Bilingualism and Biculturalism in Australia
Australia is a land wherein the native population had blended more or less naturally with the migrants (Jupp, 2001). However, the migrants represent a large part of the total population in Australia and this leads to cultural and social differences. The integration of the migrants in the Australian cultural diversity is a complex process especially because of the large diversity of migrants (Suliman, 2005). How do migrant languages combine with the lingua franca, which in Australia is English?
The migrant populations come in Australia knowing their mother tongue and they learn English there. The studied text illustrated that the English becomes their second language, and inevitably use both English and their natural languages in many environments: at home, at school, at work, etc. However, the study showed that most of the migrants still know better their first language than English. The undertaken study was conducted on Lebanese students, for assessing their level of learning English and science. The study illustrated that they were underachievers at both. The results of the study indicated that the students speak mixed, Arabic and English at home, while they prefer writing in English. They reported being more proficient in English than in Arabic. The author’s conclusion was that for improving both Arabic and English, there should be implemented effective bilingual programs in schools (Suliman, 2005).
Suliman’s article sounds rather harsh at the address of Lebanese students living in Australia. The results of the study do not seem to reflect the reality throughout Australia, as the sample was not representative: only 135 students participated in this study and based on this number, generalizations should not be encouraged. The fact that at home, Lebanese families speak English, Lebanese and a mix between these seems a natural consequence of the integration process. Nevertheless, to state that Lebanese students are underachievers in both English and sciences and do not have a real control neither on their own first language (Arabic), based on 135 participants in a study is non supportive.
References
Jupp, J., The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins. Cambridge University of Press: Cambridge.
Suliman, R. (2005) Language proficiency and school achievement among students from migrant families in Australia. Information Age Publishing.
