Migration and Language

This article gives an overview of the linguistic consequences of transnational and national migration: language diversification and spread, language contact, dialect leveling and the formation of new dialects in urban contexts and overseas territories, language shift and maintenance, bilingualism, code-switching, language formation, and second language acquisition. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of transnational migration and the formation of global cities, and outlines language policy responses to migration (assimilation policies vs. multicultural policies). Migrant communities are seen as ‘new’ ethnic minorities which have rights and needs comparable to those of ‘historic’ indigenous minorities.

bilingualism
code-switching
dialect levelling
koinézation
language contact
language diversification
language in education
language maintenance
language policy
language shift
language spread
minority languages
new dialects
pidgin/creole languages
second language acquisition

Ana Deumert is a Senior Lecturer at Monash University and currently Research Director of Monash's Language and Society Centre. Her book publications include Language standardization and language change. The dynamics of Cape Dutch, A dictionary of sociolinguistics (with R Mesthrie, T Lillis, and J Swann), Germanic standardizations. Past to present (co-ed. with W Vandenbussche), and Introducing sociolinguistics (with R Mesthrie, W L Leap, and J Swann). Her current research interests are historical linguistics and language change, language contact, language policy and standardization, and language and migration.