Language and migration

The real problem with linguistic shirkers

Asylum seekers practicing German (Source: Schwaebische.de) Germany has discovered a new social type that is causing grief in modern diverse societies: the “Integrationsverweigerer;” literally someone who refuses to integrate, a…

Ingrid PillerMarch 30, 2016

Australian Perspectives on “Language and Migration”

Language and migration: the workshop presenters and organizers On December 11th, Ingrid Piller (Macquarie University) and Donna Butorac (Curtin University), organised a workshop on Language and Migration for the 2015…

Donna ButoracFebruary 3, 2016

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 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 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 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

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

Language and migration

Is language learning on the job the best way to learn a new language?

Meat workers, Fletcher Abattoir (Source: SheepCRC) One of the most famous research subjects to ever have participated in second language learning research is a man known in the literature as…

Ingrid PillerMarch 4, 2015

Language and migration

Superdiversity: another Eurocentric idea?

Website of the German Club Montevideo, founded in 1866 The current issue of Begegnung (“Encounter”), the magazine of German International Schools, has a feature about the German School in Montevideo,…

Ingrid PillerJune 4, 2014

Language and migration

A broken arm in multicultural Queensland

A broken arm in multicultural Queensland (Source:antilogic.co.za) I recently broke my arm by ignominiously falling in my own living room and landing on my elbow. The force of the impact…

Kerry Taylor-LeechOctober 29, 2012

Language and migration

Bilingualism is good for your mental health

Bilingual kids are more resilient October is Mental Health month here in New South Wales. The campaign runs under the slogan “Celebrate, connect, grow” and includes some fantastic tips how…

Ingrid PillerOctober 8, 2012

Language and migration

Postnatal depression and language proficiency

Postnatal depression (Source: rcpsych.ac.uk) Last week I was interviewed for a publication intended to showcase the achievements of women in research. When the interviewer, Meryl Hancock, asked me about the…

Ingrid PillerAugust 20, 2012

Language and migration

Home is where I’m alienated*

Pakistani flour mill workers recovering from a near-fatal lung infection due to poor occupational health and safety conditions, West Ham Hospital, 1960s (Source: Qureshi 2012, p. 7) To be transnational…

Ingrid PillerJuly 24, 2012

Language and migration

Shopping while bilingual can make you sick

WSB TV report: Apple discriminates against Persian-speaking customers I’ve just found an e-mail from Apple in my spam folder with a ‘personal’ invitation to attend one of their new store…

Ingrid PillerJune 27, 2012