Language maintenance and language shift in Australia, 1991

Abstract

This paper offers an analysis of the 1991 Census language data in relation to language maintenance and shift. It draws attention to the increased diversity, the rising importance of certain languages of international and regional significance in our population and the variations in maintenance patterns. It demonstrates the variation in language shift across a number of languages and attempts to identify factors responsible for this variation. Interstate differences are also explored. Language shift is compared between the first and second generation, between communities from different countries speaking the same language, and between the 1986 and 1991 Censuses.