Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia

Repeated assessments of literacy skills have shown that Aboriginal students do not achieve at the same level as their non-Aboriginal peers. Many Aboriginal students speak Aboriginal English, a dialect different from the Standard Australian English used in schools. Research shows that it is crucial f...

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Main Authors: Oliver, Rhonda, Rochecouste, J., Vanderford, S., Grote, E.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Monash University ePress 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49500
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author Oliver, Rhonda
Rochecouste, J.
Vanderford, S.
Grote, E.
author_facet Oliver, Rhonda
Rochecouste, J.
Vanderford, S.
Grote, E.
author_sort Oliver, Rhonda
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Repeated assessments of literacy skills have shown that Aboriginal students do not achieve at the same level as their non-Aboriginal peers. Many Aboriginal students speak Aboriginal English, a dialect different from the Standard Australian English used in schools. Research shows that it is crucial for educators in bidialectal contexts to be aware of students’ home language and to adopt appropriate educational responses. For over a decade, the ABC of Two-Way Literacy and Learning Professional Development Program has sought to improve outcomes for Aboriginal students in Western Australia. By promoting a two-way bidialectal approach to learning, Aboriginal English is valued, accommodated and used to bridge to learning in Standard Australian English. This paper draws on a large research project, which used qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the impact of the on-going professional development for teachers. It reports on the attitudes and understandings of teachers, with and without professional development and working in different contexts.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2011
publisher Monash University ePress
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-495002017-09-04T00:49:24Z Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia Oliver, Rhonda Rochecouste, J. Vanderford, S. Grote, E. Repeated assessments of literacy skills have shown that Aboriginal students do not achieve at the same level as their non-Aboriginal peers. Many Aboriginal students speak Aboriginal English, a dialect different from the Standard Australian English used in schools. Research shows that it is crucial for educators in bidialectal contexts to be aware of students’ home language and to adopt appropriate educational responses. For over a decade, the ABC of Two-Way Literacy and Learning Professional Development Program has sought to improve outcomes for Aboriginal students in Western Australia. By promoting a two-way bidialectal approach to learning, Aboriginal English is valued, accommodated and used to bridge to learning in Standard Australian English. This paper draws on a large research project, which used qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the impact of the on-going professional development for teachers. It reports on the attitudes and understandings of teachers, with and without professional development and working in different contexts. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49500 Monash University ePress restricted
spellingShingle Oliver, Rhonda
Rochecouste, J.
Vanderford, S.
Grote, E.
Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia
title Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia
title_full Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia
title_fullStr Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia
title_short Teacher Awareness And Understandings About Aboriginal English in Western Australia
title_sort teacher awareness and understandings about aboriginal english in western australia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49500