English Language: Australia's Multicultural Society

The teaching resource selected to support diverse literacy and language learning in a grade one classroom is a children’s book ‘I’m Australian Too’ written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh (Fox, M. (2017) ‘I’m Australian Too’ Australia; Scholastic Australia). The book is available for purchase both online and at ‘Readings’ stores in Hawthorn, Carlton, Malvern and St Kilda for $19.99. It can also be accessed as an audio copy from http://memfox.com/books/im-australian-too/. The book details all the multiple cultural identities that can be found across Australia. It poetically details that no matter where our families come from, or the hardships that may have faced, we can all find a home in Australia. The resource is useful in

Australia is a multicultural country and welcomes people from varying nationalities into its communities each and every day. As a result, classrooms all over Australia are changing. No matter what location a teacher is contracted to, there will be some element of a variety of cultures within that environment. Diversity of cultures within individual communities will fluctuate from town to town and state to state as people re-settle and create homes for themselves and forge a new identity and sense of place. As a teacher, it is also important to note, that the experiences of migrant students in your class will vary. Some may assimilate very well; others may encounter more hurdles than others. A teacher’s role in a child’s life should be one which is positive. Supporting a child through their education and ensuring they have appropriate care and compassion in relation to their situation is important. This guide has been put together to help teachers with some background knowledge on educating culturally diverse students and some strategies to help foster compassion and understanding within the classroom.

I never considered my real status in Australia until recently. When I was a child, I came to Australia with my family. I lost my Manchurian accent as quickly as possible in order to assimilate.

There were three main languages which also consisted of various dialects. Darug was the largest spoken language. The Gadigal people spoke a dialect of Darug. Dharawal was another language spoken which also consists of various dialects based on regions. Many Indigenous Australians could speak more than one of these languages as Central Sydney was where many tribes would come together, so it was quite common that many tribes or clans would be in this same area at the same time, allowing them to learn the languages of each others tribes.

Something that contributes to who we are is our slang. Aussie’s shorten everything. “G’day Mate, wanna go to the servo this arvo and we’ll pop into the bottlo on our way.” This how most stereotypical Australian’s speak, it is a way of life, our own language.

I think that it is important that we have our own unique type of English that we speak as Australians so that we are unique from other nations. It is important that we allow our language to change as we are a multicultural nation and our language can reflect that. 

2. Does the English we speak in Australia give us all a sense of belonging and a shared identity? Or do you think it causes more exclusion than inclusion? Explain. 
I think that Australian English gives us a sense of belonging in that we use British English in words such as colour and flavour but we don’t always use British English. I think Australian English is unique as it is influenced

Australia is one of the most culturally diverse counties in the world 47% of Australian’s were either born overseas or their parents

According to Ethnologue, there is reportedly ‘7 097 living languages worldwide’ (Simons, 2016) furthermore; Anderson (2012) explains the decline of the number of languages worldwide as being due to the growth of the major languages; a lesser utilised language dies when it ceases to be learnt by children. Standard Australian English (SAE) is the language used by the majority of the Australian population and its Government. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics; with a population of over 21.5 million people less than a quarter of them speak a language other than English in their home and that quarter includes the speaking of about 145 Indigenous Australian languages; a number which has decreased from the 250 or so Indigenous Australian

Australia is a settler nation which is now made up of many ethnic groups who share similar cultural traditions, common language, shared history and a shared identity (ABS, 2016). These groups contribute to what is referred to multiculturalism. Australia has a higher proportion of people born overseas than the US, Canada and the UK, with 49% of Australia’s population (or a parent) being born overseas (Census of Population and Housing, 2016). Compared to other Western nations, Australia has one of the most diverse immigration populations (Collins, 2013, p. 145). The meaning of multiculturalism in Australia has changed significantly over time. Today, Australia is a culturally and ethnically diverse country and therefore is a multicultural society. In terms of public policy, multiculturalism can be defined as policies and practices implemented by the Australian government that aim to manage cultural diversity to benefit the whole of society (Department of Social Services, 2014). Although Australia is a multicultural society, there are criticisms of public policy surrounding multiculturalism.

Broad Australian English (BAE) is a language variety unique to Australia. Despite being spoken by a minority of Australian population today, it has

What does it mean to be Australian? Is it our multiculturalism, our wicked sense of humour or is it our recognisable accent? We are unique, we have thousands of species of native animals and we are proud of it. Australia has its own slang, which could be counted as a language in itself and we have neighbours of all different races. Australia is multicultural and is extremely accepting of others, no matter the country from which they have immigrated from, it is an Australian value. Furthermore, we respect and accept others religions and cultures into our society.

Concentration refers to the number of speakers who live in one place and use their community language in their everyday interaction, as opposed to dispersion where there are not enough people to speak the community language. According to the researcher’s observational notes, the majority of the Arabic speakers in the city of Toowoomba reside between the mosque and the university. They are not as numerically established as in big cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (ABS, 2011), but the size of the Arabic-speaking community is increasing gradually, especially with the coming of new international students and their families. Additionally, most of these students decided to settle down in Australia for many reasons such as building a good

Teaching is a very rewarding career if you learn and understand how to work with the diversity of the classrooms we teach in. As teachers, we need to be more vigilant of where are students come from. Before we can teach we need to know who we are teaching and what background, knowledge, and customs they bring with them to the classroom. We must also be aware of the factors that are relevant to the academic achievement of the students we currently teach. There are many of these factors, but I want to focus on two; teacher quality and low teacher expectations.

There are a range of English varieties which are different from the Standard, developed from communities of speakers all sharing the same use of language. Aboriginal English, a dialect of Australian English, remains a lingua franca for their speakers, used as a common language to communicate between tribes for mutual

The majority of these people are of Caucasian descent, although there are many other ethnic groups. There is no dominant religion in Australia. As of July 2002, 26.1% are Anglican, 26% are Roman Catholic, 24.3% are another Christian religion, and 11% are non-Christian. The most used language of Australia is English, however, there are a variety of other native languages that are still used today.