Each speaker, adult or child, experiences language (learning) in individual ways. However, individual experiences are framed by language ideologies and are subject to trajectories shaped by geopolitical developments. The group of authors from the research site ‘Language on the move’ (https://www.languageonthemove.com/life-in-a-new-language/) sets out to bring together research with persons who at some point in their life arrived to Australia as migrants or refugees, and who thus had to deal with English in one or the other way. Incorporating research from over twenty years and from different research projects, the number of participants in this analysis is extremely impressive in a qualitative research paradigm: with more than 130 speakers and their trajectories, the lived experiences of language are very much seen as linked to social connections, personal expectations, and ideologies of the speakers and the wider society. The fact that the authors share many of the experiences of the research participants gives extra credibility. The authors highlight several topics and present them linked to specific cases, and this is a very friendly move towards readers who in this way can access thick descriptions and understand the analysis of the researchers in very specific circumstances. In seven thematic sections, a complementary perspective on adult migrants arriving in Australia is presented.
The initial section, ‘Doing things with words in a new language’, departs from the special challenge for adult learners: they are required to act immediately in a new (or formerly learned) language, not being granted a way to legitimately participate ‘from afar’—and thus, having all learning happening, while other things are going on, such as children needing schools, food, and so on. Even in phases that are labelled ‘just for learning’, such as during introductory classes, adults are usually responsible for their own and their dependents’ wellbeing, not least their official obligations to acquire language skills in the designated time frame. English is at the same time a language of use but also used as a legal instrument to regulate migration and migrants.
This is further elaborated in the second section, ‘Arriving in a new language’, when the difference between tested English and street English is highlighted. For migrants from countries like Iran, standardized English tests are a part of the education process, and persons arriving with certified skills struggle when their knowledge is not deemed sufficient to study or to be hired in the desired professions. By contrast, migrants from other countries might have acquired a certain degree of communicative competencies in English that serves them well but that translates very badly into the categories of English proficiency required as part of the migration procedure. The kinds of arrival shocks might thus differ, but their effects are a heavy burden on many. This is of particular importance in the workplace, the focus of the third section ‘Looking for work in a new language’. Examples from highly qualified professionals holding degrees in professions that are in high demand in Australia demonstrate how the promise of work-centred immigration schemes do not play out favourably in all conditions—the struggle to be accepted as a valuable employee is described in many ways and being hired by an Australian employer is framed as an almost impossible challenge. Individuals find ways to make their choices fit their lives and expectations, be it a completely new path in Australia or an arrangement between Australia and the countries of origin, and this chapter demonstrates very clearly that language competencies are not the golden key that they are sometimes perceived to be, and they cannot be put to work if the social networks are not in place in good time.
While work is an often-mentioned motivation to migrate and a precondition for many other aspects of arrival, another set of factors plays out crucially in the decision whether migration is permanent and successful or not. Starting out from a speaker-centred perspective, the authors are interested in how their participants talk about ‘Finding a voice in a new language’ and how they manage to regain recognition for the lives they had had and for the lives they are about to build in Australia. In order to settle in a new place, finding friends and ‘Doing family in a new language’ are important steps that include plenty of (language) choices and potentially transformed family roles. Caring relationships are not only changed in the new home, they also need to be maintained with the families of origin, including the management of expectations regarding transfer of money or living conditions by extended families and communities. This aspect is further complicated by the differences that migrants are made to learn when they start ‘Facing discrimination in a new language’. This experience is particularly salient for those that are perceived as other in Australia as a white/English settler colony with its former harsh policies against marginalised, colonized subjects. Intersections between language, race, and historical oppression present differently for migrants, othering some that had formerly perceived themselves as white and are now marked as non-white after migration. In the last thematic section, ‘Self-making in a new language’, the authors state that dealing with the old and new selves is a necessary step in the migration process and, depending on the circumstances, this is easier solved for some than for others.
Drawing on years of experience, the authors can confidently state that Australia’s advertised policy of prioritizing work for new arrivals is met with severe obstacles—the last section of the book is thus entitled ‘Rethinking language and migration’: migrants as not recognized as capable speakers of English, and other relevant work qualifications can only be put to use after long and expensive nostrification procedures. While younger migrants might not be able to spare the time to go through the process while providing for a young family, later in life, migrants might feel that the investment will not pay off if they only have ten to fifteen working years left. With work being discursively prioritized by official policy, the book makes it very clear that other aspects of life are as relevant and may be even more crucial when it comes to language learning and integration.
Through the specific analysis from six research projects and the added value of the meta-analysis, the different sites such as religious communities, educational sites, or volunteering get a recognition that they have often lacked. Seeing language learning not as merely happening to speakers (or even as a mechanical process in a clear number of steps) but instead as a complex, interactive process that is shaped in many ways by biographical experience and linguistic repertoires (Busch Reference Busch2017), raises relevant points for discussion in multilingualism research and beyond. Manotta (Reference Marotta2019:598) claims that ‘the migrant is not born but made’ and that the term in itself does not necessarily denote specific things—this book clearly underlines this position when it illustrates how singular migration events are turned into experiences (Schütz Reference Schütz1981) and, without this framing, would not have any meaning at all. It is in this spirit that the authors come to the conclusion that ‘The key finding about migrant language learning, then, is that it is hard’ (122). There is a need to connect earlier experiences to new social networks, but the knowledge one has accumulated is not easily transferable to a different continent. The conditions of migration, the support available in the early days, as well as with regard to the practicalities of the new life can act as game changers.
The final pages of the book are dedicated to teachers who aim to use this book in their teaching of language and migration, applied sociolinguistics, or intercultural communication. By providing short lists of questions for each chapter, the authors highlight certain readings intending to facilitate access for those who want to include some topics without going into too much detail.
Migrants everywhere, to whom this book is dedicated, and among them mostly those teaching language(s) will find this book to be a wonderful resource. To junior scholars, and others, this volume opens paths into research by presenting the value and importance of a long-term, coherent research agenda. It very clearly advocates for working in teams and across contexts that keep changing, and it models ways to deal with unexpected developments while keeping curiosity alive. The honesty of the authors is highly appreciated, and the text manages a good balance between rigor and entertainment, making the pages turn on its own and the contents easy to access.
