Sandra Kipp

Trends and Changes in Home Language Use and Shift in Australia, 1986-1996.

The language demography of Australia has undergone substantial changes over the pastdecade,due mainly to new immigration and differentialpatterns of language shift. The last three Australian censuses, taken in 1986, 1991 and 1996, have all elicited the same information on language use. In this paper we will analyse the responses to the 1996 Census and compare them with those in the two previous censuses. We will discuss the divergent trends in different states and especially between the two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. Cross-tabulation with age will indicate future trends. We will discuss the extent to which language shift has effected the changes in language demography. Comparisons of language shift rates between the three censuses and cross-tabulations with generation, age, gender, family marriage patterns, state and period of residence will help identify factors promoting and impeding language maintenance.

Pluricentric Languages in an Immigrant Context: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese

This monograph attempts to explore the notion of pluricentric languages in relation to language maintenance and shift in an immigrant situation (Australia). The three languages selected (Spanish, Arabic, Chinese) are all pluri-centric in different ways and are all languages of international significance. Analysis of the differences in language maintenance processes and patterns between the three languages, and between the different subgroups within the relevant communities, help pinpoint some of the basic factors in language maintenance as well as some of the more ambivalent or variable factors. It has also been possible to consider to what extent the language gives rise to communities based on language rather than national origins. Among the findings of the study is the significance of the major immigration vintage of the group on language maintenance attitudes and practices. This partly reflects changing policies and attitudes in mainstream Australian society. The book will be an important source for sociolinguists, political scientists and those who are working in the fields of applied linguistics and ethnic relations.

Australia's community languages

Abstract This article focuses on Australias changing language demography. After providing a short summary of immigration history and language policy in Australia, it considers the national distribution of languages at the time of the 2001 National Census, as well as the differential shift to English in various ethnolinguistic communities. The discussion is based on the analysis of census statistics and provides a context for the languages of the articles in this volume.

A language community from a historical perspective: homogeneity and variation

Abstract This article explores the notion of variation within homogeneity, using as a case study a German-speaking Sprachinsel (or linguistic enclave) established in the Western District of Victoria in 1853. The research demonstrates that a language community, even one that is highly concentrated geographically and with a high degree of homogeneity in both background and religious persuasion, is ultimately made up of subgroups and individuals, who may react to internal and external pressures regarding language and language use in quite different ways.