Language on the Move

Language and migration

Discrimination by any other name: Language tests and racist migration policy in Australia

Australia: The White Man's Land (Source: NLA) Australia has a proud national narrative of migration and multiculturalism. It also has an equally prevalent history of exclusionary and discriminatory migration policy.…

Laura Smith-KhanDecember 9, 2015

Language and law

Guidelines for communicating rights to non-native speakers of English

"You have the right to remain silent" (Source: Tumblr) “You have the right to remain silent” is an expression familiar to many English speakers. But what is involved in understanding…

Diana EadesDecember 2, 2015

Multilingual histories

Cultural brokering

Rashid al-Din Monument in Soltaniyeh, Iran (Source: Wikipedia) Recently, I signed a contract for a revised second edition of my 2011 book Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction to be published…

Ingrid PillerNovember 25, 2015

Language and globalization

‘Detours’ taken by Mongols on WeChat

A monument near Baganuur (Outer Mongolia) with an inscription of poem "My Native Land" by Natsagdorj (Source: Wikipedia) In the middle school Mongolian textbooks there is a well-known text called…

Gegentuul BaioudNovember 18, 2015

Linguistic landscapes

Strolling in Barcelona with Sanskrit and Devanāgarī

Tapas bar Samsara Strolling in Barcelona’s city center reveals an astounding variety of spoken languages: there are the languages used by the throngs of visitors coming from literally everywhere, and…

Anand Torrents AlcarazNovember 11, 2015

Language in Australia

Language and migration workshop

Studying English (©Sadami Konchi) The program for the “Language and Migration” workshop in Parramatta on Friday, December 11, 2015 is now available. The workshop is part of the 46th annual…

Lg_on_the_moveNovember 4, 2015

Intercultural communication

“Made in Germany” at risk? Volkswagen and the German trademark

Do clouds over VW equal clouds over Germany? The Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal has received significant media coverage in and outside of Germany. Besides accounts of the developments that led…

Rahel CramerOctober 28, 2015

Next Gen Literacies

Malay Sketches

Editor's note: We are delighted to bring to our readers today another outstanding experience of bilingual creativity, the poem Malay Sketches by Sydney author Aisyah Shah Idil, a runner up of the…

Aisyah Shah IdilOctober 21, 2015

Multilingual families

Children as language brokers

Nizaqete Bislimi (Source: DuMont Verlag / Franz Brück) Some of the most striking images from the refugees who have been trekking across Europe are of families and children. Beyond the…

Ingrid PillerOctober 7, 2015

Language and migration

Who is a real refugee?

Who is a real refugee? The refugee crisis in Europe has caught a lot of global media attention. Countries at the entry points and their official actions, as well civil…

Agnes BodisSeptember 23, 2015

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