English / Year 4 / Language / Language variation and change

Curriculum content descriptions

Understand that Standard Australian English is one of many social dialects used in Australia, and that while it originated in England it has been influenced by many other languages (ACELA1487)

Elaborations
  • identifying words used in Standard Australian English that are derived from other languages, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, and determining if the original meaning is reflected in English usage, for example example ‘kangaroo’, ‘tsunami’,’ typhoon’, ‘amok’, ‘orang–utan’
  • identifying commonly used words derived from other cultures
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
ScOT terms

Language conventions,  Standard Australian English

Online

Whose Country: exploring First Nations peoples languages map (7-13yrs)

Learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages can help children build their understanding of land, water and people. This activity helps to assist the identification of the language group/s on which the school, youth group or home is situated. To understand local perspectives and support these activities, ...

Video

ABC Open: Learn to count in Kaurna!

Presenter Taylor Power-Smith helps us learn to count to ten in Kaurna, the Indigenous language of the Kaurna people of Adelaide and the Adelaide Plains. 

Video

The Buyungurra who didn't listen

Listen as Bianca McNeair shares the story of "The Buyungurra who didn't listen". This is a traditional story that Bianca's mother told her when she was growing up. Bianca uses words from the Malgana language, which is spoken in the area around Shark Bay in Western Australia.

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Discover the diversity of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages

Marrin Gamu is a special video created by First Languages Australia to show the diversity and beauty of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. There are five languages featured in this clip: Kalaw Kawaw Ya, Warrgamay, Nywaygi, Yugambeh and Wiradjuri. Across Australia there are hundreds of traditional ...

Video

Name parts of the body in Dhurga

Watch and listen as students of St Mary's Primary School in Moruya teach you how to name eight body parts in Dhurga. Dhurga is the first language of the NSW far south coast between Wandandean, Braidwood and Wallaga Lake.

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Count to 10 in Gomeroi

Learn how to count to 10 in Gomeroi! Community cultural leader Matthew Priestley has been teaching students at Moree East Public School how to speak the traditional Gomeroi language. Listen as the students teach you.

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Learn a Dhurga greeting

Walawaani! Learn this Dhurga greeting by listening to teacher Kerry Boyenga and the students of St Mary's Primary School in Moruya. Walawaani means "We hope you've had a safe journey here", or "We hope you have a safe journey home". Dhurga is the first language of the NSW far south coast between Wandandean, Braidwood and ...

Video

How many versions of the English language are there?

Did you know that in Australia the way we use, pronounce and spell some words is different from the way they are used, pronounced and spelt in America? Can you list all the countries in the world where English is used? See if you can think of countries not mentioned in this clip.  

Interactive

Syllabus bites: Visual literacy

A resource with information, study guides and resources on visual literacy to support the English K-10 Australian Curriculum in English. It provides a series of activities, guidelines and tasks about visual texts from a variety of sources. Contains writing scaffolds, templates and proformas for responding and composing ...

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Taronga Zoo - Wild Australia: iPad app

This iPad app is designed for Stage 2 students to use while on excursion in the Wild Australia area in Taronga Zoo Sydney and at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo. Students create a field report from observations and can email and review their editable summary poster for further study back at school. The app has intuitive ...

Online

Cats, Dogs and Us: Education pack (years 3-4)

This education pack is an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) resource designed to build students' understanding about the special place domestic cats and dogs have in people's lives. The pack consists of a teaching guide, a student magazine and six student worksheets focusing on topics such as the physical characteristics ...

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Punctuation “Theatre”: A kinetic approach to learning punctuation

This little mini-unit is a fun way to learn or review punctuation. This unit deals with just the punctuation marks that are used between words, not within them. Punctuation marks covered in this unit include full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, colons, semicolons and the dash. The punctuation marks are ...

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Compound sentences

This guide provides clear grammatical definitions, and unpacks the features of compound sentences and how they function. It includes information about using conjunctions; coordinating conjunctions; using semicolons and common problems with compound sentences. The guide also offers, as a starting point, some strategies for ...

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Punctuation – What’s the point

This practice guide offers an overview of essential punctuation for writing across primary and secondary school. While an effective combination of sentence types adds depth and variety to a piece of writing, correct punctuation is equally vital for clarity and coherence. This guide aims to provide clear examples to support ...

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Teaching Morphology to Improve Literacy: A Guide for Teachers

Morphological awareness is a powerful tool for improving many areas of literacy. Find teaching ideas for specifically teaching this skill across a range of year levels.

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Suspense Toolkit

Give students tips about some of the key ingredients of writing a suspenseful, scary story. This tip sheet provides a range of ideas suitable for the skills and abilities of different year levels. It also includes some teaching strategies.

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Some ideas on how to teach the more tricky grammar elements

Refresh your knowledge of grammatical points prior to teaching your students with this digital presentation that covers topics such as the role of determiners, of pronouns, of prepositions, of subordinating conjunctions, of punctuation and of tense. While this is a resource developed for a UK-based audience, it is relevant ...

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Bursting to Write

This article discusses the power of short-burst writing as part of warming-up a unit. Short burst writing is a process that supports children to think like a writer. It teaches them to bring their writing alive (painting pictures in their heads of their readers) and helps them to understand the craft of description.

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Varying openings

Use this worksheet to discuss the directions in which a story might go depending on what the opening sentence is.

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Viewing and Representing

Reading/viewing requires students to construct meaning by interpreting the parts (images, symbols, conventions, context) that are related to the visual message and to understand not only “what” the text is saying but “how” the text works. Find prompts, assessment rubrics and other supporting elements.