Languages- Auslan

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2023, and welcome your input:

Amanda Oakley (Languages- Auslan) Amanda.Oakley2@education.vic.gov.au

Shar Stjerne (Languages- Auslan) Shar.Stjerne@education.vic.gov.au

New Auslan Room

Finally, Term Four is here! We have started whole school classes for our new language study of Auslan. We have been working hard cleaning, building, creating and resourcing our new classroom for Auslan studies. We would like to say a big thank you to those families that saw our call out for some Woolworths' Lego sets. They have been sorted and are ready to use in the coming weeks when we start looking at different foods and extending our vocabulary. 

Foundation

Our foundation students kicked off this Term by celebrating all of their birthdays at once as a means to explore and learn how to ask someone their age and answering that same question with the number signs that they have learnt.  They made and decorated playdough birthday cakes whilst revising numbers 0-10 and expanding their number signs to 20. 

In addition, over the first few weeks of Term we have been exploring items around the classroom, such as book, desk, chair, bag, scissors and many more. We will continue to consolidate these signs over the next couple of weeks whilst adding clothing items to our signing vocabulary.

Year One

Year One students have been extending their number vocabulary from 0 -20 and beyond whilst designing cakes and asking each other "How old are you/You, how old?".  They have been participating in discussions around the difference in grammar and syntax in how words/signs are ordered in phrases. This understanding will develop over the coming years as their awareness deepens between the differences and similarities between English and Auslan languages.

With additional resources coming into the Auslan room and online, the students are beginning to be exposed to signed vocabulary in printed form. Much like looking at a word in the dictionary,  they are reading signs in picture form. A recent task following the teaching of school based signs required the students to find and circle the correct sign from three pictured, that matched the image of the object. Using real objects to discuss and relate to the signs also assisted student learning. As there have been many new signs these past few weeks, we will continue to revisit and consolidate understanding throughout the term.

Year 2

The year two students have been busy preparing their Auslan folders with the first letter of their name in the Auslan finger-spelling alphabet. This has given them the opportunity to learn the alphabet and see other students' names and letters in shared activities. They have been practicing the alphabet each lesson alongside a video of a signer’s view of their hands. This has been supported with a great guided conversation around gaining the attention of someone who is Deaf/deaf or Hard of Hearing respectfully. The students have been initiating short introductions of their names to each other in the classroom. 

Year 3 & 4

In year three and four the students have been learning the Auslan fingerspelling alphabet with the assistance of the signer’s view video. From week one to two they have managed to double the speed of the video and keep up with the signing. This has been very engaging for them to see their learning progress. We will continue to review the alphabet with additional games and challenges to increase the clarity and speed of the students signing. 

Alongside this, students have been introduced to the Deaf/deaf community and have been brainstorming and adding to discussion around the decision to take up Auslan as our LOTE at Upwey South Primary. This has been met with great enthusiasm, many questions and ideas about the diversity of our broader community in Australia.

Year 5 & 6

In year five and six we have been establishing the SWPBL learning matrix for the Auslan classroom with discussions around what is the same and different to their other classrooms. This has been a guided discussion around the differences in language, communication and the needs of Deaf/deaf and Hard of Hearing community and Auslan being a visual language. 

Students have also been learning the fingerspelling alphabet and their names, as well as basic greetings and responses. They have started their Auslan folders and are building a personal dictionary of the vocabulary they are learning.