Community, identity, wellbeing: the report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey
Community, identity, wellbeing: the report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey Report
National Indigenous Languages Survey
- Author(s): Doug Marmion, Kazuko Obata, Jakelin Troy
- Published: 2014
- Publisher: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Abstract: AIATSIS was funded by the Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department, to carry out the second National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS2). The findings in NILS2 show a complicated picture with ongoing decline but also some definite signs of recovery. The previous NILS1 survey found that of over 250 Australian Indigenous languages about 145 were still spoken, with about 110 severely or critically endangered and that about 18 languages were strong, still spoken by all age groups and being passed on to children. Examination of the NILS2 data allows us to make the assessment that there are now only around 120 languages still spoken. Of these about 13 can be considered strong, five fewer than in NILS1. These five are now in the moderately endangered group, while some languages from that group have moved into the severely/critically endangered category. There appear to now be around 100 languages that can be described as severely or critically endangered, but at the same time a fair number of languages in this category, perhaps 30 or more, are seeing significant increases in levels of use as a result of language programs.