1st
L (Yr 7 Entry) 7-8
Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students interact with the teaching team, class visitors
and each other to share information about themselves, their families, friends,
routines, pastimes and experiences.
They refer to family members and classmates using fingerspelling or sign names
as appropriate, and use lexical adjectives and some SASS depicting signs to
describe people’s physical appearance and characteristics, for example POSS1
SISTER E-M-M-A, PRO3 SHORT RED HAIR.
They use entity depicting signs to discuss movement and location.
They recount shared and personal experiences, using simple clause structures,
modifying some verbs for present referents or single absent referents for
example PRO1 LIKE TV.
They ask and respond to simple questions and distinguish between statements and
questions using grammatical non-manual features (NMFs).
They express likes, dislikes and feelings using lexical signs and affective NMFs,
such as DON’T-LIKE DRAWING.
They follow directions for class routines and instructions of two or more steps,
using directional terms or depicting signs such as DS:turn-left DEAD END DS:turn-right.
Students follow culturally appropriate protocols, such as responding to and
using attention-gaining strategies such as flashing lights, waving or tapping a
shoulder or table, using voice-off while signing and observing appropriate
distance between signers.
They identify specific points of information in signed texts, for example,
colours, numbers, size or time.
They present factual information about familiar topics, using modelled lexical
signs and formulaic constructions.
They demonstrate simple procedures using known signs, gestures, objects and list
buoys.
They recount and sequence events, using familiar signs and visual prompts and
time markers such as 3-YEARS-AGO, IN-TWO-WEEKS or LAST NIGHT.
They restrict signing to the standard signing space.
They view short imaginative and expressive texts, such as poems and stories,
demonstrating understanding through drawing, gesture and modelled signs.
They create simple imaginative texts and retell wordless animations, using
familiar signs, gestures, modelled language and visual supports, modifying NMFs
and lexical signs to indicate manner.
They translate high-frequency signs/words and expressions in simple texts.
Students identify themselves as members of different groups and describe their
relationships with deaf, hard of hearing students, family members and the larger
Deaf community and also with the wider ‘hearing’ world. They consider how these
different relationships contribute to their sense of identity.
They identify places that are important to the Deaf community and describe how
such places evoke a sense of belonging and pride. They recognise that one of the
most unifying features of the Deaf community is the use of Auslan.
Students know that Auslan is a language in its own right, different from mime
and gestures used in spoken languages, and that eye contact is necessary for
effective communication.
They know that meaning is communicated visually through the use of signs,
fingerspelling, NMFs and non-conventional gestures.
They identify and describe the handshapes, movements and locations of signs.
They identify some signs that link to visual images, for example HOUSE, DRINK,
and demonstrate signs that are body anchored, such as HUNGRY or SLEEP, and
non–body anchored, such as HAVE or GO-TO.
They identify how signers use space to track participants through a text, for
example by pointing back to an established location to refer to a noun referent;
and they identify ways signers refer to the same referent in a text, for
example, by using DSs, points or list buoys.
They know that signs can be displaced in space for a range of purposes, such as
to show locations or to indicate participants in a verb.
They know that signing involves telling, depicting or enacting.
Students recognise variation in the use of Auslan, such as regional dialects and
differences in signing space.
They understand different ways that English words are borrowed into Auslan and
how these become lexicalised.
They recognise variation in how Auslan is used, for example by recognising
regional dialects and differences in signing space and explain the nature of
transmission of Auslan.
They identify different ways Deaf community members communicate with each other
and with members of the wider hearing community; and describe how digital forms
of communication, such as social media, SMS/texting and NRS, have improved
accessibility for the Deaf community and contribute to the vitality of Auslan.
They recognise the importance of facial expression, eye gaze and NMFs in a
visual-gestural language and culture.