Subjects: MA Internship
Organisation: University of Groningen
Internship supervisor: Dr. Nanna Hilton
University supervisor: Dr. Charlotte Gooskens
Internship period: 18/02/2019 to 17/05/2019 Date of submission: 01/07/2019
Student: Marcela I. Huilcán Student number: S2929481 Programme: Master in Multilingualism
Acknowledge of Country
I wish to acknowledge to First Peoples and their Countries as the traditional owners of the land on which I conducted part of this research, namely the Wattamattagal clan of the Dharug nation, the Biripi Country and the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I pay my respect to Elders past, present and future.
Table of Contents
Introduction………...……….. p. 4 1. Description of organisations and project ……… p. 5 1.1 University of Groningen - Centre for Language and Cognition Groningen, Faculty of Arts ………. p. 5 1.2 Macquarie University - Department of Linguistic and Department of Indigenous studies …………. p. 5 1.3 The COOEE project………... p. 6 2. Student tasks……….………...……… p. 7 2.1 Preparatory work ………... p. 7 a. Overview of languages ……….. p. 7 b. Relevant bibliography to the project ……….. p. 9 c. Contact with communities ……….. p. 9 2.2 Design of focus group questions ………. p. 10 2.3 Fieldwork in Australia ..………p. 10 a. Interviews ……….. p.11 b. Reports ……….. p.12 2.4 Analysis ……… p.12 3. Evaluation………...……… p.13 3.1 Beginning of the placement………..……….……….…… p.13 3.2 Master’s courses and internship alignment ……… p.13 3.3 Learning goals and supervision……….. p.14 Conclusion………...………... p.16 References………...………p.17 Appendices ……… p.19
Introduction
The internship report gives an account of the work executed during a three-months placement (280 hours) at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen. The placement, as part of a combined internship-thesis project, was performed within the scope of the ‘COOEE project: A Citizen Science Project for Language in Indigenous Australia’. Indigenous, in the Australian context, refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, i.e. communities that “self-identify as Indigenous and are accepted as members of the community that so identifies and have historical continuity with invasion or pre-settler colonial societies” (“UNPFII | United Nations For Indigenous Peoples,” n.d.). However, in this report it will only refer to Aboriginal people, e.g. Dharug people, Birpai people, Dharawal people, and so on, since these are the target communities.
As it was mentioned in the paragraph above, COOEE is a citizen science project, a concept that refers to participation of the general public in scientific research in a collaborative effort with professionals in a given field. This participation ranges from involvement of the general public as data collectors (sometimes as providers of data1) to research design (Bonney et al., 2014). COOEE is a joint project between the University of Groningen and Macquarie University, whose aim is to document, through a web-based platform, Indigenous languages in Australia. For this reason, the placement included a research-trip to Sydney in order to collect data and hold promotion activities to initiate the project. This report will reflect on the work I carried out in order to implement a community-based project with Indigenous communities in the New South Wales area.
To begin with, the first section of the report will present a description of the organisations involved: University of Groningen as the internship organisation and Macquarie University as the funding body for the development of the web-based platform. This will be followed by a description of the COOEE project. In the second section, I will describe the tasks that I carried out during my internship divided as: preparatory work (before the data collection), interview design, fieldwork in Sydney, and analysis. In the third section, I will present an evaluation of the placement to reflect on the goals and outcomes expected at the beginning of the placement, alongside with perceptions about the internship as a whole and the supervision received. Finally, I draw some conclusions.
1 Citizens as providers of data is not always considered as citizen science. In the literature it can be found as one type of citizen science or as crowdsourcing, however this distinction will not be addressed in this report.
1. Description of organisations and project
This placement was at the University of Groningen, however, since Macquarie University was the funding body, part of the placement was carried out in Australia and therefore, I will present both institutions. This will be followed by a description of the COOEE project.
1.1 University of Groningen – Centre for Language and Cognition Groningen, Faculty of Arts
The University of Groningen is an institution with top quality in research and education, oriented to conduct socially-relevant research (fostering to narrow the gap between science and society) and to favour the link between different disciplines. With a long academic tradition since 1614 is the second oldest university in the Netherlands (“Top 100 University | University of Groningen,” n.d.). The Faculty of Arts, offers16 Bachelor programmes and 40 Master’s tracks. The fields that the faculty covers are Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Journalism, Language and Literary Studies, and Linguistics (“Faculty of Arts | University of Groningen,” n.d.). The Centre for Language and Cognition Groningen is one of the research institutes of the University within the Faculty of Arts. Its mission is to conduct high-quality research and to promote this research, and its results, among the scientific community and society. The research work covers the areas of computational processing of language, processes in discourse and communication, neurolinguistic processing and language development across the lifespan, and variation and change in linguistic structure and meaning (“Center for Language and Cognition | Research | University of Groningen,” n.d.).
In this institution, I had a working place where I spend one day a week, I could have been there more frequently but for logistics reasons I decided to complete the remaining weekly hours in Leeuwarden. As the internship project was not part of a team, my work was conducted individually with supervision of Dr. Nanna Hilton, head of the COOEE project.
1.2 Macquarie University – Department of Linguistic and Department of Indigenous studies
Macquarie University was the third university established in the metropolitan area of Sydney. Founded in 1964 it quickly gained a remarkable position among universities in the world, being currently in the top two per cent of universities in the world. The university promotes interdisciplinary research between their research centres, clinical groups, research labs and research groups. Macquarie University’s aim is to educate and foster integral students (“Macquarie University - Why Study Here?,” n.d.). The Department of Linguistics is part of the Faculty of Human Sciences, this faculty possess internationally
acclaimed research centres in the fields of linguistics, psychology, cognitive science and education aim to investigate around what makes us human. The Department of Linguistics, one of the largest in Australia, works in areas such speech pathology, audiology, language development and language in society with a strong tradition on research and teaching in multilingualism, intercultural communication and translation (“Department of Linguistics - Macquarie University,” n.d.).
The other participating department is the Department of Indigenous Studies whose aim is to foster projects and investigations oriented to cause a positive change in society, specially focused in working around critical insights in politics, culture and social practices of Indigenous peoples (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders). The Department foster the implementation of non-Western perspectives and methodologies that promote empowerment and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples in Australia and through the world (“Department of Indigenous Studies - Macquarie University,” n.d.).
During my three-weeks stay in Sydney, I had a working place at Macquarie University, specifically in the Department of Linguistics. However, I also spend time in the Department of Indigenous Studies conducting interviews.
1.3 The COOEE project
The joint project between the University of Groningen and Macquarie University, around which my internship tasks were developed, is named COOEE (word of Dharug2 origin which refer to a call of attention to a specific place). COOEE is an extension of Stimmen (Frisian word for “Voices”), a smartphone application released in 2017 in the Netherlands, with the aim of documenting local languages, and spreading awareness of linguistic diversity in the area (“Stimmen,” n.d.). As Stimmen, this project is a citizen science project, which means that it is based on community participation with the purpose of gathering data to investigate their language and culture.
The aim of the project is to develop a web-based platform with Indigenous communities’ participation from the beginning, i.e. from the research questions to collection and processing of the data. During my internship I worked on the first half of this project, which means: researching about the linguistic situation in the New South Wales area, getting in contact with Indigenous communities and starting to profile the project according to the communities’ preferences and needs. In the following section I will examine this work.
2 Dharug is the language of Dharug people, Indigenous community from what is today Sydney Australia. The word, originally “guu-wii”, was copied by English settlers and it can be found in English dictionaries. The word means “come here” and according to Oxford dictionary is used to attract the attention to a specific location (“cooee | Definition of cooee in English by Lexico Dictionaries,” n.d.).
2. Student tasks
The placement had three main parts: preparatory work before the trip to Australia, fieldwork in Australia and analysis of the findings.
2.1 Preparatory work
This stage of the internship was executed during the first five weeks (the total is thirteen). During this period, I mainly worked on:
a. Research and creation of an overview of indigenous communities and their languages in the New South Wales Area including documentation of languages and status.
b. Creation of relevant bibliography.
c. Web-search to get in contact with Indigenous communities in the area and subsequently initiate contact with them.
These tasks were simultaneously conducted, however for organizational purposes I will describe them separately and in the order in which I have presented them above.
a. Overview of languages
As it was mentioned in previous sections, this project aims initially to work with Indigenous languages of the New South Wales area. To provide a representation of how the geographical and linguistic diversity in Australia looks like, here I present two maps to this purpose:
Figure 1. Map of Australia showing its political division (“Political map of Australia - Australia map political (Australia and New Zealand - Oceania),” n.d.)
Figure 2. Map of Indigenous languages in New South Wales (“Aboriginal Language Map NSW - Tourism NSW,” 2010)
A first research on Indigenous languages diversity was conducted according to what the website Ethnologue shows. Table 1 shows the Indigenous languages in New South Area and their status. This information was retrieved between the 19th and 25th of February.
Table 1. Indigenous languages in New South Wales area and their status (“Australia,” n.d.) Status Indigenous languages in New South Wales
Threatened Kumbainggar Moribund Bandjalang
Nearly extinct Githabul, Paakantyi, Wiradhuri. Reawakening Gamilaraay
Dormant Awabakal, Dadi Dadi, Darkinyung, Wadi Wadi, Karenggapa, Yitha Yitha, Yuyu.
Extinct Arakwal, Badjiri, Barababaraba, Bigambal, Birrpayi, Dyangadi, Karnic Eastern, Malyangapa, Minjungbal, Nari Nari, Nganyaywana, Ngarigu, Ngunawal, Thawa, Wadikali, Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa, Yabula Yabula, Yardliyawarra, Yaygir, Yorta Yorta.
According to this source, there are 33 Indigenous languages in the New South Wales area and all of them are part of the Pama-Nyungan family. The language documentation refers mainly to dictionaries; however, the languages are extremely under documented. There are no reported L1 speakers of these languages. For details about the languages according to ethnologue.com see Appendix A (page 19). A second study was conducted on AUSTLANG (Australian Indigenous languages data base) through the website of AIATSIS (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Institute). This source indicates that there are 76 Indigenous languages in the mentioned area (see Table 2). This information was retrieved between the 6th and 20th of March of 2019.
Table 2. List of Indigenous languages in New South Wales area according to AUSTLANG (“AIATSIS Collection BETA,” n.d.)
Languages in New South Wales
Arakwal Dhanggatti Gundungurra Ngambaa Wangaaybuwan Awabakal Dharamba Gunybaray Nganyaywana Wemba Wemba
Baanbay Dharawal Gurungada Ngarigo Wiljali
Bandjigali Dhurga Jaitmathang Ngunawal Wilyagali
Baraba Baraba Djirringany Kuringgai-Guringay Wailwan Wiradjuri
Barranbinya Eora Kureinji Ngiyampaa Wiriyaraay
Bigambul Gamilaraay Madhi Madhi Paakantyi Worimi
Birpai Garanggaba Malyangapa Thaua Yaygir
Bolali Gawambaray Marawara Warrimay Yitha Yitha
Bundjalung Geawegal Minjungbal Wadi Wadi Yu Yu
Danggali Githabul Muruwari Walbanga Yugambal
Darkinung Gogai Nari Nari Walgalu Yuin
Daruk Gujangal Nawalgu Wandandian Yuungay
Darumbal Gumbaynggir Ngaku Wandjiwalgu Yuwaalaraay
This source mainly provides information about the documentation of the languages and language family. After reviewing this data base, I found more information about documentation of the languages that allowed me to complement the previous information gathered, however, as I mentioned before, these languages seem to be rather undocumented). For details about the information found see Appendix B (page 21).
b. Relevant bibliography to the project
As it was initially mentioned, the COOEE project is meant to be an extension of Stimmen, however some specific considerations had been taken into account before its implementation. Since the context of a minority language in Europe is not the same than Indigenous languages throughout the world, one of my tasks was to draw on literature about collaborative work with Indigenous communities, i.e. community-based approaches and participatory methods, which is the base of any citizen science project. These readings resulted in a list with relevant references and an annotated bibliography. To achieve this purpose, I created a set of references with relevant Bibliography. These references worked as based to prepare the appropriate strategies to approach the communities and to develop the questions for the interviews and focus group. For details see Appendix C (page 23).
c. Contact with Indigenous communities in the area
The communities I contacted were found through web-search research and through help that one PhD student from Macquarie provided. This student initiated contact with two communities and introduced us to them. I organized a group meeting with one of these communities in Taree (300 kms from Sydney) since that city was the location of the residence of the community members interested in participating.
I could not meet the other community (located in Eden, 550 kms from Sydney) because it was not possible to arrange a meeting on time during our visit to Australia. Nonetheless, it was possible to conduct one interview with a representative of Eden’s community via Zoom. All the email correspondence (around one hundred emails) and the personal contact with people during our trip there allowed us to conduct a total of 8 interviews. I elaborated a timeline with all the correspondence sent and received during the internship period, this report was available for my supervisor and Macquarie University representatives.
2.2 Design of interviews
This work was executed during the two weeks previous to the trip to Sydney, overlapping every now and then with the correspondence work and the overview of languages (see section above).
The design was composed of a set of questions around 5 topics with a total of 27 questions. Table 3 shows the topics and aim of the questions around each topic. See full version in Appendix D (page 27). Table 3. Topics and aim of the topics addressed during the interviews and focus group.
Topic Aim
Language acquisition to establish the linguistic community involved and to learn about their acquisition processes.
Language use and domains to learn about frequency of use and domains where their Indigenous languages are used.
Language attitudes to learn how they perceive themselves as speakers of an Indigenous language and how they perceive the attitudes of others (non-indigenous people). Identification with the community and the state to draw on the concepts of citizen and citizenship. Their languages in the online-based platform to draw on their needs and preferences in regards to
their languages
Initially some of these questions were meant to be part of my thesis project, however later with my supervisor agreed that it was not necessary to use them. Nonetheless, the data collected (currently saved in audio files) was extremely fruitful and interesting for another research project or perhaps to complement the COOEE project.
2.3 Fieldwork in Australia
The fieldwork-trip was 3 weeks long (March 24 to April 13). My supervisor was there during the first week and I continued for the remaining time. During our visit we had several activities: an initial meeting with Macquarie University representatives from the Department of Linguistics and from the Department of Indigenous Studies. During this first meeting my supervisor, Dr. Nanna Hilton, led the
presentation’s project and I presented the communities we had reached so far and the possible outcomes of the project. This first meeting gave us the opportunity to received feedback from other academics and academics-Indigenous community members as well. Thus, we obtained helpful perspectives and also specific contacts to reach more communities and individuals. During my work at the Macquarie University campus, I also had the opportunity to visit the Art Gallery where I was invited to attend a meeting about an upcoming exhibition of Aboriginal Art. I mention this visit because through this meeting I could make acquaintance of some protocols around working with Indigenous communities in general and in the University context as well. In the following subsections, I describe my two main activities during these three weeks.
a. Interviews
As mentioned in the previous section I conducted a total of six individual interviews, one group meeting and a double interview via Zoom. All the interviews were recorded (audio recording) with the participants consent.
The six individual interviews correspond to community members from Dharug, Gumbaynggir, Wiradjuri, Gathang and Dharawal peoples. These interviews went through the five topics mentioned in subsection 2.2 and lasted from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
The group meeting was with the Gathang community and lasted two hours and a half. This meeting addressed mainly the last topic: ‘Questions about language in the online-based platform’ and some specific concerns of this community in regards to the ownership of the data and the who would have access to the platform. For this community these two points were crucial since they have had unfortunate experiences in the past with other projects and for historical reasons of appropriation of their culture, including the erasing of their languages. Two of the participants were individually interviewed after the meeting to drawn on their perspectives about the other four topics.
The dual interview with Dharug community members was conducted via Zoom and, as in the group meeting, we addressed only the topic number five. The arrangements for this meeting were initiated in person (contrary to the other interviews that were all set up via email correspondence for logistic reasons since the contact was initiated when I was in the Netherlands). My supervisor and I were invited to a session of Parramata Dialogues, which is a gathering that women from different ethnic backgrounds have in Sydney in a regular basis, once or twice a month. In this session we met Dharug women, currently working to revitalize their language, who showed great interest in the project and agreed to meet with us afterwards.
Four of the individual interviews were conducted at Macquarie University campus since the interviewees are also part of the University staff or have some links to the University (former students, research collaborators, etc.). The remaining two interviews were conducted via Zoom and Skype since
the interviewees lived outside Sydney and my stay in Australia was not long enough to be able to travel to both places.
Additionally, I had meetings with two Linguistics professors at Macquarie University to gather different perspectives about the project from an academic point of view, specifically from the linguistic field and also from their experience working with Indigenous communities in the past.
b. Reports
Each recording has its respective report in the form of meeting notes, highlighting the ideas the interviewees wanted to include in the web-based platform or in a possible smartphone-app. Additionally, in these reports I indicated if they mentioned concerns or particular issues around the implementation of this project. These reports were available in Google Drive to all the members of the COOEE project. I also created reports of the meetings with the professors. To see examples of these reports, see Appendix E (page 28).
Additionally, as part of my work during the visit to Australia, I elaborated the timeline report mentioned in section 2.1 subsection c, with all the correspondence until that date.
2.4 Analysis
After the fieldwork in Australia I started to work on the final part of my internship. This part was oriented first to complete the reports that I could not finished during the weeks in Australia, then to conduct two remaining meetings (one of them was never possible to concrete for schedule issues of the interviewee) and finally to draw on the data to develop a pilot for the project. After completing the two first points, I started to work again on the data collected. With this purpose I created a summary table (see Appendix F, page 29) with the main points discussed during the interviews and the ideas the interviewees suggested. With this information my supervisor, the programmer of the web-based platform and I started to work on the specific details for the creation of the platform, i.e. the likelihood to include specific requests of the community. We had correspondence and one meeting from which we concluded that to continue developing the project we needed to clarify some legal considerations first. These regulations need to be solved with Macquarie University Legal Department, unfortunately due to administrative and logistic reasons we were not able to clarify these questions before my internship ended. However, I will hopefully be able to continue working on the project in the upcoming weeks.
3. Evaluation of internship
This section aims to describe how I had the opportunity to work in this project, the contribution of the master’s courses and the learning outcomes.
3.1 Beginning of the placement
From the beginning of the master’s programme we were encouraged to do a placement, highlighting that that was an opportunity to get prepared for our future working life, as this was a chance to acquire work experience and also an opportunity to network. I was not sure in the beginning which type of internship to follow, however in our last lecture of the course The Multilingual Community, our lecturer, Dr. Nanna Hilton (my supervisor during this placement) mentioned some of the projects she was working on and that there might be opportunities in these projects for students to work on as a placement. One of these projects was the COOEE project. She mentioned she was starting to work on the development of a citizen science project with a university in Australia about Indigenous languages, in a sort of replication of Stimmen app. That first presentation of the project sounded truly interesting to me for two main reasons: first, I come from an Indigenous community in the geographical area of Chile, the Mapuche people, and I am very interested in everything that concern to Indigenous languages, especially if it is related to language revitalization. The second reason (although both overlap at some point) is my interest in sociolinguistic phenomena.
Therefore, only a couple of days later, I expressed my interest to my supervisor. She offered me more details about it and a couple of weeks later we agreed on working together in this project with me as intern.
3.2 Master’s courses and internship alignment
I consider that all the courses contributed to different extent during my placement. However, I will mention three of them that were more aligned with the internship content. The first one is The Multilingual Community, a course taught during the first block of the programme. I consider that this course offered me part of the theoretical background needed for my placement, since this is the course that provides more insights on the sociolinguistic field. Through the readings, and then attending the lectures about topics such as folk linguistics, multicultural ethnolects, endangered dialects and indexicality I started to develop a profound understanding of the relationship between language and identity. Folk linguistics, although briefly discussed, offered me some guidelines about the involvement of laypeople in linguistics. The other areas mentioned contributed to give me different perspectives about the situation of different languages, especially in the sense of language attitudes in the community and language variation among different ethnic groups.
Language Planning and Policy included a small-scale research in which we designed and conducted interviews. The experience acquired during this assignment was helpful to me when I started to work on the questions’ design and later when I was in fact conducting the interviews. Additionally, in this course we worked in a case study paper about Language Policy in a specific geographical area of our choice. I chose Central-South and South of Chile, an area where Spanish, as majority language, and Mapudungun, as a minoritised language, interact. This study offered me the possibility to drawn more in depth on the challenges that an Indigenous language community have to face in order to revitalize and maintain their language from the language policy perspective.
3.3 Learning goals and supervision
On the Placement agreement I proposed the following goals as competences to be acquired:
• develop research skills in the sociolinguistic field, specifically on the epistemological issues concerning indigenous languages (e.g. language and identity, relationship indigenous communities and Nation-State, etc.).
• learn about the link between citizen science and sociolinguistics, e.g. ongoing academic debate of citizen science in sociolinguistics, including the implementation of these projects from a general point of view to the specific perspective of indigenous language communities. • learn how to effectively implement citizen science projects by taking into account participatory
culture (i.e. inclusion of the community, contribution of this community and exchange/reciprocity between this community and researchers, public understanding of science, theories of indexicality, etc.).
I believe I reached all of these goals to different extent. The epistemological issues around language and identity and around the relationship between Indigenous communities and Nation-States were developed first through preparatory readings, which were the based to start to work in this project. I consider that without this preparation I would not have been properly prepared to initiate contact with the communities and develop the questions. Secondly, the understanding of these issues was deepened empirically through my fieldwork. Having the possibility to work directly with individuals of these communities provided me with insights and understandings that would have been hardly accessible otherwise. Through the interviews that I conducted I could draw on the implications that concepts such nation, citizenship, authority, etc. might have for Indigenous communities. These issues, of course, were not new to me, since, as I mentioned initially, I am Mapuche and according to my knowledge and this experience in Australia, Indigenous communities through the world share many historical experiences, especially from a post-colonial perspective. However, this does not mean that Indigenous communities
through the world do not possess particularities, in fact I have to stress how particular every community is, even in the same geographical area.
In regards to learning about the link between citizen science and sociolinguistics, I learned specifically about the implementation of these projects with Indigenous language communities. However, I consider that this learning outcome at this point was mainly on a theoretical level. Nonetheless, the next learning outcome proposed, was definitely more developed: how to effectively implement Citizen Science projects by taking into account participatory culture (i.e. inclusion of the community, contribution of this community and exchange/reciprocity between this community and researchers, public understanding of science, theories of indexicality, etc.). The relevance of this aspect rapidly emerged from the different communications I had with the communities, especially from the interviews. After my theoretical research (for the internship and for my thesis) I can speculate that participatory culture and collaborative science are fundamental when working with Indigenous communities. When I conducted the interviews, all the interviewees highlighted the relevance that to be included in the research process had to them.
I consider that my learning goals were strengthen by the supervision that I received. My supervisor gave the opportunity to work independently, but at the same time she was always available to answer my enquiries. During our meetings she was always clear about the next steps we should follow on the project and she offered me guidelines about theoretical aspects that I should work on in order to complete my tasks.
Conclusion
During twelve weeks (280 hours), I have learned about citizen science projects’ implementation with Indigenous communities from a theoretical perspective and from an empirical perspective through the COOEE project in the New South Wales area. I had the fortunate possibility to do fieldwork in Australia and to learn directly from the communities. Additionally, having the opportunity to have a desk at both the University of Groningen and at Macquarie University gave the opportunity to strength my academic skills and to get acquaintance with a working environment. At Macquarie University I also had the possibility to meet with academics who provided me with truly meaningful feedback for this project and ideas for further studies.
Having the opportunity to work with Dr. Nanna Hilton, was truly valuable to me, since she works professionally and at a high academic level. I had approximately weekly meetings with her and she was available daily to answer any enquiry that arose. Moreover, she allowed me to work independently, a possibility that I consider extremely important in order to strengthen my academic and professional skills. I am deeply grateful for having had this opportunity.
As I have mentioned, this internship offered me many opportunities in different aspects, however it also presented some interesting challenges. I will mention two. First, New South Wales is the geographical area that first received the impact of colonization in Australia, which among other effects it means that most of the Indigenous languages are nearly extinct or extinct. This represents a challenge when the project points out to document languages. On the other hand, it represents a wonderful opportunity to contribute to revitalization efforts in the area. Second, distances in Australia are quite large, which represented a challenge when we were there, because we did not have enough time to visit all the communities or individuals we were in contact with. However, more time will easily solve this issue in the future if it is needed.
As I mentioned in section two, I could not complete the pilot for this project during the internship period, however my supervisor has informed me that there is a possibility to continue working in the project in the upcoming weeks. This will allow me to complete the work I started, continue learning from my supervisor and from the implementation of citizen science projects.
References
Aboriginal Language Map NSW - Tourism NSW. (2010, June 4). Retrieved June 29, 2019, from Our Languages website: https://ourlanguages.org.au/aboriginal-language-map-nsw-tourism-nsw/ AIATSIS Collection BETA [Text]. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2019, from
https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/
Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2019, from Ethnologue website: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/AU
Bonney, R., Shirk, J. L., Phillips, T. B., Wiggins, A., Ballard, H. L., Miller-Rushing, A. J., & Parrish, J. K. (2014). Next Steps for Citizen Science. Science, 343(6178), 1436–1437. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251554
Center for Language and Cognition | Research | University of Groningen. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2019, from https://www.rug.nl/research/clcg/
cooee | Definition of cooee in English by Lexico Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2019, from Lexico Dictionaries | English website: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/cooee
Department of Indigenous Studies - Macquarie University. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2019, from Macquarie University website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/about-the-university/faculties-and-departments/faculty-of-arts/departments-and-centres/department-of-indigenous-studies Department of Linguistics - Macquarie University. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2019, from Macquarie
University website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/about-the-university/faculties-and-departments/faculty-of-human-sciences/departments-and-centres/department-of-linguistics Faculty of Arts | University of Groningen. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2019, from https://www.rug.nl/let/ Macquarie University - Why Study Here? (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2019, from
https://www.mq.edu.au/study/why-study-here
Political map of Australia - Australia map political (Australia and New Zealand - Oceania). (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2019, from http://maps-australia.com/political-map-of-australia
Stimmen. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2019, from Stimmen fan Fryslân website: http://stimmen.nl/ Top 100 University | University of Groningen. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2019, from https://www.rug.nl/
UNPFII | United Nations for Indigenous Peoples. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2019, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/unpfii-sessions-2.html
Appendix A
Example of the information collected in regards to the Overview of languages in the New South Wales area according to Ethnologue.com.
Languages and status - Information retrieved on February 19, 2019 and updated on February 25,
2019 from https://www.ethnologue.com/country/AU
1.Threatened - Status 6b
Kumbainggar
Location: New South Wales state: Grafton and north coast.
Alternate Names: Baanbay, Gambalamam, Gumbaingari, Gumbainggar, Gumbainggir, Gumbaynggir, Gumbayunggir, Kumbaingeri, Kumbainggiri
Population: 90 (2016 census). Language Status: 6b (Threatened).
Classification: Australian, Pama-Nyungan, Gumbaynggiric
Language Use: Growing number of younger adult speakers who are now passing on the language to their children. Some young people, all adults.
Language Development: Dictionary. Texts. Language revitalization efforts underway. Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Kumbainggar.
2. Moribund - Status 8a
Bandjalang
Alternate Names: Bandjelang, Bogganger, Bundala, Bundjalung, Gidabal, Yugumbe Population: 110 (2016 census).
Location: New South Wales state: Woodenbong northeast; Queensland state: southeast. Language Status: 8a (Moribund).
Classification: Australian, Pama-Nyungan, Bandjalangic Dialects: Gidabal (Gidhabal), Yugumbir.
Language Use: Also use English [eng].
Language Development: Dictionary. Grammar.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Bandjalang Writing: Latin script, no longer in use.
3. Nearly extinct - Status 8b
Githabul
Alternate Names: Gidabul, Gidjoobal, Kidabal, Kidjabal, Kita-bool, Kitabool, Kitapul, Kitta-bool, Kittabool, Kuttibul, Noowidal
Population: 4 (2016 census).
Location: Queensland state; New South Wales state: Clarence river, Drake, Killarney, Logan river, Rathdowney, Richmond river, Spicer Gap, Tabulam, Tooloom, Unumgar, Urbenville, Woodenbong.
Language Status: 8b (Nearly extinct).
Classification: Australian, Pama-Nyungan, Bandjalangic
Language Development: Dictionary. Grammar. In 2013, the Condamine Alliance Languages Project was supporting language revival for Githabul and other language groups found near the Condamine River.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Githabul
Paakantyi
Alternate Names: Baagandji, Bagandji, Darling, Kula, Paakanti, Paakintyi, Southern Baagandji Population: 4 (2005 AUSTLANG).
Location: New South Wales state: Darling river basin. Language Status: 8b (Nearly extinct).
Classification: Australian, Pama-Nyungan, Baagandji
Dialects: Paaruntyi, Kurnu (Gurnu), Nhaawuparlku, Milpulo, Wilyaali, Thangkaali, Pulaali, Wanyuparlku, Pantyikali (Bandjigali), Marrawarra (Maruara), Southern Paakantyi, Parrintyi (Baarrundji, Barindji).
Language Development: Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. The Paakantyi Language Circle has been promoting their language since 2008; their work has enabled Paakantyi language courses to be added to several schools, and they have published four children’s stories in partnership with Indigenous Literacy. Aboriginal Educator Noe Lumby worked with some young men within the Juvenile Justice System to create Paakantyi language resources.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Paakantyi
Wiradhuri
Alternate Names: Berrembeel, Warandgeri, Werogery, Wiiratheri, Wira-Athoree, Wiradhuri, Wiradhurri, Wiraduri, Wiraidyuri, Wirajeree, Wirashuri, Wiratheri, Wirracharee, Wirrai’yarrai, Wooragurie, Wordjerg
Population: 30 (2005 AUSTLANG). Ethnic population: 460 (2016 census).
Location: New South Wales state: Macquarie river to Murray river, Lachlan river area from Murrumbidgee river to Parkes.
Language Status: 8b (Nearly extinct).
Classification: Australian, Pama-Nyungan, Wiradhuric
Language Development: Dictionary. Texts. Revitalization attempts (Wurm 2007). Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Wiradjuri
Appendix B
Example of the information collected in regards to the Overview of languages in the New South Wales area according to AUSTLANG data base.
Languages, family and documentation - Information retrieved during March, 2019, from
https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/search. • AWABAKAL
Family: Pama-nyungan> Group: Yuin-Kuric > Subgroup: Kuri (Walsh, 1981; Oates, 1975; Wurm, 1972, 1994; O'Grady, Voegelin & Voegelin, 1966. In Dixon 2002 Group: CENTRAL NEW SOUTH WALES GROUP > Subgroup: Awabagal/Gadjang subgroup
Speakers: No info in census 2006 Documentation
Grammar:
Threlkeld, L. E. (1892). An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal, the people of Awaba or Lake Macquarie (near Newcastle, New South Wales): being an account of their language, traditions and customs. Sydney, Australia: Charles Potter, Government Printer. Retrieved from https://downloads.newcastle.edu.au/library/cultural%20collections/pdf/al1892whole.pdf
Lissarrague, A., Language, M. A., & Co-operative, C. (2006). A salvage grammar and wordlist of the language from the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie. Nambucca Heads, N.S.W.: Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/22983018
Arposio, A., & Inc, A. C. R. A. (2009). A grammar for the Awabakal language (Rev. ed). Cardiff, N.S.W. : Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/26604321
Arposio, A. (2009). An introduction to the Awabakal language : its orthography, recommended orthoepy and its grammar and stylistics. Cardiff, NSW: Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association. Retrieved from http://link.aiatsis.gov.au/portal/An-introduction-to-the-Awabakal-language--its/slCGOHZ-b9A/
Arposio, A. (2010). Palii ngarabangaliingeyn Awabakalkoba: Understanding Awabakal language. Newcastle, N.S.W: Miromaa Aboriginal Language & Technology Centre. Dictionary:
Threlkeld, L. E. (1892). An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal, the people of Awaba or Lake Macquarie (near Newcastle, New South Wales): being an account of their language, traditions and customs. Sydney, Australia: Charles Potter, Government Printer. Retrieved from https://downloads.newcastle.edu.au/library/cultural%20collections/pdf/al1892whole.pdf
Maynard, J. (Ed.). (2004). Awabakal word finder: an Aboriginal dictionary and dreaming stories companion. Southport, Qld: Keeaira Press.
Roberts, David Andres. English-Awabakal Dictionary.
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/centre/awaba/awaba/group/amrhd/awaba/language/dictionary/index.html *No year indicated.
Inc, A. C. R. A., & Centre, M. A. L. & T. (2008). Awabakal dictionary (Research ed). Newcastle, N.S.W. : Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association : Miromaa Aboriginal Language & Technology Centre. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/51342553
• BIRBAY (Birpai, Gathang, Worimi, etc)
Family:Pama-NyunganPama> Group:Yuin-Kuric>Subgroup: Kuri >Name:Birbay (Walsh 1981; Oates 1975 [name: Biribai]; Wurm 1972 [ name: Birripi (Bilpai, Birpai)]; O'Grady, Voegelin & Voegelin 1966 [name: Birpai]. In Dixon 2002 > Group: Central New South Wales> Subgroup: Awabagal/Gadjang> Name: Birpay. Speakers: no info
Documentation: In AIATSIS no info. Dictionary
Lissarrague, A. (2010). A grammar and dictionary of Gathang : the language of the Birrbay, Guringay and
Warrimay. Nambucca Heads, N.S.W.: Muurrbay Aboriginal Language & Culture Co-operative.
• DHARUG (Daruk)
Family: Pama-Nyungan> Group:Yuin-Kuric>Subgroup: Iora> Name:Dharuk (Oates 1975); O'Grady, Voegelin & Voegelin 1966 [Subgroup: Yuin> Name:Dharuk]; Walsh 1981 [Group: Yuin-Kuri> Subgroup: Iyora> Name: Dharuk]; Wurm 1972 [Group: Yuin-Kuri>Subgroup: Kuri> Name:Dharuk], 1994 [group>Yuin-Kuric> Name: Dharuk). In Dixon 2002 > Group: Sydney Subgroup> Name:Dharuk
Speakers: No info (Nat. indig. Language survey - NILS- in 2004 reports 12 with question mark) Documentation
Dictionary:
Troy, Jakelin. (1994). The Sydney language. Canberra: Australian Dictionaries Projects, AIATSIS.
• GUMBAYNGGIR
Family: Pama-Nyungan>Gumbaynggaric>Gumbainggar > Name: Kumbainggar (Ethnologue 2005; Wurm 1972 [Group:Gumbainggaric> Subgroup: Gumbainggar> Name: Gumbainggar]; Wurm 1994 [Group> Gumbaynggir> Name: Gumbaynggir]; Walsh 1981 [Group> Gumbaynggiric > Subgroup: Gumbaynggir> Name:Gumbaynggir]; Oates 1975 [Group: Gumbainggaric> Subgroup: Gumbainggar> Name:Gumbaynggir]; O'Grady, Voegelin & Voegelin 1966 [Group: Kumbainggaric> Name: Kumbainggar]. In Dixon 2002 Group: Central East Coast Group> Subgroup: Gumbaynggirr/Yaygirr subgroup> Name: Gumbaynggirr.
Speakers: 33 (Census 2006) Documentation
Grammar:
Dixon, R. M. W., & Blake, B. J. (Eds.). (1979). Handbook of Australian Languages (Vol. 1). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Morelli, Steve (2008). Gumbaynggirr dictionary and learner's grammar = Gumbaynggirr bijaarr jandaygam,
ngaawa gugaarrigam. Nambucca Heads: Muurrbay Aboriginal Language & Culture Co-operative.
Smythe, W. (1948). Elementary Grammar of the Gumbáiŋgar Language (North Coast, N. S. W.). Oceania, 19(2), 130-191. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40328194
Dictionary:
Muurrbay Aboriginal and Culture Cooperative (2001). A Gumbaynggir language dictionary = Gumbayngirr
bijaarr jandaygam. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Morelli, Steve. (2008). Gumbaynggirr dictionary and learner's grammar = Gumbaynggirr bijaarr jandaygam,
ngaawa gugaarrigam. Nambucca Heads: Muurrbay Aboriginal Language & Culture Co-operative.
• WIRADJURI
Family:Pama-Nyungan>Group: Wiradhuric>Name: Wiradhuri [Ethnologue 2005: Wurm 1994: Walsh 1981 (also named Wiradjuri)]; Group: Wiradjuric> Subgroup:Main Wiradjuric> Name:Wiradjuri [Oates 1975; Wurm 1972; O'Grady, Voegelin & Voegelin 1966]. In Dixon 2002 Group: Central New South Wales Group> Central inland New South Wales subgroup> Name: Wiradhurri (or Wirratherie or Wirradgerry or Waradgery or Woradgery, etc.).
Speakers:102 (Census 2006) Documentation:
Grammar:
Grant, Stan. (2001). Wiradjuri language: how it works: a grammar in everyday English. ACT: Restoration House. Günther, 1838, James. Native dialect, Wirradurri, spoken in the Wellington district. (1990). Native dialect, Wirradurri, spoken in the Wellington district. In E. C. Creaghe, Diary, 22 Dec. 1882-5 Sept. 1883, with related
material, 1920-1932. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/44997211
Dictionary:
Rudder, John Cornish. (2005). A first Wiradjuri dictionary: English to Wiradjuri, Wiradjuri to English and
categories of things. ACT: Restoration House.
Grant, Stan and Rudder, John. (2010). A new Wiradjuri dictionary: English to Wiradjuri, Wiradjuri to English,
Appendix C
Example of the annotated bibliography created. Articles, reports, books, etc.
• Social media, indigenous identity
1. Carlson, B., & Frazer, R. (2018). Social Media Mob: Being Indigenous Online. Retrieved February 19, 2019, from
https://researchmanagement.mq.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/85013179/MQU_SocialMediaMob_repor t_Carlson_Frazer.pdf
This report is a broad summary of a project carried out between 2013-2016 called ‘Aboriginal identity and community online: a sociological exploration of Aboriginal peoples’ uses of social media’. The authors draw on into the social, political, historical and cultural specificities of Indigenous people’s use of social media. The methodology used was a variety of qualitative methods, including in-depth semi-structured interviews and community discussion groups (10 communities participated with a total of 60 people), alongside they carried out an online survey created using SurveyMonkey and promoted via Facebook and Twitter.
The report contains an important clarification about the terminology used (Indigenous, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on the copyright page). It can provide an overview of the use of social media by indigenous peoples that can be very helpful to our research, because, allowing for the differences, it can tell us about online uses, preferences, experiences, etc. all useful information when we want to develop an online-based project.
2. Walsh, M. (2006). Raising Babel: Language Revitalisation in New South Wales, Australia’.
Retrieved February 26, 2019, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228539613_Raising_Babel_Language_Revitalisation_in_N ew_South_Wales_Australia%27
In this paper, the author reflects on the multiplicity of aboriginal languages in NSW and its influence in revitalization programs. They main issue is that many aboriginal people live in a different linguistic area than their heritage, thus there is a conflict about which language they should learn. The author presents some of the results from different surveys, questionnaires, etc. conducted by the end of 1999 in an assessment for the language situation in NSW. The results indicated that in general aboriginal peoples feel pessimistic about their language knowledge, however the author indicates that people are under-reporting their level. They reported to feel strongly attached to their heritage and language, both described as part of their identity. People in Sydney were less optimist about language revitalization, because their context suggests there are too many issues to solve before starting with a revitalization program, whereas in the north coast (where some revitalization program where already in progress) there was more optimism. It is also discussed who should learn the language and who should teach it, alongside with issue when creating revitalization programs: how to fill gaps in the grammar of a given language and the use of neologism.
This paper is useful to give us a perspective of the social context and beliefs of aboriginal peoples in NSW regarding their languages (although the results represent the situation between 1999-2006).
• Participatory research
1. Kildea, S., Barclay, L., Wardaguga, M., & Dawumal, M. (2009). Participative research in a remote Australian Aboriginal setting. Action Research, 7(2), 143–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750309103266
This article presents a research conducted as a participatory action research in an Aboriginal community. The aim of the research was to develop an internet-based platform to provide access of maternity care practitioners to Australian Aboriginal cultural knowledge in the scope of pregnancy and childbirth. The product was a website called “Birthing Business in the Bush Website”. The PAR included Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers, and professional and non-professional. The participants were classified using Wadsworth’s four conceptual parties (PAR team, critical reference group, a “researched” group and “stakeholders” group) every of them with clear roles. Researches organized introductory meetings to offer an overview of the PAR, as trust between participants and researchers is crucial when collecting the data. The data was collected through interviews and focus groups, video footage field notes, and different types of interaction with the community. The interviewees reviewed the transcriptions and data collected to ensure accuracy. Focus groups data was analysed via ATLASti.
This paper is beneficial to our research as it presents the step by step of a PAR project and it support our aim of doing research with “them” and not “about them”.
2. Benedicto, E., Antolín, D., Dolores, M., Feliciano, M. C., Fendly, G., Gómez, T., ... & Salomón, E. (2007, October). A model of participatory action research: The Mayangna linguists’ team of Nicaragua. In Proceedings of the XI FEL conference on ‘working together for endangered languages-research challenges and social impacts’ (pp. 29-35).
This paper presents a linguistic model of Participatory Action Research implemented in the Mayangna community (Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast). The paper includes the basic organizational principles of the approach (self-empowerment of the community, egalitarian relationship, knowledge system of equal value) and its implementation. The core of the paper is the issue of power inequalities when doing research from a western perspective, specifically when working with minority languages communities. The authors propose a model of interaction that aim to neutralize those inequalities, beginning with the ownership of knowledge: this new system states that community also can provide knowledge. In a linguistic project they suggest to have as general goals: technical indigenous linguistic teams (trained), development of materials suitable and relevant for the community and a participatory dynamic (ensure interaction among members).
This paper is one of the most useful for us, as it presents the balanced relationship that we aim to achieve with the community. They collected data both for the research propose itself (description of the language) and for the community (e.g. traditional folktales). Mayangana’s project is much longer (from 2002) than our initial project, however it offers methods (already tested) to approach the community and that can be adapted or serve as a starting point for our project. Nonetheless, it does not offer specific
methodology to collect data or for the analysis.
• Citizen science, science, indigenous knowledge, etc.
1. Alessa, L., Kliskey, A., Gamble, J., Fidel, M., Beaujean, G., & Gosz, J. (2016). The role of
Indigenous science and local knowledge in integrated observing systems: moving toward adaptive capacity indices and early warning systems. Sustainability Science, 11(1), 91–102.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0295-7
In this article, the authors discuss the role of Community-based observed networks (CBONs) in monitoring environmental changes in the Arctic. The CBONs refers to observers, indigenous peoples, connected via a network in order to provide data. Indigenous people act as multiple sensors that can
trace and collect data with high accuracy due to their deep knowledge of the environment (elders are considered highly qualified scientist in this context). In this sense, this accuracy and deep knowledge support the concept of science (including language as transmission of knowledge), which is usually undermined when refer to data collected by non-professional people.
Additionally, the article highlights the difference between CBONs and Citizen Science by arguing that Citizen Science only teaches people to operate different scientific instruments and do not include people’s perceptions in the decision about the different variables to be include in a given research. According to the article CBONs include people in every step of the research and additionally uses several instruments to trace the studied changes.
This article has been mentioned in my research to introduce the difference between Western Science and Indigenous Science. Additionally, as it provides support to validate science in these projects, it is included in the problematization of the concept of science when it comes to non-professionals.
2. Bonney, R., Shirk, J. L., Phillips, T. B., Wiggins, A., Ballard, H. L., Miller-Rushing, A. J., & Parrish, J. K. (2014). Next Steps for Citizen Science. Science, 343(6178), 1436–1437.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251554
In this article, the authors present the difficulties that CS usually face (e.g. lack of validity as scientific method and unawareness of the benefits that it can bring to society). They present strategic actions for citizen science in order to reach its full potential. Several examples are given in order to argue in favour of the validity of the data collected through CS alongside with suggestions to support its scientific quality.
This short article is a wonderful source to get acquaintance with the concept of CS and different current projects that are in the scope of CS, additionally the authors are experts on the field of CS.
The article supports the importance of the social impact which is fundamental for our project, impact from the initial state of a CS research project (e.g. participation on research questions) to the outcomes (e.g. benefits from the results). Additionally, this article can also be useful in our problematization of Science.
3. Pandya, R. E. (2012). A framework for engaging diverse communities in citizen science in the US. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), 314–317. https://doi.org/10.1890/120007
This paper presents a framework when creating citizen science projects. The author highlights that the most effective practices in CS should encourage the active participation of the community in all the steps of these projects. He suggests to focus on research and education goals aligned with the community needs, inclusion of co-management in the project (e.g. informal meetings between scientist and community members), participation of the community at every step, inclusion of different types of knowledge (e.g. traditional-local and historical knowledge), dissemination of research findings to all partners (not only in scientific publications).
The author mentions some citizen science programs in US that are examples of projects that originate from the community participation (e.g. Celebrate Urban Birds, White Earth Nation).
This paper is extremely beneficial to our research as mention how minority groups, historically underrepresented, have had less participation in science and therefore they have not the possibility to benefit from citizen science projects, and proposes steps to follow to be aligned with the values,
aspiration or priorities of participant communities. This is a well-documented paper that supports our aim to be instrumental to the indigenous communities in this CS project.
• Citizen Science Journals
1. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/
Only journal found dedicate only to CS projects. So far I have not found CS projects with indigenous communities regarding languages.
2. PLOS ONE: Citizen science. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/browse/citizen_science
Journal about different subjects, including CS. So far, I have not found CS projects with indigenous communities regarding languages.
• Australian Aboriginal Websites (Aboriginal organizations, communities, etc.)
1. Gambay - First Languages Map. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2019, from https://gambay.com.au/ This website provides an interactive map of languages (including numerous audios) and language families of Australia's First Languages. The information presented in this project, supported by the Australian Government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts program, has been provided by regional language centres in Australia and communities. The website also offers advice for teachers in teaching about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Languages as a Cross-curriculum Priority.
2. Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative – Muurrbay aims to support Aboriginal people in the revival and maintenance of their language and culture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2019, from http://muurrbay.org.au/
This source corresponds to a regional language centre website in which it is possible to find strategic support to revitalise the languages of seven Aboriginal communities of central to north coast NSW. They work on research, education and in the develop of public accessible grammar-dictionaries. As Gambay’s website, they are also supported through the Australian Government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts program.
They provide information about the seven languages including a short demographic contextualization, status of the language (history, documentation and grammar) and resource material. The website mention that they have worked in a handbook of Aboriginal languages of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, which might be useful to our research.
Appendix D
Questions for focus group/interviews. Topics and questions suggested to address the topics:
1.Language acquisition
What languages do you speak? When did you learn this language? How did you learn it?
2. Language use and domains
In which occasions do you use this language? (who, where) How often do you speak in this language?
Is it possible for you to use it to talk about different topics? For instance: news, house chores, history, medical issues, etc.
3. Language attitudes
Do you feel at ease with your current proficiency?
Tell us about your experience when you speak the language:
How do people (non-indigenous people) react when they hear you to speak your language? Do you feel comfortable speaking your language in any place and time?
What is your language to you?
4. Identification with the community and the state
What is Australia to you? With what do you feel identify?
What is your role, position in Australia? What is your role in your community?
How would you label yourself in reference to the country? (inhabitant, citizen, member, etc.) What is your perspective of law enforcement agencies?
Public services (health care, education, etc.) meet your necessities?
Politicians meet your expectation? Do you feel represented by them? Do they fulfil their promises? How do you experience your Australian citizenship?
5. Their languages in the online-based platform
Which electronic devices do you use? Do you use a smartphone? What do you use them for?
What would you like to find in a smartphone/ online-based application? What do you think about sharing audio recordings in media?
How would you like to participate in this project? How can we collect the data we need?
Appendix E Example of reports
Place: Online meeting (Zoom) Date: Saturday 9 April
Time: 10.00 to 11.00
Attendees: N. L. (Dharawal woman) - Marcela Huilcán
Notes regarding Citizen Science-Indigenous Language project:
According to her experience people uses more frequently smartphones than computers. However, for many communities both are not accessible (cost).
She points out that every community is different and that the development of their languages is in different stages, in this sense some people might want to learn only a couple of words, others will like to speak the language, others would like to have a certificate, etc.
One of the most interesting features to include would be the community using the language and include different aspects to reach more people's interests (learning activity, sharing activity, etc.) In order to work with a community, use and share their knowledge, it is fundamental to meet cultural
protocols (not only contact a member of the community, also the Council and the elders) and engage community’s people (getting in contact, connecting with people before starting to work with the
language). It is absolutely necessary to consider that this will take time, it is essential to build a
relationship with the community and earn trust (not just coming, getting what we need and leave).
When she was consulted about “ownership issues” she indicates that although this may vary from one community to other, copyright is a really big issue with Indigenous people, because they have not been acknowledged in the past (and even now).
When she was consulted about the denomination as Aboriginal or Indigenous, she indicates that in general people prefer to be called by their Country’s name “Birpai woman”, “Dharawal men” etc.
She was consulted about the ideas suggested by other interviewees:
1. Diaspora map: she thinks it is a good idea, not investigated or researched before. This tool might offer the possibility to access your language when you live in another Country.
2. Online learning feature: it should be included somehow.
3. Use of everyday language: good idea, she suggests to use greeting words, animals’ names, questioning words, counting and body parts (to begin with).
4. She supports the idea of including aboriginal English. It is important to acknowledge this variety, since it has not been acknowledged before.
Appendix F
Section of the summary table created
Interviewees’
communities: (Biripi) (Dharug) (Dharawal) (Gumbaynggirr) Aim
Learning tool.
Explain language and cultural context of it.
Community using the language.
Achieve deep meaning of words (including audio and video) To be included 1. Every day phrases 1. Phrases of daily use (pocket dictionary)
1. Diaspora map: good idea, offer the possibility to access your language when you live in another Country. 1. Tool/entry to add “Community meetings” 2. Examples of language
2. Show how words are pronounced and vowel sound
2. Online learning feature should be included somehow.
2. Focus on verbs (helpful to improve language skills faster) 3. Songs
3. Traditional stories (fresh water, salt water)
3. Use of everyday language: greeting words, animals, interrogatives, numbers, body parts.
3. Interactive tool with visuals and text
4. Songs
4. She supports the idea of including Ab. Eng. (to acknowledge this variety)
4. Daily phrases (word of the day)
5. Questions suggested: which is their Country, say a word in Language and in English, do they know more than one way to say it? provide extra explanation.
5.Show how Aboriginal words are already incorporated to contemporary Australian society.
6. Swap tool
6.Map of languages (help to connect people)
7. Show vowel sounds to avoid people using “English pronunciation” Essential Good pronunciation. Give a clear explanation of every entry in the platform.
Meet cultural protocols.
Building networks.
Control of recordings.
Build a relationship with the community and earn trust.
Make sure that this platform gets to the community first.
Concerns
Mispronunciation
Video (difficult to control what appears on it).
Cultural markers addressed to Aboriginal people.
Access to non-aboriginal people.
How to go from oral language to a written language?
