Years 7 - 8 Level
Understanding Language and Culture
Content Elaborations - (U3) AC9L2AU8EU03
• identifying aspects of Auslan which are the same in English, such as the fingerspelled alphabet
• noticing different ways that English words are borrowed into Auslan, such as the use of fully fingerspelled words, FS:EGG, fingerspelling the first letter of English words such as F for father, abbreviations such as state names FS:NSW, TAS, organisation names such as FS:WAAD, and lexicalised fingerspelling such as HOW
• discussing how signers can compare or contrast ideas by locating things in the same or opposing sides of signing space
• comparing features of metalanguage in Auslan and English, for example, identifying adjectives shown through either lexical signs or DSs in Auslan and comparing these with similar adjectives expressed in English
• understanding how noun signs can be modified to show pluralisation, for example, one house versus 3 houses in a row
• understanding that adverbs in Auslan are shown through DSs and NMFs, compared with the way English adverbs are formed, such as very, quickly
I was riding my bike very fast.
• understanding that frequency or duration in English is expressed by adding words like 'a lot', whereas in Auslan it is shown through repetition or how a sign is modified
• using time markers such as FINISH to show past tense in Auslan compared with using, for example, 'ed' in English
• understanding that some Auslan signs can translate multiple English words as an equivalent, for example, GO-TO (one sign) versus go to (2 words)
• comparing Auslan and English pronouns, in particular noticing that Auslan pronouns do not show gender, but can show location and a specific number of referents
• comparing a short text in Auslan with an equivalent English text, for example, a short film clip in Auslan and a paragraph in English written on the same topic, noticing similarities and differences in structure and language features, including time markers, use of space, CAs, DSs, and topicalisation and other features
• identifying examples of signers pointing to an established location to refer to a non-present referent, for example, by viewing a short Auslan story that sets up different characters in space to each side of signer, then responding to questions about what each character did in the story, comparing with English representation of characters
• identifying how signers use space to make clear how a character enacts a verb through a text, for example, by pointing back to an established location to refer to a noun referent, using CAs, DSs and space to make a story interesting and to support understanding
• researching and identifying the origins of Auslan, and reflecting on possible influences today, for example, expressions related to social media or expressions that have come from other sign languages such as BSL and ASL