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Waving a Tattered Banner? Aboriginal Language Revitalisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Lesley Jolly
Lesley Jolly*
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland
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Extract

This paper examines the philosophy and practice of programs that aim to maintain, renew, or revive Aboriginal languages in Australia. I focus here on languages, mainly those of urban and rural rather than remote areas, for which there are few if any fluent speakers left. I will refer to them as dead or dying languages although I am aware that in the Aboriginal tradition people consider themselves to own languages that neither they themselves nor their dose kin speak, and that this ownership is very much a part of a living culture. I begin by reviewing some basic issues that arise in planning language programs for such languages. The final section considers some of the factors affecting the success of such programs.

Type
Articles
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , September 1995 , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press or the authors 1995

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