The linguistic use of space in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): semantic roles and grammatical relations in three dimensions. Research into the structure of Auslan provides information for the production of assessment and teaching tools for practitioners to use in adult education settings (for second language learners of Auslan and Auslan interpreters) and in special education for signing deaf children. It will also serve as a basis for further research into the acquisition of grammatical use ....The linguistic use of space in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): semantic roles and grammatical relations in three dimensions. Research into the structure of Auslan provides information for the production of assessment and teaching tools for practitioners to use in adult education settings (for second language learners of Auslan and Auslan interpreters) and in special education for signing deaf children. It will also serve as a basis for further research into the acquisition of grammatical use of space by native signing deaf children. These outcomes will further benefit the deaf community, improving deaf people's access to education, health, government services and the employment sector.Read moreRead less
Sociolinguistic variation in Australian Sign Language (Auslan): Theoretical and applied dimensions. The sign language of the Australian deaf community, Auslan, exhibits significant sociolinguistic variation in its vocabulary and grammar. This project aims to collect linguistic data from a range of deaf signers controlled for gender, age, region, class and social networks, using a recently developed draft sign language assessment instrument. The results will contribute to our theoretical understa ....Sociolinguistic variation in Australian Sign Language (Auslan): Theoretical and applied dimensions. The sign language of the Australian deaf community, Auslan, exhibits significant sociolinguistic variation in its vocabulary and grammar. This project aims to collect linguistic data from a range of deaf signers controlled for gender, age, region, class and social networks, using a recently developed draft sign language assessment instrument. The results will contribute to our theoretical understanding of sociolinguistic variation in the language and will also meet the pressing need for the development of valid and reliable tools for the assessment of grammatical skills in Auslan.Read moreRead less
Assessing the intercultural in language learning. The implementation of Intercultural Language Learning (ICLL) is a priority in policy for the Commonwealth and States and is important in developing better understanding of people fro different cultures and countries. A key problem is the development of assessment models. This project is a first investigation of the process and theory of task-based assessment in ICLL and of the process of judgement in assessing languages and interculturality. The ....Assessing the intercultural in language learning. The implementation of Intercultural Language Learning (ICLL) is a priority in policy for the Commonwealth and States and is important in developing better understanding of people fro different cultures and countries. A key problem is the development of assessment models. This project is a first investigation of the process and theory of task-based assessment in ICLL and of the process of judgement in assessing languages and interculturality. The project will contribute to the quality of languages education nationally by enhancing languages teaching and learning and especially the contribution of languages learning to understanding, respecting and engaging with linguistic and cultural diversity, both in Australia and globally.Read moreRead less
Proto Oceanic Language, culture and environment: Foundations of the Austronesian settlement of the Pacific. The project aims to reconstruct the lexicon of Proto Oceanic. Proto Oceanic was ancestral to most Austronesian languages of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. By paying attention to the semantics of terminologies, we expect to learn much about the culture, society and cosmology of Proto Oceanic speakers and their conception of and adaptation to the natural environment. The results will ....Proto Oceanic Language, culture and environment: Foundations of the Austronesian settlement of the Pacific. The project aims to reconstruct the lexicon of Proto Oceanic. Proto Oceanic was ancestral to most Austronesian languages of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. By paying attention to the semantics of terminologies, we expect to learn much about the culture, society and cosmology of Proto Oceanic speakers and their conception of and adaptation to the natural environment. The results will be presented in Volumes 3-5 of a five-volume series. Volume 1 was published in 1998; volume 2 is almost complete. This project will support fundamental research for volumes 3 (flora and fauna), 4 (people and society) and 5 (indices, etc).
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Towards improved quality of written patient records: language proficiency standards for non-native speaking health professionals. This project will focus on the quality and safety of healthcare in Australia by improving the screening of written communication of overseas trained non-native English speaking health professionals. This project will be achieved by investigating writing practices in hospitals and by setting more profession-oriented standards on the Occupational English Test.
A Typological Study of the Sound Systems of the New Guinea-Melanesia Area. This project aims to complete the first detailed cross-linguistic study of the sound systems of the New Guinea Melanesia area. More than one quarter of the world's languages are spoken in this region which remains very little known from a linguistics perspective. Results of this study should have important ramifications for our understanding of: (1) the nature of languages in the region, and of language in general (2) ph ....A Typological Study of the Sound Systems of the New Guinea-Melanesia Area. This project aims to complete the first detailed cross-linguistic study of the sound systems of the New Guinea Melanesia area. More than one quarter of the world's languages are spoken in this region which remains very little known from a linguistics perspective. Results of this study should have important ramifications for our understanding of: (1) the nature of languages in the region, and of language in general (2) phonological description and theory (3) phonological description and theory (4) linguistic diffusion and influence in an area that extends from Eastern Timor to Vanuatu and New Caledonia.Read moreRead less
Dialect variation in Javanese: an integrated historical-linguistic and typological analysis. Australia has the highest concentration outside Indonesia of researchers engaged in the study of Java and this project will strengthen Australia's position as the premier Anglophone centre of Javanese Studies world wide. This project will also enhance Australia's position as a leader of academic research in Australasia by highlighting Australia's positive contribution to the study of Indonesia's cultural ....Dialect variation in Javanese: an integrated historical-linguistic and typological analysis. Australia has the highest concentration outside Indonesia of researchers engaged in the study of Java and this project will strengthen Australia's position as the premier Anglophone centre of Javanese Studies world wide. This project will also enhance Australia's position as a leader of academic research in Australasia by highlighting Australia's positive contribution to the study of Indonesia's cultural history. International links will be strengthened through cooperation between scholars in Australia and Indonesia. Research results will feed into the teaching programs in Indonesian Studies at the University of Melbourne and will strengthen Indonesian Studies across Australia.Read moreRead less
The Indigenous grammar of Aboriginal English: implications for contact linguistics. This project will investigate how Australian Indigenous languages have shaped Aboriginal English, a major variety of Australian English. The project will significantly advance the knowledge base of linguistics and make a key contribution to improving the social opportunities of Indigenous Australians.
AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH GRAMMAR: a dialectal and stylistic description. Australian English has steadily evolved into a distinctive regional variety, with its own accent, lexicon and grammar. Yet the grammar has not been systematically described in terms of relative and/or absolute differences from British and American English. Just how Americanised is it? Does standard Australian English grammar embrace elements elsewhere considered "informal"? This project undertakes to research such questions by me ....AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH GRAMMAR: a dialectal and stylistic description. Australian English has steadily evolved into a distinctive regional variety, with its own accent, lexicon and grammar. Yet the grammar has not been systematically described in terms of relative and/or absolute differences from British and American English. Just how Americanised is it? Does standard Australian English grammar embrace elements elsewhere considered "informal"? This project undertakes to research such questions by means of computer databases of written and spoken texts, and population surveys. The resulting Australian grammar will appear in an international series. The project's findings will have strategic value in smart information systems, for information delivery and automatic knowledge abstraction.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101024
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,000.00
Summary
High-definition carbon-dating of linguistic pasts. This project aims to harness the insights of dissipating information, to discover language histories by bringing together two high-definition technologies: powerful, computational statistical engines pioneered in genetics; and fine-grained, statistically optimised observations of language structure. It seeks new insight into how languages reveal history, and how cultural groups speaking the Uralic languages of Eurasia and Australian Aboriginal l ....High-definition carbon-dating of linguistic pasts. This project aims to harness the insights of dissipating information, to discover language histories by bringing together two high-definition technologies: powerful, computational statistical engines pioneered in genetics; and fine-grained, statistically optimised observations of language structure. It seeks new insight into how languages reveal history, and how cultural groups speaking the Uralic languages of Eurasia and Australian Aboriginal languages diverged, spread and interacted, from a distant past to the recent present.Read moreRead less