Early readers in Arabic and Telugu
Our early readers - designed to foster reading and literacy - are now available in Arabic and in Telugu.
The Research Unit for Multilingualism and Cross-Cultural Communication (RUMACCC) was founded in 2001 by the internationally renowned linguist Michael Clyne (1939-2010) when he was professorial fellow in linguistics at The University of Melbourne.
RUMACCC conducts research in Australian and international contexts in fields such as:
RUMACCC then disseminates the results of this research, facilitating cooperation between researchers, those who are the subjects of research, and the potential users of that research. In particular, the unit conducts regular free workshops for parents raising their children in more than one language, teachers and others interested in bilingual education. Check the news section on this page for upcoming workshops.
RUMACCC is located in the School of Languages and Linguistics at The University of Melbourne.
The Research Unit for Multilingualism and Cross-Cultural Communication (RUMACCC) is committed to sharing its research with the wider community. In particular, we make available information about bilingualism and multilingualism and materials for people interested and involved in bilingual language acquisition.
RUMACCC regularly conducts a free workshop for families raising their children bi- or trilingually and for early childhood and pre-school workers, teachers and others interested in bilingual education.
Melbourne, Australia's fastest growing city, is also amongst its most multilingual and multicultural. This cultural and linguistic diversity is recognised as one of Melbourne's many assets and something that RUMACCC actively researches and promotes.
We have developed brochures which highlight the benefits of multilingualism for everyone and address common prejudices against multilingualism and second language learning. We also make available bilingual fact sheets for parents and advice on further reading.
Information about the diverse language backgrounds found in classrooms and how to use existing community resources in language programs in secondary schools.
RUMACCC publishes early readers in many languages which can be downloaded for free! They are designed to help children enjoy reading and to show parents and educators how easy it is to prepare enjoyable reading material.
RUMACCC is proud to make available these readers designed to help children enjoy reading in many languages. You can download them for free from the links below.
Chicken Little is based on a traditional folk story from South Sulawesi and illustrated by Katrina Langford. It is available in over 30 languages!
These resources aim to provide East Timorese children with the tools to read and write in their own mother tongue, as well as in the official languages Portuguese and Tetun.
The readers in Somali and in Somali and English aim to foster reading and literacy in Somali and English, and greater intercultural awareness of Somali as a language spoken in Melbourne, elsewhere in Australia and overseas.
Polish is spoken in Poland (population approx. 38.5 Mio) and in the Polish diaspora. In Australia, over 50,000 people indicate that they speak Polish at home. One of them, Kasia Williams, has translated a selection of our readers into Polish.
Telugu is an official language of India, spoken by about 79 million people in India and abroad. Our readers, translated by Mallikarjuna Rao Rachakonda, promote literacy in Telugu. They are available in monolingual and bilingual (Telugu and English) editions.
Matu Chin is a Sino-Tibetan language of Chin State in North-Western Burma (Myanmar). It is spoken by about 40,000 people world-wide (Ethnologue 2017). Members of the Matu Chin community in Melbourne translated these readers for RUMACCC.
Arabic is spoken as a first language by over 280 million people and by many more as an additional language. In Australia more than 287,000 people speak Arabic at home (2011 census). Our early readers were translated into Modern Standard Arabic by Dina Kerr.
These early readers are the work of students of Italian 8 at The University of Melbourne. They are designed to support schools and families who wish to teach and use Italian with their students and children respectively.
These readers show parents and educators how easy it is to prepare enjoyable reading materials - starting with pencil and paper or photographs, and then with a little help from the computer.
RUMACCC has long been actively involved in a number of research projects and consultancies. Here are examples of current and past projects.
RUMACCC is involved in interdisciplinary research with a focus on healthcare communication, undertaken in collaboration with health professionals and medical researchers.
RUMACCC has long been involved in research projects and consultancies on language education in our schools.
Most languages other than English have more than one pronoun of address, e.g.'tu' and 'vous' in French. The choice of address pronoun and other ways people address each other is crucial to interpersonal communication as it both reflects and influences social relations and hierarchies.
RUMACCC has organised a variety of research colloquia and workshops dealing with multilingualism and multiculturalism, linguistic diversity and language policy in Australia and elsewhere.
Norrby, Catrin and Wide, Camilla (eds.), Address Practice as Social Action: European Perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. ISBN 978-1-137-52992-3
How we address one another says a great deal about our social relationships and which groups in society we belong to. This edited volume examines address choices in a range of everyday interactions taking place in Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, French, German, Italian and the two national varieties of Swedish, Finland Swedish and Sweden Swedish.
Hajek, John and Slaughter, Yvette (eds.), Challenging the Monolingual Mindset. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2015. ISBN 9781783092505
This volume illustrates the distinctive and interconnected use of languages in increasingly diversified communities, examining a range of multilingual contexts, including post-migration settlement, language policy, education, language contact and intercultural communication. With contributions from researchers in Australia, Europe and Asia, the book discusses the opportunities and tensions that can emerge when societies attempt to manage and understand multilingual communication within and across communities. Reflecting the ideas of Professor Michael Clyne, the volume makes clear how ongoing research across a broad range of topics can assist in challenging the monolingual mindset by bringing to the attention of readers the rich linguistic diversity, as well as linguistic potential, of our communities around the world.
Norrby, Catrin and Hajek, John (eds.), Uniformity and Diversity in Language Policy. Multilingual Matters. 2011. ISBN 9781847694454
This book brings together current research by leading international scholars on the often contentious nature of language policies and their practical outcomes in North America, Australia and Europe. It presents a range of perspectives from which to engage with a variety of pressing issues raised by multilingualism, multiculturalism, immigration, exclusion, and identity. A recurrent theme is that of tension and conflict: between uniformity and diversity, between official policies and real day-to-day life experiences, but also between policies in schools and the corporate world and their implementation. Several chapters present research about language policy issues that has previously not been fully or easily available to an English-language audience. Many of the chapters also provide up-to-date analyses of language policy issues in particular regions or countries, focusing on recent developments.