Course overview
The course explores issues around the reclaiming of languages by reference to the case of Kaurna, the South Australian indigenous language spoken in what is now known as the Adelaide region. The course gives a fascinating insight into the ways in which Kaurna sources are being used to forge a new Kaurna identity and develop an associated language which is being used to address contemporary needs. This course will allow you to: learn some Kaurna language; develop an understanding of the structure of the Kaurna language; learn how languages are reclaimed from historical sources; understand the context (or ecology) in which the Kaurna language existed at the time of colonisation in the 1830s and 1840s; and appreciate the circumstances under which the Kaurna language is now being revived. Parallels and contrasts will be drawn between efforts to re-introduce Kaurna and similar efforts in neighbouring languages, elsewhere in Australia and overseas.
Course learning outcomes
- Respectfully contribute to a language reclamation effort alongside owners and custodians of that language
- Apply linguistic analytical skills in the interpretation and assessment of historical source material
- Understand the relationship between revived languages and their antecedents
- Draw comparisons between a range of language reclamation movements and identify common features and points of difference
- Appreciate the importance of the Kaurna language to the Kaurna community and the general public living on the Adelaide Plains
- Gain insights, through a study of the Kaurna language, into the early contact history, Indigenous cultures, placenames, the environment and Nunga English
- Understand and apply the revised Kaurna spelling system
- Demonstrate a knowledge of the emerging functions and use of the Kaurna language within the Kaurna community, in the education sector and in the public domain
- Gain familiarity with common Kaurna expressions such as greetings, leave-takings, introductions, requests, commands, questions and statements
- Appreciate the role played by Kaurna language reclamation within the global renaissance of Indigenous languages
- Write a coherent and logically argued essay drawing on a range of perspectives and source materials in answer to a question posed