Aboriginal Ways of Using English - Softcover

Diana Eades

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1922059269 ISBN 13: 9781922059260

Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press (AUS), 2013

Synopsis

This new collection by Professor Diana Eades addresses the way non-traditional language Aboriginal speakers of English use and speak English. Here she draws together some of her best writing over the past thirty years. Older chapters are brought up to date with contemporary reflections, informed by her many years' experience in research and teaching as well as the practical applications of her scholarly work. The introduction includes an overview about Aboriginal ways of speaking English and the implications for both education and the law, as well as discussing the use of the term 'Aboriginal English'. To understand Aboriginal ways of speaking English leads to be better understanding Aboriginal identity, a better engagement in intercultural communication, and learning about the complexities of how English is used by and with Aboriginal people in the legal process. This is invaluable reading for university undergraduates in a range of disciplines but also postgraduate courses where theres little information available. Educated readers and students with or without a linguistics background will find the book accessible.

About this title

About the Author

Diana Eades is an adjunct professor at the University of New England who specializes in critical sociolinguistics, language in the legal process, and intercultural communication, particularly involving Australian Aboriginal people who speak varieties of English. She is coeditor of the International Journal of Speech Language and the Law and is the author of Courtroom Talk and Neocolonial Control, Linguistic Description, History and Development: Linguistic Indulgence in Memory of Terry Crowley, and Sociolinguistics and the Legal Process.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Aboriginal Ways of Using English

By Diana Eades

Aboriginal Studies Press

Copyright © 2013 Diana Eades
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-922059-26-0

Contents

Acknowledgments, 
1. Introduction, 
PART I: Describing Aboriginal ways of using English, 
2. You gotta know how to talk ...': ethnography of information seeking in Southeast Queensland Aboriginal society, 
3. Misunderstanding Aboriginal English: the role of sociocultural context, 
4. They don't speak an Aboriginal language, or do they?, 
5. Aboriginal English, 
PART II: Focusing on the criminal justice process, 
6. Language and the law: white Australia v Nancy, 
7. Aboriginal English in the criminal justice system, 
8. Aboriginal English on trial: the case for Stuart and Condren, 
9. A case of mistaken assumptions, 
10. Telling and retelling your story in court: questions, assumptions and intercultural implications, 
11. The social consequences of language ideologies in courtroom cross-examination, 
Appendix: Transcription conventions, 
Glossary, 
Reference list, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 Overview

The majority of Australian Aboriginal people speak some kind of English. But often this is not quite the same as English spoken by other Australians. This book presents results of sociolinguistic research about Aboriginal ways of using English in non-remote Australia, by bringing together a number of my publications over a thirty-year period. The focus is on language and communication of Aboriginal people who speak English as their first and main language, and who do not speak a traditional language fluently.

Continuing influences from traditional Aboriginal languages and cultures have helped to shape the way Aboriginal people speak English. Part I will show why understanding Aboriginal ways of speaking English is essential for recognising many contemporary Aboriginal societies and cultures. But there is more to it than Aboriginal identities: this understanding is also important for intercultural communication between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. In Part II, the focus is on legal contexts, and we will see particularly how ways of speaking English introduced in Part I impact on the participation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. Take for example the way that people use and interpret silences or pauses in conversation. No matter what language or dialect is being spoken, silence always sounds the same. But it doesn't always have the same meaning, as you will see in Chapter 5. In several chapters in Part II you will see the significance of this feature (and other features) of language use for Aboriginal participation in the legal process. The book will conclude in Chapters 10 and 11 with my latest research, which highlights problems with how the legal process hears and evaluates the evidence of Aboriginal witnesses who speak English as a first language. You will see how the courtroom linguistic trickery that causes difficulties for many witnesses can be compounded for Aboriginal witnesses, and a case study shows how this can be central to the perpetuation of inequality. (In the Further Reading section at the end of this chapter you will find references to research about language and communication issues in legal contexts for people who speak a traditional Aboriginal language as their first language.)

The approach used throughout the book is one which sees speaking and other forms of communication as central interactional activities in all social groups. In order to e

Edition details

• Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press (AUS)
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1922059269
• ISBN 13: 9781922059260
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256