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Life in a new language
International migration and the social diversity it creates constitute one of the key global challenges of the early 21st century. Language and communication barriers can compromise equitable access in diverse societies, and where socioeconomic disadvantage becomes entrenched, it poses risks to security, productivity and quality of life. Clearly this is an important issue, and migrants and their language choices are heavily politicized; though political and media debates often rely on anecdotal conjecture or are ill-informed.
Life in a New Language examines the language learning and settlement experiences of 130 migrants to Australia from 34 different countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America over a period of 20 years. Reusing data shared from six separate sociolinguistic ethnographies, the book illuminates participants' lived experience of learning and communicating in a new language, finding work, and doing family. Additionally, participants' experiences with racism and identity making in a new context are explored. The research uncovers significant hardship but also migrants' courage and resilience. The book has implications for language service provision, migration policy, open science, and social justice movements.
Life in a New Language examines the language learning and settlement experiences of 130 migrants to Australia from 34 different countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America over a period of 20 years. Reusing data shared from six separate sociolinguistic ethnographies, the book illuminates participants' lived experience of learning and communicating in a new language, finding work, and doing family. Additionally, participants' experiences with racism and identity making in a new context are explored. The research uncovers significant hardship but also migrants' courage and resilience. The book has implications for language service provision, migration policy, open science, and social justice movements.
216 pages, Paperback
Published July 23, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 15, 2025
The way that multiple ethnographies are integrated in the creation of a unified narrative is impressive scholarship. The book covers a lot of theoretical and analytical matters while being very readable to the public. It does not go deep into theory and methodology, and it does not need to - this is a book that speaks to a broader audience. I especially loved chapter 6 with the grounding of "micro-aggression", a term that is very much tainted outside of discourse analysis scholarship. It is so good that I am integrating it as a reading assignment to the course that I am teaching this semester.
July 8, 2025
You can find my review of this book here, on the LinguistList:
https://linguistlist.org/issues/36/2083/
https://linguistlist.org/issues/36/2083/
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews