• Auslan specific annotations

• How these annotations relate to the teachers of Auslan at Kennington Primary School

Lorraine Lorraine Morton, Morton, 20082008

Lorraine MortonLorraine MortonTeacher of the DeafTeacher of the Deaf

Bendigo Deaf Facility at Bendigo Deaf Facility at Kennington Primary SchoolKennington Primary School

Auslan (Australian Sign Language)Auslan (Australian Sign Language)

Prep to Grade 6Prep to Grade 6

School:School:

Language taught:Language taught:

Grades taught:Grades taught:

Auslan

Auslan at Kennington PSAuslan at Kennington PS

Auslan is the LOTE taught to all students at Kennington PS.

Signing deaf students and deaf adults provide authentic opportunities for the hearing students to communicate in Auslan.

Kennington Primary School is also a Bilingual School. In 2008 four classes are tagged Bilingual. 7.5 hours of regular curriculum are delivered using Auslan as the language of instruction.

A number of KPS teachers are committed to the LOTE Rural Retraining Program at La Trobe University, Bendigo. At the completion of 2009, there will be five qualified Auslan LOTE teachers working at KPS.

The Bendigo Deaf Facility P-6 campus is located at Kennington Primary School.

Kennington Primary School, Bendigo

My investigationMy investigation

Annotations provide opportunities for teachers of Auslan at KPS to reflect on language-specific issues relating to teaching the language.

Develop a set of annotations specific to Auslan for the Standard of ‘Language and Culture’.

Survey the current Auslan LOTE teachers at KPS to see if they think their Auslan skills reflect the annotations.

Annotations are about teachers’ skills, their usage of the language and their teaching.

Firstly .....

Secondly ....

The annotations:The annotations:

Accomplished teachers of Auslan are Accomplished teachers of Auslan are able to use Auslan in a range of able to use Auslan in a range of classroom related functions by:classroom related functions by:

Using Auslan for classroom management, instruction and discussion

Using appropriate age-related topics to teach Auslan language and culture

Using signed DVDs of different genre

Using Auslan to raise students’ awareness of different languages, cultures and diversity

Engaging students in their learning through the use of Auslan

Teaching Auslan vocabulary and linguistic skills appropriate to the students’ age and ability

Teaching vocab to play Auslan game

Prep LOTE lesson

Gr 6 LOTE lesson

Asian countries project

Communicating in Auslan

Accomplished teachers of Auslan have Accomplished teachers of Auslan have the ability to use Auslan outside the ability to use Auslan outside classroom contexts such as:classroom contexts such as:

Engaging in casual conversations with other users of Auslan including non-native users.

Discussing classroom related topics with colleagues at PD sessions within the school and beyond.

Understanding and using Auslan to manage basic transactional living and travelling needs.

Participating in some formal language contexts (eg, meetings, interviews).

Knowing how to use a TTY.

Using captions on TV, DVDs and films.

Consulting an Auslan dictionary to identify, analyse and reproduce signs (both hard copy and electronic).

Deaf DeafHearing

Casual staffroom conversations.TTY

Accomplished teachers of Auslan have explicit Accomplished teachers of Auslan have explicit knowledge of the linguistic system and knowledge of the linguistic system and demonstrate this in their teaching through:demonstrate this in their teaching through:

Knowledge of Auslan’s vocabulary. Knowledge of Auslan’s phonology – HOLME: handshape, orientation, location, movement, facial expression

Knowledge of the use of space. Knowing the importance of signing the topic first.

Knowledge of Proform and Descriptive Classifiers.

Knowledge of the use of Role Shift.

Knowledge of the importance of facial expression.

Knowing the role of fingerspelling.

Knowing how to represent nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Knowing how to represent time and tense.

Postgraduate Deaf Studies (Language) La Trobe University, 3rd year.

Kennington Primary School teachers

Accomplished teachers of Auslan Accomplished teachers of Auslan have explicit knowledge of aspects of have explicit knowledge of aspects of Auslan usage by:Auslan usage by:

Understanding that Auslan is not a direct transcription of English words.

Understanding there is no voicing when using Auslan.

Recognising the effect of context on language use and linguistic meaning.

No talking – lock your lips.

Accomplished teachers of Auslan have Accomplished teachers of Auslan have an awareness of some fundamental an awareness of some fundamental aspects of Deaf values, attitudes and aspects of Deaf values, attitudes and linguistic cultural practices by:linguistic cultural practices by:

Understanding the importance of the physical environment when communicating with a deaf person

Having an awareness how, historically, different educational settings have influenced the language of Deaf people.

Having an awareness of the impact Signed English has had on the education of deaf people.

Having an awareness of the importance of the Church, sporting groups and Deaf Clubs in Australian Deaf history.

Deaf netball

What did I learn?What did I learn?

The Auslan LOTE program delivered at Kennington Primary School is a quality program taught by skilled teachers

It is supported by native Deaf users who work in the school

The program reflects VELs and PoLT

The Bilingual Program compliments the LOTE Program

Auslan is great to learn!