The evaluation of bilingual programs in the Northern Territory, Australia, 1973–1993

Devlin, Brian

doi:10.1515/ijsl.1995.113.23

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…After reviewing the available literature Hoff [22] recently argued that, given the obvious cultural, social, and economic benefits of bilingualism and the fact that many bilingual children begin school with levels of English proficiency that are an obstacle to academic achievement in standard educational programs, it is important that curricula and teaching practices are improved to meet the needs of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the findings of earlier research (e.g., [23][24][25]) and more recent Australian [26,27] and international [28][29][30] reviews identify many benefits that well-designed bilingual instruction can deliver and, conversely, the many downsides associated with English only education policies. Indeed it has been argued that there has been too much focus on "deficits" and a failure to see children's ability to speak an Indigenous language as a strength rather than a deficit [31].…”

Section: Oral Storytelling Parent-child Bookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

Farrant

Shepherd

Walker

et al. 2014

Child Development Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The current study sought to increase our understanding of the factors involved in the early vocabulary development of Australian Indigenous children. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children were available for 573 Indigenous children (291 boys) who spoke English ( = 37.0 months, = 5.4 months, at wave 3). Data were also available for 86 children (51 boys) who spoke an Indigenous language ( = 37.1 months, = 6.0 months, at wave 3). As hypothesised, higher levels of parent-child book reading and having more children's books in the home were associated with better English vocabulary development. Oral storytelling in Indigenous language was a significant predictor of the size of children's Indigenous vocabulary.

show abstract

Section: Oral Storytelling Parent-child Bookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

Farrant

Shepherd

Walker

et al. 2014

Child Development Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While these programs show very promising results in terms of children's academic achievement (see for instance Devlin, 1997Devlin, , 2005Gale, McClay, Christie, & Harris, 1981;Mohanty, 1990) when compared with the typical L2 submersion found in most regions in Australia, they are rare in Australia. Aboriginal education was an exception with dualliteracy education being implemented in some states, but these programs have had a chequered history (Molyneux, 2009).…”

Section: Transition Into the School Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Literacy in the Home Language

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While advantages of literacy in the home language have been widely documented, the Australian education system has not been proactive in providing institutional support for its development. This paper investigates the impact of (il)literacy in the home language on the academic, affective, and social development of bilingual/multilingual children and proposes principles that home-language-literacy programs should meet to be effective. It discusses programs that, although designed to develop literacy or second-language proficiency mainly in classroom contexts, could be easily adapted to address the needs of the linguistically and culturally diverse Australian context. We argue that the cost of not investing in successful homelanguage-literacy programs will be higher in the long run than their implementation costs and recommend that Australia should consider supporting grassroots home-language-literacy programs in a push to improve overall literacy outcomes for Australian home-language speakers.

show abstract

“…2003;Collier & Thomas, 2002;McCarty, 2008;Tong et al, 2008;and Willig, 1985). Those overseas results were complemented by independent research conducted in the NT (e.g., Gale, McClay, Christie & Harris, 1981;Hill, 2008;Murtagh, 1979Murtagh, , 1982; official NT evaluation reports (e.g., Markwick-Smith, 1985;Richards, 1984;Richards & Thornton, 1981;Stuckey & Richards, 1982; see also Devlin, 1995); and an official statistical analysis of NT test results conducted over a four-year period (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004) as part of a departmental review of bilingual education (NT DEET, 2005). The NT Indigenous Education Strategic Plan for the 2006-2009 period drew on that analysis and noted that "The bilingual programs are effective overseas and give an indication of positive results in the Territory.…”

Section: Statusmentioning

confidence: 98%

The status and future of bilingual education for remote indigenous students in the Northern Territory

Devlin

2011

ARAL

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article analyses the status and future of bilingual education programs using Indigenous languages and English in remote Northern Territory schools. It explains why this educational approach is so contested at present, resulting in an unresolved situation which can best be regarded as an uneasy compromise on the ground and a stalemate at higher levels of political decision making. If the bilingual education approach was better understood by the current NT Government, there would a strong impetus now to refine and effectively implement a model of schooling that is appropriate for students in remote areas. Instead, current politicians debunk the bilingual approach, thereby robbing schools and literacy plans of any momentum and distracting attention away from the work that needs to be done. Meanwhile, student attendance rates have fallen away to worryingly low levels (Dickson, 2010). The current regime may well resolve the impasse, but in the absence of any meaningful, open negotiation the future looks uncertain. It is too soon to judge the cost of this uncertainty, but it may well result in further alienation and the emergence of non-government alternatives.

show abstract

The evaluation of bilingual programs in the Northern Territory, Australia, 1973–1993

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

The Importance of Literacy in the Home Language

The status and future of bilingual education for remote indigenous students in the Northern Territory

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About