Workshops supports the inclusion of Kriol in the Northern Territory education curriculum

The Kriol & Contact Languages Workshop supports communities to develop the newest and most widely used language in Northern Australia and the Torres Strait Islands.

Kriol and Contact Languages Workshop participants. Charles Darwin University, NT. Source: School of Languages and Cultures

Kriol is the largest language spoken exclusively in Australia and has long been overlooked, especially in the education curriculum.

The Kriol & Contact Languages Workshop were held at the Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory this month (June) to share and promote skills in this new Indigenous language.

Kriol and Contact Languages Workshop participants. Charles Darwin University. Source: University of Queensland’s School of Cultures and Languages

The programs have received funding and support from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language.

Dr Greg Dickson from the University of Queensland's identifies Kriol as one of the NT's fastest growing new languages.

Kriol was now the second most commonly spoken language in the Northern Territory, along with new languages such as Light Warlpiri and Gurindji Kriol.

Dr Greg Dickson spoke to Melissa Compagnoni for SBS Radio Living Black.

He says The Kriol & Contact Languages Workshops take languages out of the universities and into communities.