English / Year 8 / Literature / Literature and context

Curriculum content descriptions

Explore the interconnectedness of Country/Place, People, Identity and Culture in texts including those by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors (ACELT1806)

Elaborations
  • identifying and describing the ways films suggest Country/Place and Identity through language features such as image, soundtrack and narrative control
  • selecting aspects of a text related to Country/Place, People, Identity and Culture and adapt it for a new context, noting if changes in one aspect will result in changes in another
  • explaining how individual interpretations of these aspects are influenced by students’ own knowledge, values and cultural assumptions
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Social settings (Narratives),  Aboriginal literature,  Torres Strait Islander literature

Audio

Heywire: Living in the outback, coping with boarding school

For Timmy Watson, living in a remote community in the Northern Territory is as good as it gets. But there's one drawback: the need to go to boarding school during the final years of secondary school. Find out more in Timmy's Heywire audio story. Could you write or record a story about yourself and/or your community? The ...

Audio

Radio National: Noongar people speak about a sense of place

Some places hold special importance for us. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a very strong sense of connection to their ancestral lands. They are important elements of their history and culture. In this audio clip, listen to two Noongar speakers talk about their connection to place.

Audio

Radio National: Re-awakening Australian Aboriginal languages

Did you know that before colonisation there were about 250 distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander languages being spoken across Australia? Today, however, the majority of these languages are endangered. Listen to a number of significant Australians discussing the Aboriginal language situation in Australia today. ...

Audio

Heywire: Hip hop against waste dump

Many hip hop artists have expressed concerns about the world through their music. The Northern Territory's Kylie Sambo is no exception. Listen to her protest against the construction of a nuclear waste dump on her people's lands in Muckaty, near Tennant Creek. Could you write or record a story about yourself and/or your ...

Audio

Radio National: Learning Dharug, Aboriginal language of Sydney

Imagine a time when the Aboriginal language Dharug was the official language spoken in the Sydney area. During this audio clip, reflect on how the language was considered almost 'lost', but (and) discover how Richard Green and others are piecing the Dharug language back together. Find out about how it is being taught at ...

Audio

Heywire: At home in the country

What is the best thing about living on a farm out in the countryside? What is the worst? How does where you live make you the person you are today? Listen to Jane Gould from Boort, finalist of the 2012 Heywire storytelling competition for young people, talk of the connectedness she feels to the land on which she lives.

Audio

Radio National: The Awabakal language of the Newcastle area

The Awabakal language, once common in the area now known as Newcastle, was almost 'lost'. It is being brought back to life using old texts and translations left by an early missionary. In this audio clip, listen to a discussion about the importance of reconstructing the Awabakal language and the challenges this poses.

Text

Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing

This is a very rich resource for students from the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), which gives them an insight into the art of Shaun Tan through a focus on both the book and the film of The Lost Thing. The content focuses on aspects of storytelling, including themes, techniques, forms and language, visual, ...

Audio

Radio National: Teaching Aboriginal languages in schools

Would you like to learn another language? This audio recording features a number of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians discussing both the teaching of Aboriginal languages in schools and the benefits that this teaching offers all Australians.

Audio

Radio National: Using the word 'you' in English

Have you ever wondered why we use the word 'you' to refer to both one 'you' or many of 'you'? Or have you ever heard anyone refer to many of 'you' using the once grammatically incorrect word 'youse'? This program considers the words we use when we are talking to each other face to face. It also looks at the use of the word ...

Image

Landmarks: people and places across Australia

This resource features the Landmarks gallery, which traces a broad history of Australia since British colonisation in the late 18th century. The exhibition explores ten big themes in the country's past through the stories of Australian places and the people who have lived there. It examines how people have engaged with ...