Years 9-10 Auslan Syllabus
Year 9-10 Syllabus
Years 9-10 Band Level Description
In Years 9 and 10, Auslan learning builds on each student’s prior learning and experiences. Students use Auslan to initiate and sustain interactions that communicate their own and others’ experiences of the world. They sign and view to communicate with users of Auslan through community and online events. They may raise awareness of, and facilitate class involvement in, Deaf community events. They access and create signed, visual and multimodal texts, increasingly of their own choosing. They continue to receive guidance, feedback and support.
Students access an increasing range of authentic and purpose-developed resources which may include contemporary literature, feature articles, social media, television programs, textbooks and video clips. They may access resources from the Deaf community to share with peers. They expand their knowledge and control of Auslan signs, structures and features. They acknowledge that there are diverse influences on ways of communication and cultural identity, and that these influences can shape their own behaviours, beliefs and values.
Years 9-10 Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 10, students contribute to and extend interactions in Auslan related to diverse contexts. They interpret and respond to texts by evaluating and synthesising information, ideas and perspectives. They show understanding of how features of language can be used to influence audience response. They create texts, selecting and manipulating language for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. They apply and use complex structures and language devices to enhance meaning and cohesion.
Students apply features and conventions of Auslan and adjust signing to extend fluency. They demonstrate understanding of the conventions of texts and the connections between them. They apply knowledge of language structures and features to make and predict meaning. They support analysis of Auslan texts, using metalanguage. They reflect on their own cultural perspectives and identity, and draw on their experience of learning Auslan, to evaluate how this learning influences their ideas and ways of communicating.
Content Descriptions
Interacting in Auslan
initiate, sustain and extend exchanges in a range of contexts, responding to ideas, opinions and perspectives, adjusting their language in response to others
- using code-switching skills to communicate with a range of Auslan users such as those who are Deafblind, young or new to signing
using impartiality to ask and respond to requests for elaboration or perspectives, for example,
WELL ONE RESEARCH PT+f SHOW BUT OTHER RESEARCH SHOW DIFFERENT
Well, one type of research showed this, but another type of research showed a different result.
integrating discourse markers to facilitate coherent and cohesive flow of communication, for example, ANYWAY, THEN, PAUSE-NOD, list buoys, fs:SO, NOW, BUT, as well as hand clasp, hand drop to indicate turn-taking
- demonstrating appropriate use of register to show formal or informal interactions by modifying manner, pace, use of signing space, pauses or eye gaze, in role-plays and skits
identifying and using nuances in emotions and opinions, for example,
RECOGNISE PRO2 UPSET PRO1(PL) TIME-OUT
I acknowledge that you are upset. Let’s take a break from this.
WOW TRUE IMPACT PT+c
Wow, that’s really made an impact on me.
ANGRY? FURIOUS!
I’m not angry … I’m furious!
making connections between their own and others’ ideas or beliefs in an exchange using conditionals, for example,
SOMETIMES POSSIBLE HAPPEN WHY? FS:IF PRO2 PAST THINK (CONTEMPLATE) WILL TRUE HAPPEN
Sometimes things happen because you think they will, so it comes true.
FS:IF PRO2 THINK PRO2 CAN PRO2 CAN. FS:IF PRO2 THINK PRO2 CAN-NOT PRO2 CAN-NOT
If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t.
engaging in turn-taking to share views, opinions and cultural perspectives on a topic, for example,
WAIT LET PT+rt FINISH FIRST THEN PRO2 PT+f
Wait for the person to finish talking then you can have your turn.
- demonstrating different strategies and sign choices when communicating in different contexts, for example, modifying the timing of signing when with an interpreter
contribute to discussions that involve diverse views to negotiate outcomes, debate issues and compare experiences
- working in groups to achieve a successful outcome for a hypothetical scenario, for example, ‘What 10 items would we agree to take to a deserted island?’
- planning questions and responses to interview an Auslan user about their experiences or opinions on selected topics, such as a discussion around recommended actions to improve the school or local area
negotiating with a peer on how to improve a task, for example,
GOOD PRO1(PL) THINK (CONTEMPLATE) TRY-OUT SWAP?
It’s good we thought about it. Why don’t we try swapping?
working with peers to plan key points for an argument in a debate, using space and NMFs to contrast views and interactional strategies, for example,
PRO2 CONFUSE. PRO1(PL) REVISE
I’ve confused you; let’s do that again …
PT+lf BELIEVE WHAT … PT+rt OPPOSITE BELIEVE WHAT … PT+c PRO1 BELIEVE …
They believe … but they believe … I believe …
- planning and presenting a group task, for example, a speech to celebrate, commemorate or acknowledge a significant person or event
- negotiating what to include in an informative signed resource for the school website or other media, using language to prioritise features for the target audience, for example, about events such as the National Week of Deaf People (NWDP)
- discussing how to explain a procedural text, using abstract space such as instructions on how to use a lawn mower, a washing machine or a digital tool
Mediating meaning in and between languages
evaluate and synthesise information, ideas and perspectives in a broad range of signed, visual and multimodal texts and respond appropriately to cultural context, purpose and audience
- applying knowledge of grammar and culture when viewing signed texts, to understand meaning, and discussing language choices made
- analysing different signed texts from international deaf signers, such as from World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), and commenting on the strategies used to convey meaning
- sequencing and summarising the key points of an extended, informative signed presentation on a current issue
- reading or viewing First Nations Australians’ stories in Auslan or English, and creating a profile of them in Auslan
- comparing the language choices used in a formal and an informal signed text on the same topic, with a focus on pace and pauses, use of space, signing space and NMFs
- using signed and multimodal sources to research significant events in Deaf history to show how information can be presented in different ways
- analysing performances of Deaf poetry, for example, discussing themes, expression and construction, and comparing how sign choice and stylistic techniques combine to convey ideas and emotions
- identifying the different roles of storytelling in Deaf culture, such as teaching, entertaining and communicating traditions or values, and finding examples of these in well-known stories, fables or legends
- responding to signed poems that use extended metaphor to communicate ideas and values or to express emotional experience, for example, ‘Butterfly hands’ by Walter Kadiki
- viewing a captioned play and reviewing the production
- considering and responding to situations where Deaf Gain and Deafhood may occur in an event, book, article or filmed footage
interpret and translate signed, visual and written interactions and texts to reflect cultural context, purpose and audience
- experimenting with Auslan translations of popular English idioms and phrases with non-compositional meaning, giving justification explanations for language choices, for example, ‘You’re in over your head’
- analysing a text to identify examples of where the use of space and DSs describe a scene, compared with English captions
- exploring how interpreting and translating vary depending on the audience, for example, one-to-one, small group or large audience
- considering the nature of translation, with reference to different strategies such as decoding literal meaning, reading for meaning and cultural reading
- interpreting and translating a text of a well-known narrative or poem and presenting it to a younger audience
- using different types of communicating and interpreting, such as the use of tactile signing, haptics and visual frames in real-time, depending on context, purpose or audience
- comparing translations of simple stories in Auslan and BSL, and identifying some differences
discussing the translation of signs with a non-English equivalent, for example, PAH! and BA-BA
- transcribing part of a text using glossing, recording the grammatical features
Creating text in Auslan
create and present informative and imaginative texts for diverse contexts and purposes, selecting vocabulary, expressions, grammatical structures and a range of features and conventions, to engage different audiences
- creating a filmed and captioned bilingual text that informs the school community about a new recycling initiative at the school or developing a herb and vegetable garden patch in the playground, incorporating features suitable for a deaf and hearing audience
- providing explanations of abstract or technical concepts, such as poverty or ozone layer depletion, shaping the style of the presentation to suit the intended audience, for example, through significant use of DSs
- creating a complex imaginative narrative combining and switching between ways of reference, for example, CAs, DSs, lexical signs and frames of spatial reference
- creating a recount in Auslan, reflecting on the impact of a past school excursion to a significant cultural First Nations Country/Place location, and, with permission, referring to cultural knowledge of the site
- creating a short film on their hobby or interests, using a ‘deaf lens’ to edit camera angles to focus on signing space and NMFs
- creating and promoting a set of protocols to be used outside the classroom for a deaf or hearing audience, such as maintaining eye gaze, flashing lights and hand waving, for example, standing on a stage and waving hands to gain audience’s attention
- creating and presenting a signed monologue of an exciting or humorous event, incorporating pace and signing space to convey meaning
- creating an imaginative interaction incorporating communicative styles and social behaviours observed in Auslan texts, for example, a digital persona or avatar in a fantasy world or imagining they are the ‘characters’ in a painting and creating a scenario and dialogue
Understanding systems of language
apply features and conventions of sign production to extend fluency in response to a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- applying path movements of signs, such as primary-path and local movements and secondary-repeated local movements during a path movement or when a hand is staying still
- using subtle NMFs to convey meaning effectively, such as a slightly raised eyebrow or quick eye-gaze change in a role-play or in narrating an event
- applying variation in handshapes and one-handed, 2-handed and double-handed signs
- identifying and keeping a class record of how signs are classed into 3 categories: manual, non-manual, multi-channel
- modifying pace and signing space for emphasis in different contexts such as a large group presentation or small group to share a secret
- applying signs with different levels of iconicity, for example, those that are fully transparent, translucent or arbitrary
- using different types of fingerspelling depending on the context, purpose and audience, for example, tactile fingerspelling and international forms of fingerspelling
- exploring best-practice strategies for capturing partly-lexicalised signs for digital or online dictionaries or resources
applying knowledge of iconicity in signed languages, for example, how the path movement of a verb can show the timing of an action, for example,
PRO1 WAIT DS:FAST-REPEAT PRO2,
observing that English can do the same with changes to the length of words, for example, Ive been waiting a loooooong time for you
- explaining the use of mouth morphemes to add meaning to a discourse, by commenting on a recorded interview in Auslan or signed news bulletin
- analysing and discussing a signer’s use of pausing in a signed description or information report and how it can modify the meaning of a signed phrase
apply knowledge of grammatical structures and features to predict meaning and compose a range of texts that contain complex structures and ideas
applying signs as interjections or discourse markers, including fillers and conjunctions, for example, using spread handshape to pause, hold or replace voicing um or the sign COINCIDENCE
- describing how short, signed texts use space – real space, topographic space, abstract space, viewer space and diagrammatic space – and recognising locations for present referents, non-present referents or abstract referents that do not exist in space
- developing the use of composite utterances, that is, those that have elements of CAs, DSs, points and fully-lexical signs in the same utterance
- identifying instances of DSs and their type, such as entity, handling or SASSs in increasingly complex Auslan texts and using these in own creation of texts
- using appropriate CAs according to the context in an example of constructed dialogue
- applying the different types of verb modification, such as spatial and directional, number of referents, the action over time, manner and intensification
- understanding how verb modifications work as part of referential cohesion, for example, a signer establishes one referent on the left and then looks that way
applying modal verbs and NMFs to express possibility, obligation and ability, for example, MIGHT and SHOULD
- applying knowledge of how meaning or emphasis in phrases can be changed by reordering clauses or parts of clauses
reflect on and evaluate Auslan texts, using metalanguage to analyse language structures and features
investigating and presenting to the class, examples of Auslan signs that have changed over time due to changing experiences, for example, the sign for APPRENTICE modified to refer to TAFE
- observing and explaining how the words, thoughts or actions of a protagonist in a text are represented in English and comparing this with the use of CAs in Auslan
comparing some of the ways that modifications to verbs occur in an Auslan and English text, such as using DSs in Auslan to indicate durational or habitual aspects and comparing with English, for example, WORK DS:FAST-REPEAT work for a long time or GO-TO DS:FAST-REPEAT go regularly
- comparing how a range of emotions can be described through NMFs in Auslan narratives and through facial expressions in written English narratives
- reflecting on why people might adapt language according to situation of use, such as when signing to a large audience, the use of one hand or 2, clarity of sign production, size of signing space, pace, NMFs, pauses and amount of fingerspelling
- presenting a report or creating a chart to show how Auslan has been influenced by the use of Signed English in education settings, and cultural attitudes towards Signed English
- analysing a signed text for examples of character and observer space, and describing why the signer has chosen that viewpoint
- evaluating how their knowledge and understanding of metalanguage has broadened through the study of Auslan and presenting their reflections in a signed monologue to teacher and peers
Understanding the interrelationship of language, culture and identity
reflect on and evaluate how identity is shaped by language(s), culture(s), attitudes, beliefs and values, and how these affect ways of communicating
- reflecting on experiences of moving between Auslan and English, comparing how this feels and considering changes in their sense of identity when communicating in either language
identifying changes to Auslan that reflect positive changes in community attitudes towards Deaf people, for example, in relation to words/signs such as DISABILITY, HEARING^IMPAIRED/FS:HOH, DEAF^COMMUNITY, HUMAN^RIGHT
- reflecting on their experience of living and communicating in general society and how they interpret visual language using ‘Deaf eyes’
- reflecting on and explaining the protocols required to authentically co-create an Acknowledgement of Country/Place with a First Nations Australian, to present in Auslan to a group of Auslan-using visitors at a school assembly
- preparing a presentation to promote an Auslan or Deaf culture event, for example, NWDP, Deaf Festival, Australian Deaf Games or Deaf art exhibitions, and explaining how these help shape identity
- reflecting on the labels ‘Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing’ and ‘hearing’, considering what they mean to different people and their implications in terms of status, access, opportunity and privilege
- researching and preparing a presentation for the class or school assembly on the behaviours, rights, roles and responsibilities of the Deaf community in relation to ownership and maintenance of Auslan
- creating a poster or set of instructions on the protocols for interacting with sign language interpreters in various contexts in and out of school