Years 7-8 Auslan Syllabus
Years 7-8 Syllabus
Years 7-8 Band Level Description
In Years 7 and 8, Auslan learning builds on each student’s prior learning and experiences. Students use Auslan, in person or via digital access, to interact and collaborate within and beyond the classroom. They sign and view to exchange information, ideas and opinions about their worlds. They work increasingly independently and in groups, and continue to receive feedback and support.
Students access signed, visual and multimodal texts from an increasing range of authentic sources which may include advertisements, articles, stories and video clips. They use their English literacy knowledge of metalanguage in an increasing range of contexts to reflect on similarities and differences between Auslan and English language structures and features. They recognise that language choices reflect cultural identity, beliefs and values.
Years 7-8 Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students initiate and maintain interactions in Auslan in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts related to a range of interests and experiences. They use Auslan to negotiate solutions and adjust language in response to others. They interpret information, ideas and opinions in texts. They demonstrate understanding of similarities and differences between languages and in cultural contexts, by reorganising responses to suit context, purpose and audience. They select and use features of signing structures and expressions to create texts.
Students apply the conventions of signing to enhance fluency. They demonstrate understanding that signed, visual and multimodal texts use different language conventions, structures and features to convey meaning. They comment on structures and features of Auslan text, using metalanguage. They reflect on how language, culture and identity are interconnected, and compare this with their own language(s), culture(s) and identity.
Content Descriptions
Interacting in Auslan
initiate and sustain exchanges in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts related to students’ experiences, feelings and views, adjusting their language in response to others
using signs to agree or disagree on relevant topics, such as,
AGREE YES HOMEWORK SHOULD
Yes, I agree we should do homework.
PRO1 KNOW WHAT MEAN, BUT …
I know what you mean, but …
PRO1 DOUBT
I’m not sure.
AGREE-NOT, PRO1 THINK …
I don’t agree; I think …
using appropriate NMFs when turn-taking during class activities, for example,
HOLD
Hold that thought.
QUICK INTERRUPT
Can I just interrupt you quickly?
WAIT … COME
Can you just wait a moment … Right, what did you want?
- participating in face-to-face or online interactions with deaf children or students of Auslan to compare and contrast aspects of their school and learning experiences
contributing to discussion and debate by expressing opinions, responding to others’ perspectives, and using reflective language, for example,
NEVER THOUGHT YEAH
Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought of that before.
- discussing the qualities looked for in friendships and relationships and giving reasons for these preferences
responding to class and school signed announcements with more elaborate responses, for example,
YES PRO1 CAN COME TO PRO2 HELP BUT CAN-NOT THURS
Yes, I can help you with that, but not on Thursday.
- using appropriate protocols to join or leave conversations, for example, waiting for eye gaze or for the signer to finish and not asking for a full recount
clarifying meaning, for example, by using fingerspelling to explain unfamiliar vocabulary, as in,
PRO2 MEAN [FINGERSPELLED WORD]?
commenting on information provided by others to indicate or to clarify understanding, for example,
DS:NOD INTERESTING
Mmm, interesting.
TRUE WHAT ABOUT …?
True, but what about …?
- extending discussion or debate by asking follow-up questions, clarifying their own contributions or suggesting relevant comparisons
- adjusting styles of communication according to situation, for example, getting someone’s attention for a non-urgent matter versus an emergency situation
- organising standing or seated positions and ‘signing space’ when talking to one or more people, and adjusting the physical environment to be well-lit and without glare to enable effective communication
collaborate in activities that involve the language of transaction, negotiation and problem-solving to plan projects and events
- working in pairs or small groups to design and create visual resources that promote Auslan as an important area of study
- working collaboratively to create instructional or procedural texts for younger learners
- brainstorming, planning and working together to advertise and present an intercultural event for their year-level peers
- preparing for the visit of a member of the Deaf community, discussing how to ensure effective communication between the visitor and deaf and hearing members of the class
providing feedback on completed events or activities and exchanging reflections, for example,
FIRST PRO1 DOUBT FS:IF WILL GO-WELL, HAVE-A-LOOK GO-GREAT
At the start, I wasn’t sure it would work, but after a while I thought it went well.
PRO1 WRONG NEVER AGAIN FS:DO SAME
I won’t do that ever again.
problem-solving around collaborative activities such as model-building, using wh- questions, for example,
WHY FAIL WHY?
Why isn’t it working?
WHO THINK CAN FIX?
Who thinks they can fix it?
FINISH, NEXT WHAT?
What do we do next after we finish this?
giving directions for outdoor activities such as an obstacle course or bushwalk, including expressions such as
HAVE DS:ROUND-OVAL FIRST RUN DS:DRAW-LINE THEN STOP. NEXT CLIMB DS:CLIMB-OVER DS:LAND-ON-FEET THEN CRAWL DS:CRAWL-UNDER-FLAT-THING
There’s a big oval. First you will run along one side of it. Then stop at the wall. Next you will climb over the wall then crawl under the net.
- investigating appropriate ways to join or take leave of a group interacting in Auslan and following appropriate protocols in interpreting situations outside the classroom, for example, in the playground
- sharing responsibility for providing information and context for a new participant joining a conversation
Mediating meaning in and between languages
interpret information, ideas and opinions in a range of signed, visual and multimodal texts, and respond appropriately to cultural context, purpose and audience
- viewing signed texts such as media reports on activities such as Deaf sports or festivals and events in the Deaf community, and providing an overview of different perspectives presented
- researching signed texts such as interviews or videos to select information needed to prepare a signed presentation on a particular event or person
interviewing older members of Deaf families or Deaf communities and reporting back to the class about any differences in signing they noticed such as more use of fingerspelled words, less use of DSs and NMFs, or the use of different signs such as FILM (old sign), TOILET (old sign)
- reading or viewing First Nations Australian authors’ stories in English or Auslan and responding to them in Auslan
- analysing online profiles and news stories about high-profile members of the Deaf community such as Colin Allen, Dr Breda Carty or Dr Robert Adam, and presenting a review of media representation
- viewing and responding to signed poetry from around the world and noting differences and similarities in VV approaches
- evaluating one signed story presented by 2 deaf people and noting the variation in NMFs and manner, and how feelings and attitudes are expressed by signers
- evaluating Deaf performances or art forms that use technology, colour or imagery for deliberate visual effect, to express the Deaf experience such as the De’VIA movement, and preparing a response outlining the differences between Deaf art and De’VIA, and what makes De’VIA important to Deaf culture
- identifying and profiling deaf artists who make use of music and other art forms
- comparing visual elements of signed media texts with those of equivalent texts produced for a hearing audience
- exploring the concept of metaphorical iconicity used in poems and narratives, for example, by shadowing selected elements
interpret and adjust signed, spoken and written language to convey meaning in a range of familiar and some unfamiliar cultural contexts
- interpreting simple interactions between deaf students or guests and non-signers
interpreting Auslan phrases and expressions that do not translate literally, identifying similar English expressions and considering possible consequences of lack of equivalence in terms of intercultural communication, for example, TRAIN GONE SORRY, or to ‘kick the bucket’
- translating simple filmed texts in Auslan into written English captions
- translating short English texts such as news items or own stories into Auslan, for review by their peers, noting any variations in choices and discussing possible reasons for these
- translating an Auslan version of a well-known text such as a song or story, considering why some words or expressions require a freer translation than others to achieve equivalence
- creating translations of English song lyrics or poetry for presentation in Auslan
- interpreting a theatre set sketch/picture from paper and signing it to a peer, describing the interior lay out of the room, using Auslan and integrating elements of space and DSs
- analysing how elements of theatre performance such as emotional nuance are communicated through interpreters in a live setting
- discussing the possibility for both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting of information in communicative exchanges
- recognising that not all words and signs are semantically equivalent, identifying translations for English idioms such as ‘hit the hay’ and ‘raining cats and dogs’
- creating own simple gloss or annotations that show notations for using space, CAs, DSs and NMFs
Creating text in Auslan
create and present signed, visual and multimodal, informative and imaginative texts, selecting fingerspelling (FS), lexical signs, depicting signs (DSs), non-manual features (NMFs) and signing space, appropriate to text type
- creating signed announcements to inform members of the school community about events such as a Deaf arts performance, festivals or the National Week of Deaf People
- developing a signed news report or public announcement to inform an imagined audience of a new baby animal arrival at the zoo, or a topical news event at school
- recounting their own and others’ experiences of school-related or personal events, such as school camps, holidays or concerts
- creating an advertisement in Auslan to promote travel to a significant cultural location on a First Nations Country/Place, including what to see and do
- creating individual biographies, including elements such as family origins, traditions, beliefs, experiences, and considering how these influence their sense of identity, including First Nations Australians
- providing instructions in an engaging or entertaining style to create interest in a group activity such as a maths game or sign linguistics game
- creating digital clips or social media posts designed to persuade and encourage a change in behaviour among peers on an issue of relevance such as the importance of recycling
- creating and performing a signed song, poem or skit for a school talent show
- retelling of a humorous anecdote or hosting improvisation games requiring a spontaneous response such as ‘60 seconds to make the audience laugh ...’
- playing with light and shadow as a means of highlighting handshapes and movement, for example, in shadow puppet performances
- role-playing an imagined dialogue, partially scripted, incorporating elements of dramatic effect, such as emotion or humour
- role-playing interpreting in a range of contexts, for example, in a shop or at a sports match
- making a short documentary in Auslan about a topical issue, moving through the processes of drafting, translating, editing and captioning, trialling alternative captioning tools
Understanding systems of language
apply knowledge of conventions of sign production to enhance fluency, and respond to and create texts in familiar and some unfamiliar contexts
- understanding that signs can be iconic such as representing a whole or part object and that there are degrees of iconicity, including fully transparent, translucent, and those that are not iconic, and are considered opaque or arbitrary
- understanding that different handshape and movement rules apply in the production of double-handed signs such as BOOK, LANGUAGE and how these signs move compared with 2-handed signs such as THEATRE, CULTURE
- demonstrating the various types of NMFs, including movements of the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, shoulders and body, and describing their function
- applying the ability to swap hand dominance and anchor either the dominant or subordinate hand for a purpose
- modifying pace for emphasis in familiar contexts such as when recounting an event
- applying consistent patterning and emphasis used in both lexicalised and non-lexicalised fingerspelling
applying minimal pairs from a series of teacher-provided examples, for example, the signs for WORK and TALK are identical in orientation, movement and location but different handshape whereas the signs for BEAUTIFUL and WELL differ in location
apply understanding of grammatical structures and features to compose and respond to texts
- using locations for present referents, non-present referents, or abstract referents that do not exist in space
- creating a digital resource demonstrating that handshape and movement represent different things in each type of DS, for example, entity DS, handling DS and SASS DSs
- understanding when signers are using composite utterances, that is, those that have elements of CAs, DSs, points and fully-lexical signs in the same utterance
- using different functions of NMFs such as those used for questions (yes/no and wh- forms), statements, topicalisation, negation or conditional forms
- understanding instances of CA in a signed text on video, and recording the time marker for when it occurs, and providing suggestions for why it has been used at that point
- recognising that nouns can be pluralised by locating them repeatedly regardless of their original location
- practising the use of citation form of plain verbs and indicating verbs change when depicting more than 2 people
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, intensifying adjectives through the use of NMFs such as HOT, signing with great emphasis, and depicting wide-eyed expression for EXTREMELY HOT, or signing TOUGH with great exertion to show VERY TOUGH
- understanding that signers may include linguistic and gestural elements in a clause, that is, signers can tell, show or do both simultaneously, using a combination of lexicalised signs and CAs, DSs, NMFs and space
recounting events using conjunctions with separate signs as discourse markers such as THEN, ANYWAY, FS:SO, PLUS, NEXT, or by NMFs, for example, by pausing between clauses or clasping hands
reflect on similarities and differences between Auslan and English language structures and features, using metalanguage
- using metalanguage to communicate about features of Auslan such as talking about the use of fingerspelling, CAs, DSs and NMFs
- commenting on how creating texts for different purposes results in differing types and amounts of signing, for example, the amount of fingerspelling used in a public announcement compared with a private conversation or the degree of influence from English in the conventions of a fairytale presented in Auslan
- comparing instances of representation of direct and indirect speech in English texts and corresponding use of CA in Auslan
- comparing texts created by 2 different signers on the same topic and evaluating the different choices they have made in terms of enacting through CAs or DSs
commenting on the use of discourse markers and connectives such as BUT and G:WELL to create cohesive and coherent texts and compare how this is managed in English
- reflecting on the effect of discourse markers such as linking words or phrases and space to show topic and information shifts in a description or information report
- comparing Auslan and English dictionaries and how each language represents the elements of the language
- presenting to the class some observations comparing iconicity in Auslan with the use of onomatopoeia in English
- developing a chart showing variations in Auslan around Australia and differences between Auslan and other international sign languages
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
- exploring the impact of personal biography on identity and communication with peers, including family origins, traditions, beliefs, practices, interests and experiences, and creating a visual representation with signed captions
- reflecting on how contemporary values about technology impacts young people and their use of language in Auslan, and in written English formats
- presenting to the class or school assembly on the impact of learning Auslan on their perceptions, understanding and attitudes towards Deaf culture and people
- 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
- explaining the relationship between culture, ways of thinking, and language, and comparing the cultural concept of Deaf identity with own concept of identity
- explaining how the visibility of signers in the media and communication has increased awareness of the Deaf community
- researching and presenting profiles of the roles, influences and/or achievements of Deaf organisations, leaders and individuals in the Deaf community, in advocating for the Deaf community
- reflecting on how school events such as ‘International Day’ or ‘Harmony Day’ raise awareness of the diversity of languages and cultures represented in their school
- analysing how concepts related to cultural practices and identity are valued, for example, by identifying elements of naming systems such as the use of pointing, NMFs and name signs
- researching the status and recognition of signed languages in other countries, considering issues such as language rights, documentation and development efforts