Indigenous Languages online by Catherine Bow
History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory: People, Programs and Policies, 2017
Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, 2020
In this paper I consider how three digital resources for the preservation and transmission of Aus... more In this paper I consider how three digital resources for the preservation and transmission of Australian Indigenous language function as 'sociotechnical assemblages.' The three projects under consideration are a digital archive of materials from a particular era in Indigenous education in Australia's Northern Territory, an online template for presenting language data under Indigenous authority, and an online course teaching a specific Indigenous language (Bininj Kunwok) in a higher education context. Considering each of these as a sociotechnical assemblage-collections of heterogeneous elements which entangle the social and the technical-and exploring how they constitute connections and contrive equivalences between different knowledge practices, and how they resist such actions, highlights how they can open up spaces for new collaborative work.
Babel, 2019
The lack of opportunities to study Indigenous languages at tertiary level in Australia highlights... more The lack of opportunities to study Indigenous languages at tertiary level in Australia highlights the devaluing of Indigenous languages and cultures in Australia. Innovation in methods of delivery is required, to enable Indigenous language authorities to configure their own arrangements of content and pedagogy in collaboration with university academics, to comply with the different requirements of each group. Some of the identified challenges of developing university courses for Indigenous languages include shortages of resources, teachers, students, and COLLABORATIVELY DESIGNING AN ONLINE COURSE TO TEACH AN AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS
Language Documentation & Conservation, 2014
The fluctuating fortunes of Northern Territory bilingual education programs in Australian languag... more The fluctuating fortunes of Northern Territory bilingual education programs in Australian languages and English have put at risk thousands of books developed for these programs in remote schools. In an effort to preserve such a rich cultural and linguistic heritage, the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages project is establishing an open access, online repository comprising digital versions of these materials. Using web technologies to store and access the resources makes them accessible to the communities of origin, the wider academic community, and the general public. The process of creating, populating, and implementing such an archive has posed many interesting technical, cultural and linguistic challenges, some of which are explored in this paper.
Archives and Manuscripts, 2019
A socio-technical approach is taken to explore a digital archive of Australian Indigenous cultura... more A socio-technical approach is taken to explore a digital archive of Australian Indigenous cultural heritage. The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages is considered in terms of what it is currently doing and what it was intended to do. Two ethnographic stories focusing on user interactions and the outcomes of an online survey serve to evaluate the effectiveness of the Archive from the perspective of different users. This is then juxtaposed with a consideration of the original grant application, outlining what was envisaged for the project. This analysis serves to highlight some of the contingent relations and diverse socio-technical aspects of a specific knowledge infrastructure, as it allows multiple forms of interaction, new connections and generative activities as people discover, access and interact with the content now and into the future.
Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2019
Australian copyright law and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) have always sat... more Australian copyright law and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) have always sat uncomfortably together, each with their own internal logic and legitimacy, but forcing certain arrangements and compromises when applied to specific contexts. The collection of Indigenous language materials into a digital archive has required finding means to observe and respect these two incongruent knowledge traditions. The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages, an open online repository containing thousands of books in dozens of languages from Indigenous communities of Australia’s Northern Territory, offers opportunity to explore how the need to attend to both knowledge traditions led to specific decisions and practices. In particular, where the Australian copyright law was satisfied, additional steps were needed to respectfully incorporate Indigenous perspectives. This paper outlines the negotiations and compromises inherent in seeking a solution which observes and respects both Indigenous and western knowledge practices in a unique collection of cultural heritage materials.
Charles Darwin University Library is directly helping to sustain and preserve Aboriginal language... more Charles Darwin University Library is directly helping to sustain and preserve Aboriginal language and cultural materials that encounter many hurdles for their long-term survival. The library is supporting an ARC-funded project known as the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages, by providing a repository, web application, digitisation programme and professional advice. The collaboration between the library and research team addressed a number of challenges in relation to appropriate ways to represent complex and variable metadata, widely varying content from diverse sources and in various conditions, and in making these fragile and endangered materials accessible to a global audience. The open access archive now includes thousands of items in dozens of Northern Territory Indigenous languages, providing a sustainable repository for researchers and allowing Indigenous communities to share their languages, histories, knowledge and practices around the world. The project serves as a rich case study demonstrating how academic libraries can work with researchers to support the archiving of cultural heritage.
Research, Records and Responsibility: ten years of PARADISEC Edited by Amanda Harris, Nick Thieberger and Linda Barwick , Oct 2, 2015
An impetus to preserve thousands of books produced in Aboriginal languages during the years of bi... more An impetus to preserve thousands of books produced in Aboriginal languages during the years of bilingual education in the Northern Territory has led to the development of the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages (www.cdu.edu.au/laal). The challenge has been to squeeze a complex range of materials into specific categories which meet the standards of a Western-style archive while also respecting the Indigenous creators and knowledges represented therein. This paper considers some of the technical, social and political issues that are thereby raised in bringing the archive to life, and the compromises that have been required.
Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, 2016
The promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures as a cross-curricul... more The promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures as a cross-curriculum priority in the new Australian Curriculum provides both a challenge and an opportunity for teachers and teacher educators. The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages contains authentic language materials which can assist in resourcing and supporting teachers to meet this challenge across all areas of the curriculum, and to encourage connections with Indigenous cultural authorities.
Curriculum Perspectives Vol. 34, No. 3. , Nov 2014
The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages is coming to life on the Internet at www.cdu.edu.au/la... more The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages is coming to life on the Internet at www.cdu.edu.au/laal. As digitised books and other related resources in Aboriginal languages of the Northern Territory are uploaded to the database, its developers are working to configure ways in which the large number of resources in the archive can establish and invigorate connections between and within schools, researchers, and the traditional owners of Indigenous languages and cultures. We introduce the archive, its history and its possible futures, then explore some ways it might be used in classrooms around Australia. We focus upon the new Australian Curriculum's Cross Curriculum Priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and the Draft Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages. We conclude with curriculum considerations outside of the purview of the Australian curriculum.
Finding Common Ground: Narratives, Provocations and Reflections from the 40 YearCelebration of Batchelor Institute, 2015
Finding Common Ground: Narratives, Provocations and Reflections from the 40 Year Celebration of Batchelor Institute, 2015
Language technology by Catherine Bow
E-Meld Workshop on digitizing and Annotating Texts and Field Recordings., 2003
Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC’04), 2004
Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC’04), 2004
Many linguistic research projects collect large amounts of multimodal data in digital formats. De... more Many linguistic research projects collect large amounts of multimodal data in digital formats. Despite the plethora of data collection applications available, it is often difficult for researchers to identify and integrate applications which enable the management of collections of multimodal data in addition to facilitating the actual collection process itself. In research projects that involve substantial data analysis, data management becomes a critical issue. Whilst best practice recommendations in regard to data formats themselves are propagated through projects such as EMELD, HRELP and DOBES, there is little corresponding information available regarding best practice for field metadata management beyond the provision of standards by entities such as OLAC and IMDI. These general problems are further exacerbated in the context of multiple researchers in geographically-disparate or connectivity-challenged locations. We describe the design of a solution for a group of researchers c...
Proceedings of EMELD Workshop 2004: Linguistic Databases and Best Practice, 2004
Linguistic forms are inherently multi-dimensional. They exhibit a variety of phonological, orthog... more Linguistic forms are inherently multi-dimensional. They exhibit a variety of phonological, orthographic, morphosyntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties. Accordingly, linguistic analysis involves multi-dimensional exploration, a process in which the same collection of forms are laid out in many ways until clear patterns emerge. Equally, language documentation usually contains tabulations of linguistic forms to illustrate systematic patterns and variations. In all such cases, multi-dimensional data is projected onto a two-dimensional table known as a linguistic paradigm, the most widespread format for linguistic data presentation. In this paper we survey a representative sample of paradigms and develop a simple relational data model. We show how XML technologies can be used to store and render paradigms. The result is a flexible and extensible model for the storage, interchange and delivery of linguistic paradigms.
Uploads
Indigenous Languages online by Catherine Bow
Language technology by Catherine Bow
Methods: Data were taken from eight video-recordings involving eight IMG doctors interviewing simulated patients in practice Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) workshops. The data were examined using discourse analysis to analyse doctors’ responses to patient cues about the (simulated) patient’s sexual activity.
Results: The four successful candidates responded to a clearly signalled patient cue, and their interactions followed a six-step pattern to elicit information required to make a diagnosis. The four doctors who pursued a targeted line of enquiry in relation to the patient’s cue were able to elicit the necessary information to form a diagnosis and, thus, pass the OSCE station. The doctors who did not pursue this cue failed the station.
Conclusions: Eliciting relevant information in discussion of sexual health requires sophisticated use of language and communication skills. Training should include a focus on noticing and responding to patient cues as well as asking questions that are potentially culturally sensitive.