As former British colonies, Australia and Canada treat English as the official language. Due to the linguistic and cultural diversity, a large variety of Aboriginal languages, foreign languages and cultures form their natives have been distributed in these two multicultural societies. In revitalization and preservation of indigenous languages, First Nations languages and culture programs are taught as second languages as well as bilingual-immersion programs in K-12 in Canada, whereas Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders languages are taught as second languages in Australia. Basically, the goals, the frameworks and approaches of the Aboriginal language (L2) programs in Canada and Australia are similar and compatible. The major difference between Aboriginal language education in these two countries is that there are Indigenous Language Immersion programs in Canada, but not in Australia. The Indigenous Language Immersion programs implemented in Canada using the First Nations languages as the medium of instruction have been proved having positive effects on Aboriginal language education recently. Usborne and her colleagues (2011) demonstrated that the students in the immersion program comparing to those in L2 program had stronger Mi'kmaq language skills for revitalization of the indigenous language, and the same level of English for future success in the mainstream society. After comparing the similarities and differences of Aboriginal language (L2) education in Canada and Australia, we propose the application of the Canadian indigenous Language Immersion programs in addition to Aboriginal language (L2) subjects may be beneficial to Aboriginal language education in Australia in this paper.

Authors:
Diana Po Lan Sham, Hong Kong Chinese Institute of Engineers, Australia

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Diana Po Lan Sham is a Business Owner/Executive at Hong Kong Chinese Institute of Engineers in Hong Kong

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