Australian Review of Applied Linguistics - Volume 49, Issue 2, 2026

This paper will reflect on experiences of sharing and learning Yolŋu dhäruk (words, utterances, language) of East Arnhem Land in university education programs and community-based research. In particular we will attend to the concepts of märr and ŋayaŋu — inner feelings that are expressed in how we behave and interact. We elaborate how märr and ŋayaŋu are held and practiced by the traditional owners of Yolŋu dhäruk. Enactment of märr and ŋayaŋu can invigorate distinct ways of being and knowing Yolŋu dhäruk and express care for people and places in celebrating intergenerational knowledge transfer.

The failure of the Australian higher education sector to enable comparable participation, retention and completion rates of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students relative to their non-Indigenous counterparts is well documented. Although the prevailing narrative about Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students in mainstream higher education is largely one of deficit, the Graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage (GCWLCH) since 2014 demonstrates an alternative of high student engagement and high completion rates. In this paper we present the work conducted to create and deliver the culturally embedded and place-based language course, which was developed with, and is overseen by, Wiradyuri Elders and the GCWLCH Governance Committee (of which the first four authors are members) and offered through Charles Sturt University (CSU). The GCWLCH is framed by Wiradyuri knowledges and systems and a worldview where language and learning pedagogies are intimately connected with and to Country (place), ancestors, people, lore, and culture. This innovative, culturally centred, and self-determined approach to language learning has generated numerous success stories in terms of student retention and engagement. We report findings on the high rates of student access, progress, completions, and positive evaluations of the GCWLCH, and anecdotal evidence of how the course has led to transformative outcomes and empowering experiences among Wiradyuri students. In conclusion, the findings presented in this paper on Wiradyuri language reclamation and education demonstrate the profound implications for asserting sovereignty and exercising self-determination in a Wiradyuri nation building approach, for sustaining and centring Wiradyuri ways of culture, identity, and social and emotional wellbeing.

The Gumbaynggirr Daari Research Project provides an empirical investigation of community-driven educational initiatives in two NSW schools that aim to serve revitalisation goals while meeting mainstream educational requirements. This project was developed in partnership with the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust (ALT), Gumbaynggirr Giingana Freedom School (GGFS), Kulai Preschool (Kulai), and Western Sydney University (WSU). The study employed Indigenous Knowledge Research (IKR) methodologies, featuring adult and child yarning sessions to explore how the revitalisation of Gumbaynggirr language and culture contributes to the emergence and ongoing development of culturally responsive educational contexts at Kulai and GGFS.

This multi-generational case study approach captured perspectives from Elders, community members, teachers and students, providing a viewpoint rarely found in current Australian language revitalisation research. Four broad themes encapsulated by the term ‘Gumbaynggirr Daari’ (Gumbaynggirr Strong) — ‘Gumbaynggirr language,’ ‘cultural literacy,’ ‘wellbeing,’ and ‘identity’ — underpinned the study. Sub-themes emerging from the data demonstrate that language revitalisation operates as a dynamic, interconnected process arising from the specific histories and aspirations of the local language community. This research contributes significant empirical evidence illuminating the historical trajectory and current expressions of First Nations language reclamation, offering insights for other First Nations communities developing similar culturally responsive educational approaches.

The Mathematics in Indigenous Languages project seeks to design and deliver mathematics education in Indigenous languages in remote Northern Territory schools. We work collaboratively as a team of researchers in linguistics and education, and school-based educators from three language groups: Pitjantjatjara, Tiwi and Anindilyakwa. This paper focuses on how teaching mathematics through First Nations children’s first language also contributes to broader language maintenance goals. We take a strengths-based approach, identifying the existing mathematical affordances of the languages. This involves the identification and development of a mathematics register, undertaken in collaboration with Elders and knowledge holders. Often, there is appropriate traditional terminology, predating colonial contact, which can be used. However, in some cases the children may not know this and may be using English or Kriol equivalents only. In other cases, traditional terminology is extended metaphorically to new domains. The mathematics classroom also provides children with opportunities for rich oral language use and increases the value of adult speakers in the school. Through this project we are developing a concrete pathway for intergenerational knowledge transmission in this high-status domain.

Indigenous language knowledge can serve as a window into cultural identity and wellbeing. The aims of our study were twofold: (1) to capture the process of increasing awareness of Noongar to first-year speech pathology students between 2021 and 2024 at Curtin University, and (2) to develop Noongar Language and Speech Sound materials using feedback received from the Elders reference group, clinicians, educators, and speech pathology students. In doing so, we address the potential for misdiagnoses that currently exist when speech pathologists use standardised Australian English-based assessments to work with Noongar-speaking children in the areas of language, speech, and literacy difficulties. Drawing on Indigenous standpoint theory, we used Yarning through Kapati Time, Dabakarn-dabakarn, and Yindyamarra Methodology to build trust and relationships. Over four years, we co-designed language and speech sound materials through Participatory Action Research. The team included two Indigenous (Noongar, Wiradjuri) and three non-Indigenous academics. Two outdoor lectures and tutorials were delivered annually, reaching over 400 students, who contributed to the material design. Guided by the ethical framework by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, this Noongar-led project demonstrates how collaboration ensures cultural safety and promotes recognition of language differences during clinical assessment, reducing over- or underdiagnosis in multilingual Noongar-speaking children.

Extensive gaps in the records of no longer spoken Australian languages present a hindrance for Aboriginal people wishing to revive their ancestral languages. This paper introduces remorphification as a tool for language revival in contexts where there is limited morpho-syntactic information; exploring how related and typologically similar languages can assist in such contexts. It contrasts texts created via remorphification, relexification and substitution, discussing the impact that these different approaches have on the formation of texts. The paper also investigates the way in which metaphors such as sleeping diminish the role of colonial practices in language loss.

In largely isolating languages such as English, many words consist of a single morpheme. In contrast, Pama-Nyungan languages are agglutinating: they form words by stringing together multiple morphemes, each morpheme with a distinct grammatical function and/or semantic designation. Thus, the English phrase on its branch would be expressed in Gunditjmara as a single word wurk i-nyung ‘branch-locative-3sg.possessive’. Texts created via relexification of an English substratum are more likely to be isolating, containing features — such as prepositions — that are not typical of Pama-Nyungan languages. Texts formed via substitution more closely resemble the grammatical structure of the ancestral language but are restricted to the type of sentences recorded in the historical record. Remorphification results in analytic texts that are typically Pama-Nyungan; however, the closer the typological (usually, but not necessarily, genetic) relationship between the (m)alpa wangka (helper/friend languages) and the revival language, the more closely the created text will resemble the ancestral language.