Language needs of Indigenous students: issue and strategy

The low achievement of Indigenous Australian students relative to non-Indigenous students has been ascribed to various factors. Numerous discourses dominate discussion. These discourses include cultural differences, behaviour management, morale, literacy, attendance, hearing disability, traditional language maintenance, socio-economic status, and NAPLAN scores. These are important. However, a long recognised influence within the language and literacy research communities is Indigenous students' lack of facility with Standard Australian English (SAE). This is not a problem restricted to speakers of traditional Indigenous languages