Non-English speakers adopt more Australianisms: ANU research

Non-English speaking migrants take to the unique Australian dialect more readily than English-speaking migrants, according to research by ANU. The research from the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics found migrants learning English as their second language use "Aussie words", such as 'esky', 'thong', 'doona' and 'nappy' at the same rate as Australian-born people. Lead researcher Dr Ksenia Gnevsheva said it was important to study how people acquire the vocabulary of a second English dialect because it reflects how well they settle in and become part of Australian society. "The way people adopt local words and phrases after arriving in Australia is reflective of their engagement with the Australian culture," Dr Gnevsheva said. "It was interesting to see how readily non-English speakers do this and the social forces that drive the process." "Despite a perception that immigrants are resistant to assimilation, what our research found is people who speak a foreign language are actually more likely to adopt the Australian lexicon, more readily than native English speakers who come here and at the same rate as the Aussies who live here. That quite extraordinary," said Dr Gnevsheva. The study involved testing four groups of people living in Australia: native Russian speakers; whose first working exposure to the English language was in Australia, American migrants who experienced Australian English as their second English dialect, native Russian speakers who had lived in America before coming to Australia and native Australian speakers.