Communication is at the heart of building effective relationships. Good communication is reliant on mutual understanding. Over the past 30 years, research involving Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal academics, educators and community members has established that most Aboriginal people speak Aboriginal English as their first language. Aboriginal English is a complex language which carries profound cultural conceptualisations not readily understood by speakers of Standard Australian English (SAE) which is the variety of English. In this course participants will be given opportunities to broaden their understanding of Aboriginal English, language variation, dialect development, cross-cultural communication and two-way bidialectal communication.
This course addresses Key Area of improvement 1 and 3 of the Public Sector Commission Action Plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for 2020-2025:
Promote cultural capability 1.2 Implement cultural capability training and shared learning to improve awareness and understanding for staff, including mentoring programs, and Respect culture 3.5 Take action to recognise and acknowledge culture in a respectful and informed way. 3.6 Support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to observe cultural traditions, and community and family obligations.
Course Content
- Diversity of languages spoken by Aboriginal people in Western Australia and their interrelationships
- Aboriginal English – the lingua franca of communication amongst Aboriginal people
- Miscommunication and misunderstandings between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal speakers
- Aboriginal cultural conceptualisations as illustrated through Aboriginal English and real-life experiences
- Open forum for question answers and discussions.
Course Outcomes
After completing this course, participants should be able to:
- Apply understanding of legislative and policy impacts to work practices to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the importance of cultural competency and responsiveness.
- Develop an understanding how forming respectful partnerships can be established by working two-way
- Improve Intercultural communication that contributes to productive and harmonious relations between colleagues, employees and clients.
Benefits to your organisation
- Understand how diverse thought patterns embedded in language can lead to unintentional cross-cultural misunderstandings
- Understand the importance of working two-way when developing any programs that are designed to meet the needs of Aboriginal people.
- Deliver better service to Aboriginal communities
- Prevent communication mistakes by understanding Aboriginal cross-cultural communication
- Increase productivity by understanding and harnessing a diverse workforce that includes Aboriginal people.
Benefits to you
- Reflect on how your language impacts your understandings and cross-cultural communication
- Learn to include newly-gained knowledge of language difference in all your planning and service delivery
- Develop strategies & techniques for effective intercultural communication.
