Geopolitical changes over the last two decades have led to greater numbers of people migrating or living transnationally, and greater diversity in immigrants’ countries of origin. For New Zealand (NZ), one impact of this increasingly diverse human flow has been the significant change in the linguistic composition of large urban centres, evidencing both a diversification of languages spoken and an increase in the number of speakers of non-official languages. Auckland, in particular, has become one of the world’s most ethno-linguistically diverse localities. Evidence of this is available in the Statistics NZ longitudinal database. Employing data extracted from four censuses between 1996 and 2013, this study explores the socio-economic characteristics of groups of speakers of the 17 most commonly reported (non-official) foreign languages nation-wide, and identifies variations in these characteristics over this period.
Despite interest in specific ethnic groups or particular languages (e.g., Friesen, 2008; Friesen, Murphy, & Kearns, 2005; Ip & Friesen, 2001; Ishizawa & Arunachalam, 2014; May, 2005), no ‘big picture’ longitudinal studies with a quantitative focus have been previously conducted on NZ’s changing linguistic profile. Mainstream media and policy documents increasingly acknowledge NZ’s multilingual social profile, but it remains an inadequately understood characteristic of the nation. This dataset enables insights into the relative vitality and the social attributes of particular languages. Such information can has practical value with respect to resourcing decisions in the health and education sectors, and inform current work on a national languages policy (Languages in Aotearoa…,2013).
Friesen, W. (2008). The Evolution of ‘Indian’ Identity and Transnationalism in New Zealand, Australian Geographer, 39(1), 45-61.
Friesen, W., Murphy, L. & Kearns, R. (2005). Spiced-up Sandringham: Indian transnationalism and new suburban spaces in Auckland, New Zealand. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 31(2), 385–401.
Ip, M. & Friesen, W. (2001) The new Chinese community in New Zealand: local outcomes of transnationalism. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 10, 213–240.
Languages in Aotearoa New Zealand. (2013). The Royal Society of New Zealand.
May, S. (2005) Bilingual/Immersion Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Setting the Context. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8:5, 365-376.
