Dr Samantha Disbray

Senior Lecturer in Endangered Languages & Director of Indigenous Engagement

School of Languages and Cultures

+61 7 336 56896

s.disbray@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

My role in the School of Languages and Cultures is Lecturer in Endangered Languages, focussed on the development of an Indigenous Languages Revitalisation program. Since 2021 I have worked closely with Indigenous Industry Fellows Des Crump and Robert McLellan and an Indigenous Steering Committee to consult and design the program. I am also an active researcher, with several projects in Central Australia.

My approach to teaching and research is collaborative, community-guided and applied. This informed by my on-going self-reflexivity as a non-Indigenous woman and my experience living and working on unceded Kaurna, Arrernte, Warumungu, Warlpiri, Pintupi-Luritja country and, since moving to the University of Queensland in 2019, Jagera and Turrbal country.

My academic research life began in 2004, after a decade as an educator and community linguist. I worked with Warumungu linguist B Morrison Nakkamarra on the ARC funded Aboriginal Child Language Acquisition Project and after the completion of my PhD research at the University of Melbourne in 2008, I returned to industry as regional linguist with the Northern Territory Department of Education.

Since 2014 I have held research positions at Charles Darwin University on the Red Dirt Education project, the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Languages at the Australian National University. In this project I worked with Warumungu linguists and families to return and repurpose a set of archived recordings for language and cultural revitalisation through arts-based practice, an outcome of which was the 2019 co-curated exhibition 'Ankkinyi Mangurr, Ankkinyi Apparr' at the 2019 Tarnanthi Fesitval of Contemporary Art.

I have a published Warumungu learner's dictionary, language teacher resource books, 15 articles, 10 book chapters and a co-edited volume, along with numerous commissioned reports and reviews in education and languages policy. I currently hold an ARC Discovery grant for the project 'The Illustrated Literature of Papunya and Strelley, 1979-1998) in collaboration with University of Western Australia.

Publications

Books (2)

Book Chapters (10)

Journal Articles (14)

Working Paper (1)

Creative Works (2)

Research Reports (2)

Books

Harrison, Angela and Disbray, Samantha (2022). Mangurr-jangu Mirlamirlajinjikki - Teaching and learning with pictures. Wallsend, NSW Australia: First Languages Australia.

Disbray, Samantha (2005). Warumungu Picture Dictionary. Alice Springs, NT Australia: Institute for Aboriginal Development.

Book Chapters

Fillmore, Naomi, Disbray, Samantha, Haugh, Michael, Chang, Wei-Lin Melody, Crump, Des and Hashimoto, Kayoko (2024). Pathways to teaching global languages: challenges, opportunities, and implications for Asian language teachers in Australian schools. Rethinking the Asian language learning paradigm in Australia. (pp. 17-44) edited by Kayoko Hashimoto. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-74149-4_2

Hashimoto, Kayoko and Disbray, Samantha (2023). University-school partnerships. Language policy. (pp. 3-17) edited by Zia Tajeddin and Carol Griffiths. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-38754-8_1

Wigglesworth, Gillian and Disbray, Samantha (2023). Indigenous children’s language practices in Australia. The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages. (pp. 720-727) edited by Claire Bowern. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198824978.003.0062

Disbray, Samantha and Wigglesworth, Gillian (2019). Indigenous children’s language practices in Australia. The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities. (pp. 357-381) edited by Gabrielle Hogan-Brun and Bernadette O’Rourke. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-54066-9_14

Disbray, Samantha and Martin, Barbara (2018). Curriculum as knowledge system: the Warlpiri theme cycle. Language practices of indigenous children and youth: the transition from home to school. (pp. 23-48) edited by Gillian Wigglesworth, Jane Simpson and Jill Vaughan. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-60120-9_2

Disbray, Samantha (2017). Policy and practice now. History of bilingual education in the Northern Territory: people, programs and policies. (pp. 237-246) edited by Brian Clive Devlin, Samantha Disbray and Nancy Regine Friedman Devlin. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-2078-0_19

Guenther, John, Disbray, Samantha, Benveniste, Tessa and Osborne, Sam (2017). ‘Red dirt’ schools and pathways into higher education. Indigenous pathways, transitions and participation in higher education: from policy to practice. (pp. 251-270) edited by Jack Frawley, Steve Larkin and James A. Smith. Singapore: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-4062-7_15

Disbray, Samantha and Devlin, Brian (2017). Consolidation, power through leadership and pedagogy, and the rise of accountability, 1980–1998. History of bilingual education in the northern territory: people, programs and policies. (pp. 101-112) edited by Brian Clive Devlin, Samantha Disbray and Nancy Regine Friedman Devlin. Singapore: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-2078-0_9

Devlin, Brian, Disbray, Samantha and Devlin, Nancy (2017). A thematic history of bilingual education in the Northern Territory. History of bilingual education in the Northern Territory: people, programs and policies. (pp. 1-10) edited by Brian Clive Devlin, Samantha Disbray and Nancy Regine Friedman Devlin. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-2078-0_1

Disbray, Samantha (2014). Evaluating the Bilingual Education Program in Warlpiri schools. Studies in Language Companion Series. (pp. 25-46) Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/slcs.147.03dis

Journal Articles

Diaz, Adriana Raquel, Cordella, Marisa, Disbray, Samantha, Hanna, Barbara E. and Mikhaylova, Anna (2021). Reframing and hospicing mobility in higher education: challenges and possibilities. Intercultural Communication Education, 4 (1), 106-121. doi: 10.29140/ice.v4.n1.449

Disbray, Samantha (2020). Talking north: the journey of Australia's first Asian language. Asian Studies Review, 44 (3), 563-565. doi: 10.1080/10357823.2020.1775064

Meakins, Felicity, Disbray, Samantha and Simpson, Jane (2020). Which MATter matters in PATtern borrowing? The direction of case syncretisms. Morphology, 30 (4), 373-393. doi: 10.1007/s11525-020-09357-3

Disbray, Samantha, Plummer, Rosemary and Martin, Barbara (2020). Languages ideologies and practice from the land and the classroom. Modern Language Journal, 104 (2), 519-525. doi: 10.1111/modl.12658

Disbray, Samantha, O’Shannessy, Carmel, MacDonald, Gretel and Martin, Barbara (2020). Talking together: how language documentation and teaching practice support oral language development in bilingual education programs. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25 (4), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2020.1767535

Simpson, Jane Helen, Disbray, Samantha and O'Shannessy, Carmel (2019). Setting the scene: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages learning and teaching. Babel, 54 (1&2), 7-10.

Disbray, Samantha (2019). Realising the Australian curriculum framework for Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages. Babel, 54 (1&2), 21-25.

Osborne, Samuel, Rigney, Lester-Irabinna, Benveniste, Tessa, Guenther, John and Disbray, Samantha (2018). Mapping boarding school opportunities for Aboriginal students from the Central Land Council Region of Northern Territory. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 48 (2), 162-178. doi: 10.1017/jie.2018.1

Disbray, Samantha (2016). The development of reference realization and narrative in an Australian contact language, Wumpurrarni English. Frontiers in Psychology, 7 43. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00043

Disbray, Samantha (2015). Spaces for learning: policy and practice for indigenous languages in a remote context. Language and Education, 30 (4), 317-336. doi: 10.1080/09500782.2015.1114629

Guenther, John, Disbray, Samantha and Osborne, Sam (2015). Building on ‘red dirt’ perspectives: what counts as important for remote education?. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 44 (2), 194-206. doi: 10.1017/jie.2015.20

Vaughan, Jill, Wigglesworth, Gillian, Loakes, Deborah, Disbray, Samantha and Moses, Karin (2015). Child-caregiver interaction in two remote Indigenous Australian communities. Frontiers in Psychology, 6 (APR) 514. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00514

Disbray, Samantha (2014). Review of Eades, D. (2013) Aboriginal ways of using English. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 37 (3), 276-279. doi: 10.1075/aral.37.3.06dis

Disbray, Samantha and Loakes, Deborah (2013). Writing Aboriginal English and Creoles: five case studies in Australian education contexts. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 36 (3), 285-301. doi: 10.1075/aral.36.3.04dis

Working Paper

Angelo, Denise, Disbray, Samantha, Singer, Ruth, O'Shannessy, Carmel, Simpson, Jane, Smith, Hilary, Meek, Barbra and Wigglesworth, Gillian (2022). Learning (in) Indigenous languages: Common ground, diverse pathways. OECD Education Working Papers. OECDiLibrary, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. doi: 10.1787/e80ad1d4-en

Creative Works

Disbray, Samantha, Kral, Inge and Green, Jennifer (2022). Arlkeny map-akert / Australian Indigenous Languages Image Bank ‘AILIB’. Sydney; Melbourne; Canberra, Australia: PARADISEC.

Morrison Nangali, Sandra, Plummer Narrurlu, Rosemary, Morrison Jungarray, Ronald and Disbray, Samantha (2019). Ankkinyi Apparr, Ankkinyi Mangurr – Our Language, Our Designs. Adelaide, SA, Australia: Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Indigenous Arts.

Research Reports

Disbray, Samantha, Barker, Carolyn, Raghunathan, A. and Baisden, Faith (2018). Global Lessons: Indigenous languages and multilingualism in school programs. First Languages Australia. First Language Australia Resources Wallsend, NSW Australia: First Languages Australia.

Guenther, John, Disbray, Samantha and Obsorne, Sam (2016). Red dirt education: a compilation of learnings from the Remote Education Systems project. Alice Springs, NT Australia: Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation.