Dr Amy Farndale

Dr Amy Farndale is a member of UniSA's Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion (CRESI). Under her academic title of Early Childhood Language and Literacy Lecturer, she is a researcher, course coordinator, and tutor within the literacy and early childhood teams at UniSA. Amy is also a PhD and Masters research supervisor and is a member of several research TEAMs investigating Family Multiliteracies and Emotional Wellbeing in Early Childhood Settings in 2021-25.

Research Record

Dr Farndale's expertise lies in supporting culturally and linguistic diversity and sustaining bilingual preschoolers' language development by identifying ways educators consider power, interactions and emotions when supporting multilingual language learning. She was awarded a deLissa Scholarship to undertake research with culturally and linguistically diverse preschoolers, with Professor Pauline Harris and completed the research in 2018. Dr Farndale's case study and action research (2019), inspired by ethnographic techniques (participant observation included), explores conceptual frameworks incorporating Bourdieu's (1991) cultural and linguistic capital; social interactionist theories of Rogoff (2004); Vygotsky's SCT (1978); and Reggio Emilia principles (Rinaldi 2013); as well as culturally responsive pedagogies and Aboriginal ways of learning. Dr Farndale additionally draws from Systemic Functional Linguistics' context of culture and situation (Halliday 2004), and diverse preschoolers' communication through multiple modes (Antsey & Bull 2012). Amy has worked for both UniSA and the Department for Education since 2001, as well as internationally in educational settings in the UK, Kenya and France.

Dr Farndale incorporates theories of emotions in her research on functional language use (Plutchik 2001; MacIntye 2002; Swain 2013)--she argues that:

         'emotions impact on people's speech and expression and that emotions should be considered within the context of culture and                 situation (field, tenor and mode). Emotions act as our amplifier to speak, or not, and if we do speak, emotions impact on what we               say and to whom. When educators are aware of this, they can adapt the context to encourage more opportunities for children to               communicate with others.'

Balancing bilingualism is another concept explored by Dr Farndale as she argues that education should not be dominated by English, but rather should incorporate children's community, family and community languages. The term 'community languages' is preferred by Dr Farndale to 'home languages' which can suggest confining a child's family language to the home. Recently Dr Farndale has been authoring articles about Communicative Capital - how children who are bilingual translanguage at preschool with their community, how First Nations children and all children can be encouraged to express themselves in many ways (moving bodies and props in dramatic play for instance), and how children with Autism can express themselves through the 'moving language' to create stories. Her pedagogy highlights inclusion, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander perspectives, and recognition of children's Communicative Capital.

Dr Farndale's led a collaborative project with an undergrad student, Amelia Lambden, who received a UniSA vacation scholarship, along with Associate Professor Sue Hill and Celia Couthard, an Adnyamathanha dual language book illustrator) studying the power in first nations children's literature. Her research questioned included 'where to source First Nations dual language andinterlingual books in South Australia for 3 to 6 year olds'. This was presented at the Australian Literacy Educators Association (ALEA) conference in 2021.

Acknowledging the power of children's multiple languages and understanding the contexts in which children express themselves, as well as the multimodal ways children express themselves (through social interactions) with attention to how emotions affect language learning, is Dr Farndale's life mission. She recently presented "Keeping culture and languages alive to thrive in early years settings" at the 2022 ALEA conference with Dr Gunay Aghayeva.

Dr Farndale's supervisory interests lie in supporting researchers of translanguaging and literacy in the early years of education. Her current PhD candidate, Natalie Natsias, is exploring multilingual support for preschoolers. Amy also co-supervisors Ed.D students Glenn Saxby (focusing on graphic novels in primary school settings), Mirielle Flesch (focusing on cultural diversity of Non verbal behaviours in primary school settings) and Belle Nui, focusing on tertiary students learning English through dance using VR. 

Dr Farndale's view of literacy draws from the Early Years Learning Framework (2009, p. 46) in that 'literacy incorporates a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, storytelling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, listening, viewing, reading and writing' in the many languages of our communities.

Courses I tutor, lecture and coordinate

Amy is a member of the UniSA literacy team and teaches in the Bachelor of Education program where she co-coordinates English Curriculum: Language classes, while also tutoring in English Curriculum: Literacy and Literature. Amy also leads classes in the Masters of Education program for Curriculum Specialisation (literacy focus) and the ECE literacy intensive Birth to 5 course as well as the specialism: Inquiry into the teaching of English in early childhood and primary contexts.

Preparing pre-service teachers for supporting culturally and linguistically diverse learners is Amy's specialty. She continues to consider herself a preschool teacher for life, albeit from a distance now, as she works for UniSA full-time as an academic (drawing attention to the injustice of an English only curriculum). Reducing English language dominance and de-colonizing the curriculum are goals Amy sets herself in her teaching and her research. Amy enjoys regularly making supervision visits to local preschools to liaise with undergraduates on professional experience and educators in the field. 

Personal life

Amy shared-care parents a 14 year old daughter who loves musical theatre - dancing, singing, and acting - communicating in multimodal ways expressing her culturally diverse British, German, Kenyan, Australian heritage. Amy has taught some Swahili at the Kenyan ethnic school association; she learned Bahasa Indonesian in her own schooling (and recently co-created a Bahasa Indonesian children's book), and previously self-taught some French during her working travels teaching bilingual children in Paris. Being curious and demonstrating cultural humility and sensitivity is part of Amy's identity. Amy has also danced Brazilian Zouk and Angolan Kizomba for a decade. Merging movement (non-verbals) with verbals and semtiotics is the space Amy works and lives in.

University of South Australia

Department for Education and Child Development,

Austraian Literacy Educators Association (ALEA) Committee (SA)

Children's Week Committee (SA)

TESOL Research Group UniSA,

de Lissa Research Group, UniSA, School of Education UniSA

Translanguaging Research Group

West Torrens Partnership DfE

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia

• Master of Education (Early Childhood Education) University of South Australia

• Bachelor of Early Childhod Education with Honours University of South Australia

Work history

Curent

Early Years Language and Literacy Lecturer -

UniSA and Academic Teacher/Researcher at UniSA (ongoing .9 load) *Wednesdays are my day off.

2015-2019

Tutor of Studies in English Education 1

2014-2019

Preschool Teacher and Acting-Director at Kurralta Park Community Kindergarten, DECD/DfE

2012-2018 

Case Study Researcher - Bilingual preschoolers' social interactions, emotional challenges and functional language use while learning English as an additional language.

2008-2010

New Arrivals Program Teacher / Intensive English Language Classroom Teacher at Richmond Primary, DECD

2002-2018

Early Years Teacher in various metropolitan and country locations for the DECD

2007-2008

Volunteer Teacher - library project coordinator in Kenya.

2006

English Tutor/nanny in Paris, France

2001 & 2005

Key stage 1 teacher in England