Language on the Move

Language and migration

Bitter gifts: migrants’ exclusive inclusion

Condemned to consume My migration newsfeed in the past few weeks has been dominated by news about the Syrian refugee crisis and the various European and international responses. But there…

Ingrid PillerSeptember 10, 2015

Language and law

Don’t know what “jurisdictional error” means? Some people’s future depends on it

High Court of Australia (Source: Wikipedia) When people arrive in countries like Australia, seeking to be recognised as refugees and offered protection, it is obviously important that they are able…

Laura Smith-KhanAugust 26, 2015

Language and migration

Language and migration in Parramatta

Parramatta Anglican Church (©Sadami Konchi) The deadline to submit abstracts for papers to be presented at the 46th annual conference of the Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) at the University of…

Lg_on_the_moveAugust 19, 2015

Language and migration

Getting past the ‘indigenous’ vs. ‘immigrant’ language debate

"The English" migrated to their "ancestral homeland" in the first few centuries of the Common Era (Source: Wikipedia) “Indigenous languages” and “immigrant languages” are much discussed in language policy research,…

Dave SayersAugust 12, 2015

Language in education

Dynamics of bilingual early childhood education

Benz, Victoria. 2015. Dynamics of bilingual early childhood education: Parental attitudes and institutional realisation. PhD. Macquarie University. Victoria Benz recently completed her PhD thesis about “Dynamics of bilingual early childhood education: Parental…

Lg_on_the_moveAugust 5, 2015

Language, Education and Settlement: A Sociolinguistic Ethnography on, with, and for Africans in Australia

Tetteh, Vera W. 2015. Language, Education and Settlement: A Sociolinguistic Ethnography on, with, and for Africans in Australia. PhD thesis, Macquarie University. Vera Williams Tetteh has just completed her PhD…

Lg_on_the_moveJuly 29, 2015

Language and law

Frightful language tests

Trial by fire depicted in a medieval manuscript (Source: Wikipedia) In the Middle Ages those suspected of witchcraft were often subjected to a ‘trial by fire’ to prove their innocence…

Ingrid PillerJuly 15, 2015

Language and migration

Language or religion: which is the greater fault line in diverse societies?

Churchill Square Shopping Mall, Brighton, UK (Source: Wikipedia) In a shopping mall in the city of Brighton, UK, a tourist was arrested on terrorism charges last week for taking a…

Ingrid PillerJuly 8, 2015

English as a global language

Mongolian on the market

'Luxury permanent' Mongolian yurt for sale on Alibaba Last week when I saw in my friends’ Wechat group an advertisement for delicately made Mongolian yurts, I thought of an article…

Gegentuul BaioudJuly 1, 2015

News

Workshop: Language and migration

Linguistic diversity is valued in this school (Photo Courtesy of Angela Turzynski-Azimi) The 46th annual conference of the Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) is being hosted by the University of Western Sydney…

Lg_on_the_moveJune 24, 2015

Language in education

Educational success through bilingual education

Children in a bilingual program in Hamburg (Source: AlsterKind) It is a key finding of contemporary educational research that the children of migrants experience educational disadvantage vis-à-vis their native-born peers.…

Ingrid PillerJune 17, 2015

Language learning

The language cringe of the native speaker

"How bad is your cultural cringe?" (Source: Jenna Guillaume, BuzzFeed) Keith: I’m still really shit at pronouncing Lisa’s surname. With the umlaut o. Hanna: What is Lisa’s surname? (laughter) Keith:…

Hanna TorshJune 10, 2015

English as a global language

Voice of China on the move

Voice of China Sydney 2015, Program Booklet It’s a weeknight at the Sydney Town Hall, an ornate 19th century building in the city centre. Almost everyone bustling in the entryway…

Alexandra GreyMay 27, 2015

Language in education

Are the children of intermarried couples smarter?

Preschool in Karlsruhe, Germany (Source: DW) Ever since my research for my 2002 book Bilingual Couples Talk I’ve regularly been told by people – or been asked to confirm their…

Ingrid PillerMay 20, 2015

Language in education

“Naughty boys” trying to learn

"Naughty boys" in the media: image from the Channel 4 gangs and drugs drama "Top Boy" Teacher expectations can constitute a self-fulfilling prophecy: teachers behave differently towards children depending on…

Ingrid PillerMay 13, 2015

Language and migration

Bilingualism is good for you! … if you are a girl …

Bilingualism has a gender A while ago, I reported on the findings of a US study that demonstrated that children of immigrants who achieve high-level bilingual proficiency in both English…

Ingrid PillerMay 6, 2015