ABSTRACT
In 2019, the Victorian government introduced the Early Childhood Language Program (ECLP), whereby children in selected Early Childhood (EC) settings play and learn through a language other than English for between 3 and 15 hours per week. Although a small range of bilingual and language programmes do exist at the EC level in Australia, this programme is pioneering in its scope as well as its support for the supernumerary provision of language educators to support language learning at over 150 EC centres. In this chapter, we look at critical questions around language ideologies that shape language choice and programme implementation in EC educational contexts and settings, which arose as we developed and implemented the training programme for the language educators. These issues are examined through the lens of two languages or language groups with complex histories in Australia – Auslan and Victorian Aboriginal Languages – in order to raise critical issues in relation to language and power, who languages belong to, and how their users or custodians are positioned in the deployment of language as a resource in EC settings. We argue that it is imperative that a deep understanding of socio-political and socio-linguistic histories of languages and the teaching and learning of these languages inform the work of researchers, in order to mitigate and avoid the perpetuation of injustices and obstacles experienced by these language communities.
