanguage

AC9L1AU8U03

  • recording and sharing examples of how languages expand to include new signs and expressions due to influences such as technologies and digital media, for example, COMPUTER, MOUSE (COMPUTER), INTERNET, WI-FI, SELFIE

  • discussing how signers can compare or contrast ideas by locating things in the same or opposing sides of signing space, and how this compares with English

  • evaluating the production of reciprocal forms of some indicating signs, such as LOOK, GIVE and INVITE, and comparing this with how it is expressed in English

  • developing a chart or poster comparing DSs with English adjectives, such as a small, sleek, new car or a large, battered, old ute
  • comparing Auslan and English dictionaries and how each language is represented, for example, nouns, adjectives and verbs
  • explaining how sign languages borrow from each other due to technology, for example, signs that refer to different nations, states and cities around the globe, and the ASL vehicle handshape in DSs
  • comparing commonly used metalanguage in Auslan and English, and explaining similarities and differences in the terms used
  • using metalanguage to communicate about features of Auslan, such as talking about the use of fingerspelling, CAs, DSs and NMFs

  • comparing expressions of periods and sequences of time in Auslan and English, for example,

    FORWARD WEEK(TWO)

    In 2 weeks

    LONG-AGO

    A long time ago

    FIRST-LAST

    First to last

Critical and creative thinking

Intercultural understanding

Understanding the interrelationship of language, culture and identity

reflect on and explain how identity is shaped by language(s), culture(s), attitudes, beliefs and values, and how these impact on communication

AC9L1AU8U04

  • reflecting on identity and their experience of sign language use when growing up
  • discussing examples of how increased use of Auslan has positively changed mainstream society’s understanding and perception of the Deaf community
  • reflecting on the concepts of Deaf Gain, Deafhood and different perspectives of various people in the Deaf community.
  • reflecting on how First Nations Australians’ languages have strong connections to Country/Place and how these can be compared with language variation and sense of place and space in the Deaf community
  • considering cultural explanations for conversational strategies used by Auslan signers to avoid conflict and to maintain privacy, for example, changing signing space and style, using indirect language such as signing lower or under the table, or fingerspelling instead of signing
  • creating an annotated timeline of key events in the education of deaf children, such as the Milan Congress in 1880 and the Signed English movement in the 1970s and 1980s, and presenting on how the attitudes, identity and values of Auslan were influenced and shaped
  • discussing the diversity of the Australian population, including Auslan users who are deaf, hard of hearing, Deafblind and/or a child of deaf adults (CODA)
  • researching and presenting profiles of deaf people who have been recognised in wider Australian society such as Dr Alastair McEwin AM or Drisana Levitzke-Gray, and identifying how such recognition contributes to broader awareness and value of Auslan
  • analysing ways in which deaf people’s jokes and humorous narratives reflect cultural values about deaf/hearing relationships and how deaf people navigate the world
  • explaining ways in which deaf people interpret cultural meanings of sound and reactions to sound, for example, a door slamming
  • reflecting on how international sign choice is established, for example, for congresses such as World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), the number of participants from different language families is taken into account

Critical and creative thinking

Intercultural understanding

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