Auslan 

Curious learners

Its been a terrific start with the Grade 3-6 students in their commencement of Auslan this semester (Term 3+4). Students identified that Auslan stands for:

               Au             s           lan

         Australian    sign       language

Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is the language of the Deaf community of Australia and is descended from British Sign Language (BSL). Auslan is a visual-gestural language that evolved in Deaf communities. It has its own sentence structure and grammar, as well as 26 signs for the letters of the alphabet.

To begin our learning, students explored the question: What is Auslan? We have watched short informative videos to help students build understanding about deafness and communication. This sparked thoughtful conversations about inclusion, awareness and different ways people communicate. I've attached links below if you would like to take a look..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H62OYCIUOdI&t=205s 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrgqs4MmK3U&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_EmsguJMic

Each week, students will learn 2 short phrases to build conversation skills so they can feel confident to converse with someone in Auslan in their community. It's been great to see their excitement at how they can ask each other questions even after only a few lessons. 

When starting a new language, building up vocabulary skills is important and we are learning to sing and sign Louis Armstrong's song "Its a Wonderful World" to do this. Students are working through the verses and chorus to learn signs for key words. We look forward to showing you perhaps one day when they feel more confident. 

With each new sign that is taught, we are beginning to look at its components using 'HOLME'. HOLME is an acronym for the five key components of a sign: Handshape, Orientation, Location, Movement, and Expression. By analyzing signs through HOLME, students can improve clarity, avoid misunderstandings, and gain confidence in using Auslan.

Finger spelling will be introduced in the latter half of the term, with students learning to sign the letters of their own names and other meaningful words. We will have a finger spellathon to consolidate and assess their growing skills and technique. 

We look forward to continuing to build our Auslan skills and celebrating this rich and expressive language together :)

Sarah Bailey

Sarah.Bailey2@education.vic.gov.au

(Work days: Tuesday and Thursdays)