Teaching Indigenous languages at universities

Abstract

Very few universities in Australia offer courses in Indigenous languages. We discuss the three main types on offer: L1 courses aimed at first language speakers of an Indigenous language, L2 FL courses aimed at Indigenous and non-Indigenous people wanting to learn on Indigenous language which is still spoken by children, and L2 revival courses aimed at Indigenous and non-Indigenous people wanting to learn an Indigenous language that is being revived or restored. We describe the needs and hurdles confronting L2 revival courses, illustrating this with discussion about the background to, and development of, Gamilaraay courses taught at the University of Sydney. We also consider the need for university courses in revival languages, and the different roles of university and TAFE (Technical and Further Education) courses.