Course Information
Everyone is welcome! Studies in Language Endangerment at Monash University offers professional development for a wide range of language activists. Studies in Language Endangerment is designed for people who are involved in, or aspire to become involved in, supporting and strengthening minority endangered language groups.
For answers to questions like 'Do I have to speak another language?' and more, see our Frequently Asked Questions.
General Information
Australian and International applicants are welcome to apply. The courses can be taken on campus or off-campus by distance education through the internet, so you do not need to be in Australia to complete the units towards your course. Students can commence their studies in first or second semester, as either full-time or part-time students.
Students in Language Endangerment are required to develop an affiliation with a language community or relevant organisation which is engaged in language maintenance/revitalisation.
You can study Language Endangerment at different levels, depending on your previous training and experience. If you haven't completed a university degree, or even high school, you should apply for special entry to the Graduate Certificate.
Applicants who have completed a Bachelor's degree can apply for entry to the Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or Masters programs , depending on existing qualifications and experience.
For more information about each of the courses, please click on the link in the navigation bar on the left.
Potential students may include:
- peoples from around the world who want to document, maintain, renew or revive their languages, either in indigenous or migrant settings,
- linguists employed in institutions or programs focussed on indigenous and community language programs (e.g. Aboriginal Language Centres, Jakarta field station of the Max Planck Institute, or other parallel institutes around the world),
- teachers and teacher aides attached to indigenous and community language programs within schools,
- students of linguistics planning to work with endangered languages or
- staff at relevant organisations such as SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics), AIATSIS (Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies), Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and similar international bodies.
Why Studies in Language Endangerment?
Many practitioners working with minority and endangered community language groups have not had specific training to deal with the full complement of socio-political, technical, pedagogical, linguistic and theoretical issues specific to endangered languages and their survival.
Some case scenarios:
Members of a minority language group may no longer have any fluent speakers of their language among them, but still want to learn something of their language, perhaps even start to use it again amongst themselves. There might be some recordings or notes of their language stored in an archive such as AIATSIS (Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies). If these recordings and notes are incomplete, or perhaps are not easily deciphered, some members of this group may decide to study Language Endangerment to learn how to reconstruct parts of their language, and then to teach it to the rest of the group.
Teachers and teacher aides working in community schools with significant enrolments of students from a minority language background may want to better understand the issues of that language community and even become involved in supporting their language maintenance efforts in the classroom. Such teachers may need explicit training in general linguistics to give them the tools to at first understand some of the language(s) they are engaging with. They also need a theoretical understanding of language endangerment issues facing their students before exploring these issues in class.
Linguists initially focussed on a linguistic documentation of an endangered language may not be able to exclude from their analysis the effects of language endangerment on their data (e.g. language shift, imperfect second language acquisition, language variation, contact language phenomena). They may be searching for a better understanding of what has caused these phenomena to occur.
Linguists employed by communities to 'work' on the endangered community language may find themselves facing technical issues of how best to record the speakers and where and how to archive the recordings. They may also need further training in issues of literacy and language teaching methodologies.
Increasingly, international funding bodies require linguistic researchers to offer training to local speakers and community members so that they may participate in and continue the work of endangered language documentation and maintenance. Studies in Language Endangerment at Monash University seeks to train all stakeholders in language maintenance activities.
International Students
International students should be aware that in order to qualify for a student visa in Australia, you must be enrolled as a full-time student. International students who wish to enrol as part-time students may remain at home and complete their studies as off-campus students.
Course Objectives
What will I gain from Studies in Language Endangerment? At the completion of the course students will be able to:
- make informed professional contributions to resolving language endangerment and maintenance problems in the community and in organisational settings
- support individuals and community groups who aspire to document, maintain, renew or revive their language/s
- undertake independent research and prepare appropriate and informed reports and documents for academic and professional purposes in Australia and internationally
- display an understanding and an awareness of scholarly literature and research in the area of language endangerment
- evaluate alternative models for language maintenance programs and apply that knowledge in new situations to select a program appropriate to particular language endangerment settings internationally
- develop curriculum necessary to establish language programs
- demonstrate familiarity with linguistic paradigms and techniques for the analysis of language
- evaluate the range of theoretical methods appropriate for the rich documentation of language and apply that knowledge in new situations to undertake language documentation tasks appropriate to specific settings
- analyse historical archival material and draw upon such materials in language renewal or revitalisation programs
- apply knowledge of socio-political issues of advocacy and empowerment in relation to fieldwork