In this paper we revisit our own research to extend understanding of the
social context of language landscapes of Australian Indigenous students.
The disconnection between home and school languages or discourses is
made explicit. “One of the areas of greatest diversity to confront teachers...
are the ‘language landscapes’ surrounding the children [in Indigenous
communities]” (Simpson & Wigglesworth, 2008, p. 1). We argue that
without knowing about the process of language socialisation in the
Australian Indigenous multilingual landscape, teachers will remain
powerless with respect to improving classroom practice. In Indigenous
settings, especially in remote communities, children hear a variety of
languages in many different contexts and the language landscape is rapidly
changing. Our study addresses the belated realisation by educators that
many Indigenous Australian students speak very little Standard Australian
English (SAE) outside classrooms.