A new bilingual Endangered Indigenous - English educational reader

This resource I created for young language learners of Barngarla, supports the revitalisation of endangered Indigenous languages through culturally responsive visual storytelling. Using sequential art, it nurtures oracy, literacy, and imaginative exploration of language. 

Barngarla, is an endangered Indigenous language of the Eyre Peninsula Region of South Australia. 

During the daily readings, children engage with Barngarla flora and fauna words from the trilingual program I present, reinforcing their learning through storytelling in a joyful and meaningful way.

Grounded in community collaboration with Barngarla Community Members and Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann, each page offers more than translation, it tells a story that speaks to identity, connection, and revitalisation. 

To create a text using your language for your students...

I used a fantastic template presented by the Language Lodge Program on CANVA offering a step-by-step guide to create e-zines and e-books. 

To create the animals used in the presentation...

Constructing the animals life size provides learners with a real-life experience. I used industrial strength cardboard I purchased from an office supplier and drew the animals free hand with pencils followed by a darker outline using a black Sharpie Pen.

The animals are then painted as silhouettes with a touch of earthy colours. A handy hint once each animal is completed is to paint the reverse side of the animal in a neutral colour (in this case I used black), in doing this the reverse colour assists in stabilising the cardboard preventing the cardboard from bending or curling as the image dries.

Once each animal is completed, I used a sharp craft knife to cut each animal out of the larger cardboard sheet. To permit the animals to stand freely, I cut a slot at the base of each animal, on larger two slots and insert pre-cut cardboard rectangular strips that insert to the slots to form a base with one third of the strip length in front of the animal and two thirds behind the animal to provide stability.

Good luck..!

Teaching orthography to young Barngarla learners!

I created an immersive outdoor installation designed to put young language learners in Action!

I presented a unique linguistic activity where children engaged with Barngarla words placed on natural objects, encouraging exploration through movement, touch, and narrative.

This multisensory environment supported early vocabulary acquisition, cultural identity, and a joyful connection to language.

Teaching both orthography (written symbols) and oracy (spoken expression) is essential, especially for Barngarla, which has no native speakers.

Sound-symbol awareness and confident speech empower children to become active participants in revitalising the language.

Resource construction:

Special carving sand was loaded into the platform and lightly soaked with water approximately three hours before use.

Local flora surrounds the scene with animals Indigenous to Country placed around the setting presenting an immersive real-world setting.

Mini blackboards with Barngarla words including the footprints of the animal are displayed with each of the animals in the setting for young language learners to trace in the sand.

A Barngarla Language Nest Program!

On June 18 to 20, 2021, A long-term project came to fruition with a successful weekend-long linguistic field trip to Port Lincoln with a group of teachers and young language learners.

Click on the images below to learn more about the Language Nest Program I coordinate!

Click on the image above to view the article.