It is the end of NAIDOC Week celebrations 2-9 July 2017. This year the theme is OUR LANGUAGES MATTER. 

And they do matter and this is what this website FOBL is about, supporting Aboriginal languages and Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory.

Here are some reflections and articles from the week. 

NAIDOC

Jukurrpa-kurlu Yapa-kurlangu-kurlu

Read the English Version

LANGUAGE & CULTURE       ABC Q and A Monday 3 July 2017
VALERIE NAPANANGKA PATTERSON asked: This week is NAIDOC Week, and the theme is our languages matter. I know that our languages matter and I have been as a teacher and literacy worker at Lajamanu School and Lajamanu Learning Centre since 1986, helping to teach Warlpiri language and literacy to our kids. There have been some good times at Lajamanu school, with a strong bilingual program, but there are also teachers who come in who don’t listen to us Yapa and don’t respect our language and culture. It makes us go weak at the knees and feel really down, and not want to work at the school anymore. What will it take for the Department of Education to work side by side with us, and respect our language and culture being taught in our community schools?

Indigenous children can benefit greatly from learning in a language they understand.

An article in THE CONVERSATION written by SAMANTHA DISBRAY

NAIDOC week in 2017 celebrates the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. The Northern Territory has a rich landscape of Indigenous languages, which play key roles in the lives of individuals and communities, in the transmission of knowledge, history, spirituality and law, and as markers of identity.

Click on image for details

The History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory

by Brian Clive Devlin, Samantha Disbray and Nancy Regine Friedman Devlin, editors and contributors.

The book covers a range of topics written by different authors who have been involved in Bilingual Education in the NT.

The chapters are based around the themes of People, Policies and programs.

Chapters can be downloaded by clicking  on the title above. Definitely worth a read.

UNESCO theme for 2017

Towards Sustainable Futures Through Multilingual Education   

Yingiya Mark Guyula the new MLA for Nhulunbuy would like to speak in his own language during parliament sittings.

Read the full article here from the ABC News

Yes/No Statement

A YES vote on this measure means: Public schools could more easily choose how to teach English learners, whether in English-only, bilingual, or other types of programs.

A NO vote on this measure means: Public schools would still be required to teach most English learners in English-only programs.

Proposition N0. 58 ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA

California Proposal 58, NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGES ALLOWED IN PUBLIC EDUCATION ( 2016)

Milingimbi School Calendar celebrates 40+ years of bilingual education.

Order your copy from Batchelor Press , details on flyer, before it is sold out, limited number available. 

Click here for flyer and more details.

www.linguapax.org

2016 Co-winners are Yambirrpa School Council/Djarrma Action Group of the Yolngu community of Yirrkala in the Northern Territory of Australia, and the International and Heritage Languages Association from Canada.

Two complementary visions of language diversity

This year, the jury made up of forty international experts has decided to award the prize ex aequo to two organizations that are geographically distant and diverse in their approach of promoting diversity. Both, however, share the perseverance and the will to preserve languages that are either threatened in their own territory or are part of the assets of displaced individuals and populations.
One win Yolngu_artner is the Yambirrpa School Council/Djarrma Action Group representing 14 Aboriginal language groups of the Yolngu people of Yirrkala and Laynhapuy in Arnherm Land (Northern Territory, Australia). These institutions carry on the struggle initiated more than 40 years ago by the community elders to convey the cultural and linguistic heritage of their people through bilingual teaching programmes in Yolngu, in steady decline since 1980 due to government action.

Further information on bilingual education in Yolngu at Yirrkala:

https://www.reconciliation.org.au/news/yirrkala-celebrates-40-years-of-bilingual-education/

Further information on Yolngu language and culture:

http://yolngulanguage.blogspot.fr/

Language and art are essential to the wellbeing, culture and identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and play an integral role in maintaining the sustainability, vitality and strength of Indigenous communities. The Australian Government is committed to investing in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to revive and maintain languages and develop, protect and produce art.

Go to

http://arts.gov.au/topics/indigenous-arts-languages-and-culture/indigenous-languages-and-arts