Unit Catalogue

In this unit students will be introduced to language as a central part of human experience across societies and throughout history. Students will examine a range of communicative practices from different societies and situations and discuss how such practices influence people's lives; including the role language choice can play in expressing and negotiating individual and collective identities with particular focus on Indigenous people. The unit will also examine the impact of colonisation, technology and other phenomenon on language ecologies and hence the implications for the effected languages and identities of the speakers of the languages. It will consider the importance of language maintenance as a social necessity and human right particularly in relation to Indigenous languages and with respect to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.