Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ИДЗ ЛС
ИДЗ ЛС
7. Culture:
7.2 Non-material culture: legends and myths. Folklore. Traditions, rites, rituals.
Family relations. Calendar holidays.
7. Lingual situation.
Australia legally has no official language. However, English is by far the most
commonly spoken and has been entrenched as the de facto national language since European
settlement. Australian English is a major variety of the English language with a distinctive
pronunciation and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar
and spelling.General Australian serves as the standard dialect.
English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 73% of the population.
The next most common languages spoken at home are: Mandarin (2.5%), Arabic (1.4%),
Cantonese (1.2%), Vietnamese (1.2%), Italian (1.2%), Greek (1.0%), Hindi (0.7%), Bangla
(0.6%), Spanish (0.6%) and Punjabi (0.6%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-
generation immigrants are bilingual or even multilingual.
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number
being quite uncertain although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250
up to possibly 363.
The relationships between the language families are not clear at present although there
are proposals to link some into larger groupings. Despite this uncertainty, the Indigenous
Australian languages are collectively covered by the technical term "Australian languages",
or the "Australian family".
Most Australian languages belong to the widespread Pama–Nyungan family, while the
remainder are classified as "non-Pama–Nyungan", which is a term of convenience that does
not imply a genealogical relationship.
Many languages became extinct with settlement as the encroachment of colonial
society broke up Indigenous cultures. The surviving languages are located in the most
isolated areas. Of the five least endangered Western Australian Aboriginal languages, four
belong to the Western Desert grouping of the Central and Great Victoria Desert.
8. Ethnic identity: Ethnic name. Values. Stereotypes. Attitude to other EGs.
Aboriginal Australian identity, sometimes known as Aboriginality, is the perception of
oneself as Aboriginal Australian, or the recognition by others of that identity. Aboriginal
Australians are one of two Indigenous Australian groups of peoples, the other being Torres
Strait Islanders.
Various factors affect Aboriginal people's self-identification as Aboriginal, including a
growing pride in culture, solidarity in a shared history of dispossession (including the Stolen
Generations), and, among those are fair-skinned, an increased willingness to acknowledge
their ancestors, once considered shameful.
Aboriginal identity can be politically controversial in contemporary discourse, among
both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Successive censuses have shown those
identifying as Indigenous (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) at a rate far exceeding
the growth of the whole Australian population.
Australian values include: respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual,
freedom of religion (including the freedom not to follow a particular religion), freedom of
speech, and freedom of association
commitment to the rule of law, equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of
their gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, or national or ethnic origin
Some of the more common stereotypes ones say that Aboriginal people:
are primitive and nomadic,
lack complex laws and social organisation,
are drunks,
are violent,
live in the outback,
are un-educated no hopers,
are involved in too much crime,
don’t have a religion, have sinned and need to pray for forgiveness,
must fit the image of a dark-skinned, wide-nosed person,
live a traditional tribal/ancient lifestyle.
Most Australians accept multiculturalism and believe it to be the future of the country.
However, a reactionary attitude has lingered as some people remain uncomfortable with
divergences from a Western standard.
However, outside of national politics, Australians generally treat and accept people of
all backgrounds equally and may simply relate more to those whom they share similarities
with. Australians have largely embraced the cultural diversity immigrants bring, and the
country constantly draws upon these influences to build its own developing national
character.
Increasingly, a bi-cultural identity is being seen as an asset to be treasured and proud
of in Australian society. The younger generation in particular, is becoming increasingly
culturally aware with many seeing overseas experiences as a rite of passage towards
maturity. Moreover, world travel is now a popular aspiration in the minds of most seeking
more international exposure. Broadly, the Australian public is developing an appetite for
new experiences and actively seeking different things.