Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia
Abstract
The project reported on here set out, on a basis of cooperation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal investigators working in university, educational system and classroom contexts, to lead to understandings which would enable a more accessible ( userfriendly ) education to be provided for students in primary and secondary schools who are speakers of Aboriginal English.
Specifically, in the context of schools of the Education Department of Western Australia, the project sought to:
1. extend knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal English and its areas of contrast with standard Australian English;
2. provide clarification in the following under-researched areas of Aboriginal English:
a) semantic fields;
b) functions of language use in relation to form;
c) genres;
d) particular registers;
e) codes.
3. relate Aboriginal ways of approaching experience and knowledge to:
a) curriculum;
b) student outcome statements;
c) pedagogical strategies to support two-way learning..
