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DescriptorsLanguagesYear 7Understanding language and cultureUnderstanding systems of languageAC9L1AU8EU03
AC9L1AU8EU03: Year 7 Languages Content Descriptor – Understanding systems of language
AC9L1AU8EU03 Year 7 Languages

AC9L1AU8EU03 – Year 7 Languages: Understanding systems of language

Strand
Understanding language and culture
Substrand
Understanding systems of language

This Content Descriptor from Year 7 Languages provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

Content Descriptor

compare Auslan language structures and features with English, using familiar metalanguage

Elaborations

  • identifying aspects of Auslan which are the same in English, such as the fingerspelled alphabet
  • noticing different ways that English words are borrowed in 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

    PRO1 BIKE FAST NMF: INTENSITY

    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
Show 7 more elaborations
  • 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, noticing that Auslan pronouns do not show gender, but they 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

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 7 ASLANAUSFLL7_10Y78
Year 7 Languages Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students use Auslan language to interact and collaborate with others, and to share information and plan activities in familiar contexts. They respond to others’ contributions in exchanges using familiar gestures, questions and instructions. They locate and respond to information in texts and use non-verbal, signed, visual and contextual cues to help make meaning. They respond in Auslan or English, and demonstrate understanding of context, purpose and audience in texts. They use familiar language, modelled grammatical structures, and familiar signs including fingerspelling (FS), lexical signs, depicting signs (DSs), non-manual features (NMFs) and signing space, to create texts. Students use the parameters of signs and demonstrate understanding that Auslan has conventions and rules for signed communication. They comment on aspects of Auslan and English language structures and features, using metalanguage. They demonstrate awareness that Auslan is connected with culture and identity, and that this is reflected in their own language(s), culture(s) and identity.