Comments on: Human capital on the move

By: SueD

SueD — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:16:02 +0000

I think there is too much focus on ‘language proficiency’ in this discussion. As a qualified ESL professional of over 25 years from one of the ‘disadvantaged’ groups mentioned, I would say it’s the ‘cultural fit’ in addition to language proficiency that determines whether a person gets discriminated against or not.

The AMEP is denied to skilled migrants from CALD communities on grounds of ‘Functional Proficiency’ but the benefits arising from the cross cultural issues it confronts head on could be enormous, far outweighing any considerations of cost.

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:59:00 +0000

In reply to Nick. Thanks, Nick. The thing is that some NESB skilled migrants are no longer putting up with that 'pretense'. Sick of being discriminated, those who can afford to do so are leaving Australia for home or other countries where they can draw on their skills more successfully and where they as migrants/returning residents are more appreciated (see examples; here and here). It'd be interesting to see research on this type of migrants - any available?

By: loy

loy — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:44:13 +0000

Here is a recent experience I had that speaks on what Colic-Peisker calls “native speaker bonus:”

The other day I called my local electricity provider (it seems most of Australia are with the recent increase in energy costs) to ask them why I should stay with them and not do the ‘big switch.’ I talked to someone who spoke a very thick Irish accent and for the life of me I could not understand at all most of what he said. (I do have a few Irish friends and I understand them fine but this one was just incomprehensible.) I tried managing our communication by paraphrasing after every sentence to get a confirmation from him that I understood him correctly. The strategy did not work and I had to call again so I could be re-directed to someone else I could understand. I just wonder – given that the work includes detailed explanations to clients on different products – how did he get the job? Surely, English language proficiency (whatever that means) would have been one of the main criteria?

By: loy

loy — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:30:28 +0000

The uncritical “success story” perspective is often held by those who believe (consciously or unconsciously) in benevolent prejudice – a feeling that one has done what is best for others even if that very act perpetuates the inferior positions of those “others” in the community.
With regards the English language proficiency requirement, it is clear to most who care to consider the issues in more depth that IELTS scores are often used to mask other factors which are otherwise ‘illegal:’ accent, race, gender, skin colour, country of origin, etc.
In the case of the Filipino skilled workers, most of them, I believe, suffer from double jeopardy: (1) one must re- or up-skill before being considered especially for a position in the medical field such as nursing because the very skills which have been recognized in the first place, hence, the demand for their labour was earned from a non-Australian institution and (2) although the majority of them are educated in English (English has been in the Philippines for over a century now), they need to show evidence of this through IELTS – which can still disadvantage them despite using English for most of their lives especially when their other languages are of phonological features quite distant from those of English which then impacts quite negatively on what is perceived as acceptable phonological features during an IELTS test.

By: Idris

Idris — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:03:48 +0000

The article reminds me of the experience that Donna Fujimoto, a Japanese American, had as an English teacher in Japan. Although she speaks American English as her native language and although she cannot speak any Japanese because she is a third-generation Japanese American, this is what happened to her when she was looking for a job as an English teacher in Japan:

In the first year I was in Japan, I applied for a short-term, high position to teach English. I was totally shocked when I was not even considered, but a French woman, who wanted to teach French and admitted openly to others that her English was not very good, got the job… Everyone knows that Caucasians have an advantage over Asians in such teaching positions, but they shy away from talking about it. (Color, race, and English language teaching: shades of meaning, p.44).

By: Donna Butorac

Donna Butorac — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:44:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing and discussing the paper by Colic-Peisker, Ingrid. It is very well put, and provides further evidence of what we discover, at the local level, from riding in cabs and listening to the experience of settlement English students in Australia. We need to encourage the inclusion of research by people like you, and Colic-Peisker, in the framing and delivery of, for example, the AMEP, which accepts the idea that English language proficiency is what mediates successful settlement in Australia. I say this while recognsing that ideology about English language is an integral part of the dominant imagining of the nation state, and therefore not easy to influence.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:29:56 +0000

Fair and equal opportunity in Australia are myths. One needs to look at these statistics and look around in the country to see the inequality among different ethnicities. Skilled migrants are on average better qualified than Australians. But you will find many 3rd world country skilled migrants as cab drivers, (building) painters and other low paid jobs –many of them even educated in the west. On business and first class flights, you don’t see any of them. In business and first class lounges they serve tea and coffee. Businesses prefer backpackers from the UK, Ireland to skilled migrants from non English speaking countries, especially not from the Middle East & Africa. English proficiency and local experience are two excuses for white Australia. Very often the accent plays a role. Once I experienced that the owner of the company where I worked sacked a Chinese worker because he couldn’t stand her accent. I regret not taken that bas… to court. The second pretence they use is local experience, which is not used very loudly, as they know there is no professional & business rationality behind it. A professional who has lived in Australia for more than two or three years knows more about Australia than a backpacker from Ireland, UK, US, etc.