Migration linguistics: A synopsis

Ariane Macalinga Borlongan
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Abstract

Migration, among the most important sociocultural phenomena of contemporary global societies, is complex, dynamic, and multifaceted. At the heart of migration is language, the indispensable agent of migration. Hence, in this article, a new sub-discipline of linguistics is presented, and that is ‘migration linguistics’. It is the interdisciplinary and multidimensional study of the various aspects of language within the dynamic process of human mobility. And a linguistic theory of migration postulates that: (1) Language is an essential element in the migration process; (2) an individual’s acquisition, learning, and use of language significantly changes as a result of migration; and (3) migrants must be understood in the languages they can use, taught the destination language, and provided basic and essential services understandable to them. The interdisciplinary nature of this new sub-discipline of linguistics is enriched by a variety of approaches and methodologies in solving issues relative to language in the context of migration.

Keywords:
Publication history

Date received: 6 July 2022

Date accepted: 28 August 2022

Published online: 24 July 2023

Table of contents

The primary purpose of this article is to present ‘migration linguistics’ as a new sub-discipline of linguistics. It begins with motivations for the establishment of this new sub-discipline. It defines what migration linguistics is, identifies the aims of this new sub-discipline, and lays out its parameters. A linguistic theory of migration synthesizes the dynamics of language acquisition, learning, and use in the migration process. The article then explains the model of the linguistic dimensions of the migration process, which specifies the various determinants and variables in the acquisition, learning, and use of language in the context of migration. It also discusses language issues across different categories of migration (i.e. labor, family, educational, forced, undocumented, and group). Finally, with the available interdisciplinary resources and methodologies in studying language in the context of migration, it envisages prospects for the theory and praxis in migration linguistics. This article is also a state-of-the-art survey of the study on language and migration as it articulates extensively and compendiously the dynamics of language in the context of migration.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Akresh, I. R., Massey, D. S., & Frank, R.
(2014) Beyond English proficiency: Rethinking immigrant integration. Social Science Research, 45 , 200–210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arowolo, O. O.
(2000) Return migration and the problem of reintegration. International Migration, 38 (5), 59–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beverelli, C.
(2021) Pull factors for migration: The impact of migrant integration policies. Economics & Politics, 34 (1), 171–191. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borlongan, A. M.
(2019) Studies on language and migration: Towards ‘migration dlinguistics’. Diliman Review, 63 (1) , 17–23.Google Scholar
(2022a) Filipino domestic worker English. ASEAN Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1 , 67–79.Google Scholar
(2022b) Language issues of migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic: Reimagining migrant (linguistic) integration programs in (post-)pandemic times. Journal of English and Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 17–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2022c) Migrants in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: A migration linguistic perspective. Migration Letters, 19 (4), 367–375. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, S.
(2013) Reconstructing heritage language: Resolving dilemmas in language maintenance for Sri Lankan Tamil migrants. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 222 , 131–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017a) The nexus of migration and language: The emergence of a disciplinary space. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language. (pp. 1–28). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(Ed.) (2017b) The Routledge handbook of migration and language. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021) Rethinking mobility and language: From the Global South. The Modern Language Journal, 105 (2), 571–583. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, S., & Silberstein, S.
(2012) Diaspora identities and language. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 11 (2), 81–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Capstick, T.
(2020a) Language and migration. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020b) Transnational literacies as social remittances: The role of language ideologies in shaping migrants’ online literacies. Applied Linguistics, 41 (2), 301–319. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carling, J., & Schewel, K.
(2018) Revisiting aspiration and ability in international migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44 (6), 945–963. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cassarino, J.-P.
(2008) Conditions of modern return migrants: Editorial introduction. International International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 10 (2), 95–105.Google Scholar
Castles, S.
(2013) The forces driving global migration. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 34 (2), 122–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W.
(2009) The international transferability of immigrants’ human capital. Economics of Education Review, 28 (2), 162–169. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chomsky, N.
(1964) Current issues in linguistic theory. In J. J. Fodor & J. A. Katz (Eds.), The structure of language (pp. 50–118). Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Cohen, R.
(Ed.) (1996) Theories of migration. Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Coulmas, F.
(1997) Introduction. In F. Coulmas (Ed.), The handbook of sociolinguistics (p. 1–11). Blackwell.Google Scholar
Crezee, I.
(2010) Older Dutch migrants: Exploring benefits of formal instruction in L2 English pre-migration and ultimate attainment in L2. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, 16 (1), 17–35.Google Scholar
Curcó, C.
(2005) Code switching and identity in the discourse of Catalan immigrants in Mexico. AILA Review, 18 (1), 18–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Costa, P. I., Tigchelaar, M., & Cui, Y.
(2016) Reflexivity and transnational habitus: The case of a ‘poor’ affluent Chinese international student. AILA Review, 29 (1), 173–198. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Haas, H.
(2009) Mobility and human development. United Nations Development Programme.Google Scholar
(2010) The internal dynamics of migration processes: A theoretical inquiry. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36 (10), 1587–1617. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Haas, H., Castles, S., & Miller, M. J.
(2020) The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world (6th ed.). Red Globe Press.Google Scholar
Del Percio, A.
forthcoming). Speeding up, slowing down: Language, temporality and the constitution of migrant workers as labour force. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. DOI logo
Docquier, F., & Veljanoska, S.
(2020) Is emigration harmful to those left behind? Annual Review of Resource Economics, 12 , 367–388. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dollmann, J., Kogan, I., & Weißmann, M.
(2020) Speaking accent-free in L2 beyond the critical period: The compensatory role of individual abilities and opportunity structures. Applied Linguistics, 41 (5), 787–809. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z.
(2007) Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Doucerain, M. M.
(2019) L2 experience mediates the relation between mainstream acculturation orientation and self-assessed L2 competence among migrants. Applied Linguistics, 40 (2), 355–378. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dovchin, S., & Dryden, S.
(2021) Translingual discrimination: Skilled transnational migrants in the labour market of Australia. Applied Linguistics, 43 (2), 365–388. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dustmann, C., & Preston, I. A.
(2007) Racial and economic factors in attitudes towards immigration. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 7 (1), 1–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Elmeroth, E.
(2003) From refugee camp to solitary confinement: Illiterate adults learn Swedish as a second language. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 47 (4), 431–449. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Faist, T.
(2013) The mobility turn: A new paradigm for the social sciences? Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36 (11), 1637–1646. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández, E., & Cairns, H. S.
(Eds.) (2017) The handbook of psycholinguistics. Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fishman, J. A.
(1972) The sociology of language: An interdisciplinary social science approach to language in society. Newbury House.Google Scholar
Glazer, N.
(1997) We are all multiculturalists now. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Go, M. A. C., & Borlongan, A. M.
(2021) A linguistic biography of an English-dependent Filipino migrant in Japan. Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 9 , 99–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Go, M. A., Saure, K. B., Kurusu, K., & Borlongan, A. M.
(2021) Migrants in Japan and the English language. In A. M. Borlongan & T. Ishikawa (Eds.), English in Japan and Japanese English: A century and a half after the Meiji restoration. Special issue of Asian Englishes, 23 (1), 105–113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Green, P. E.
(2003) The undocumented: Educating the children of migrant workers in America. Bilingual Research Journal, 27 (1), 51–71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gregurović, S., & Župarić-Iljić, D.
(2018) Comparing the incomparable? Migrant integration policies and perplexities of comparison. International Migration, 56 (3), 105–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guinto, N.
(2019) The place/s of Tagalog in Hong Kong’s Central district: Negotiating center-periphery dynamics. Linguistic Landscape, 5 (2), 160–178. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halic, O., Greenberg, K., & Paulus, T.
(2009) Language and academic identity: A study of the experiences of non-native English speaking international students. International Education, 38 (2), 73–93.Google Scholar
Hayfron, J. E.
(2001) Language training, language proficiency and earnings of immigrants in Norway. Applied Economics, 33 , 1971–1979. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hickey, R.
(Ed.) (2020) The handbook of language contact. Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Higgins, C.
(2017) Space, place, and language. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language (pp. 101–116). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hinnenkamp, V.
(2003) Mixed language varieties of migrant adolescents and the discourse of hybridity. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 24 (1–2), 12–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, J., & Hazen, K.
(2013) Research methods in sociolinguistics: A practical guide. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Horenczyk, G.
(1996) Migrant identities in conflict: Acculturation attitudes and perceived acculturation ideologies. In G. M. Breakwell & E. Lyons (Eds.), Changing European identities: Social psychological analyses of social change (pp. 241–250. Butterworth-Heinemann.Google Scholar
Hou, F., & Beiser, M.
(2006) Learning the language of a new country: A ten-year study of English acquisition by South-East Asian refugees in Canada. International Migration, 44 (1), 135–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
International Labour Organization
(2021) ILO global estimates for international migrant workers: Results and methodology (3rd ed.). ILO.Google Scholar
International Organization for Migration
(2019a) Glossary on migration. ILO.Google Scholar
(2019b) World migration report 2020. ILO. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Janda, R., Joseph, B. D., & Vance, B. S.
(Eds.) (2020) The handbook of historical linguistics (vol. II). Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, J.
(2017) Mobility and English language policies and practices in higher education. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language (pp. 502–518). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karidakis, M., & Arunachalam, D.
(2016) Shift in the use of migrant community languages in Australia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37 (1), 1–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kerswill, P.
(1994) Dialects converging: Rural speech in urban Norway. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2006) Migration and language. In K. Mattheier, U. Ammon, & P. Trudgill (Eds.), Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik: An international handbook of the science of language and society (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 2271–2285). De Gruyter.Google Scholar
(2022) United Kingdom: Multicultural London English. In P. Kerswill & H. Wiese (Eds.), Urban contact dialects and language change: Insights from the Global North and South (pp. 282–299). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kosyakova, Y., Kristen, C., & Spörlein, C.
(2022) The dynamics of recent refugees’ language acquisition: How do their pathways compare to those of other new immigrants? Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48 (5), 989–1012. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krefeld, T.
(2004) Einführung in die Migrationslinguistik [Introduction to migration linguistics]. Narr.Google Scholar
Kristen, C.
(2016) Language acquisition of recently arrived immigrants in England, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Ethnicities, 16 (2), 180–212. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuo, B. C.
(2014) Coping, acculturation, and psychological adaptation among migrants: A theoretical and empirical review and synthesis of the literature. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 2 (1), 16–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ladegaard, H.
(2020) Language competence, identity construction and discursive boundary-making: Distancing and alignment in domestic migrant worker narratives. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 262 , 97–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leal, D. L., & Rodríguez, N. P.
(Ed.) (2016) Migration in an era of restriction and recession: Sending and receiving nations in a changing global environment. Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, W.
(1994) Three generations, two languages, one family: Language choice and language shift in a Chinese community in Britain. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Li, W., & Zhu, H.
(2013) Diaspora: Multilingual and intercultural communication across time and space. AILA Review, 26 (1), 42–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lim, L.
(2010a) Migrants and ‘mother tongues’: Extralinguistic forces in the ecology of English in Singapore. In L. Lim, A. Pakir, & L. Wee (Eds.), English in Singapore: Modernity and management (pp. 19–54). Hong Kong University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010b) Peranakan English in Singapore. In D. Schreier, P. Trudgill, E. W. Schneider, & J. P. Williams (Eds.), The lesser-known varieties of English (pp. 327–347). Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lising, L.
(2017) Language in skilled migration. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language (pp. 296–311). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu-Farrer, G.
(2022) International students as transnational migrants. In B. S. A. Yeoh & F. L. Collins (Eds.), Handbook on transnationalism (pp. 294–309). Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Lou, N. M., & Noels, K. A.
(2019) Sensitivity to language-based rejection in intercultural communication: The role of language mindsets and implications for migrants’ cross-cultural adaptation. Applied Linguistics, 40 (3), 478–505. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mandel, R.
(1996) A place of their own: Contesting spaces and defining places in Berlin’s migrant community. In B. D. Metcalf (Ed.), Making Muslim space in North America and Europe (pp. 147–166). University of California Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McAuliffe, M., & Triandafyllidou, A.
(Eds.) (2021) World migration report 2022. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Migration.Google Scholar
Miglietta, A., & Tartaglia, S.
(2009) The influence of length of stay, linguistic competence, and media exposure in immigrants’ adaptation. Cross-Cultural Research, 43 (1), 46–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morrice, L., Tip, L. K., Collyer, M., & Brown, R.
(2021) ‘You can’t have a good integration when you don’t have a good communication’: English-language learning among resettled refugees in England. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34 (1), 681–699. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Noll, G.
(2010) Why human rights fail to protect undocumented migrants. European Journal of Migration and Law, 12 (2), 241–272. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pennycook, A.
(2001) Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Piller, I.
(Ed.) (2016) Language and migration (Vols. I–IV). Routledge.Google Scholar
Piller, I., & Lising, L.
(2014) Language, employment, and settlement: Temporary meat workers in Australia. Multilingua, 33 (1–2), 35–59. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Portes, A., & Hao, L.
(2002) The price of uniformity: Language, family and personality adjustment in immigrant second generation. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 25 (6), 889–912. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rainer, H., & Siedler, T.
(2009) The role of social networks in determining migration and labour market outcomes: Evidence from German reunification. Economics of Transition, 17 (4), 739–767. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ratha, D., Mohapatra, S., & Scheja, E.
(2011) Impact of migration on economic and social development: A review of evidence and emerging issues. The World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5558.Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Izquierdo, R. M., Falcón, I. G., & Permisán, C. G.
(2020) Teacher beliefs and approaches to linguistic diversity: Spanish as a second language in the inclusion of immigrant students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 90 , 1–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sheffer, G.
(2019) The historical, cultural, social, and political backgrounds of ethno-national diasporas. In S. J. Gold & S. J. Nawyn (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of migration studies (pp. 487–498). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spolsky, B., & Hult, F. M.
(Eds.) (2008) The handbook of educational linguistics. Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stehl, T.
(2011) Mobilität, Sprachkontakte und Integration: Aspekte der Migrationslinguistik [Mobility, language contact and integration: Aspects of migration linguistics]. In N. Franz & R. Kunow (Eds.), Kulturelle Mobilitätsforschung: Themen – theorien – tendenzen [Cultural mobility research: Themes – theories – tendencies] (pp. 33–52). Universitätsverlag Potsdam.Google Scholar
Tacelosky, K.
(2022) Language as boundary, language as bridge. In G. S. Kasun & I. Mora-Pablo (Eds.), Applying Anzalduan frameworks to understand transnational youth identities: Bridging culture, language, and schooling at the US-Mexican border (pp. 91–109). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Uebelmesser, S., Sommerfeld, A.-M., & Weingarten, S.
(2022) A macro-level analysis of language learning and migration. German Economic Review, 23 (2), 181–232. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
United Nations
(2006) The rights of non-citizens. UN.Google Scholar
van Tubergen, F., & Kalmijn, M.
(2009) A dynamic approach to the determinants of immigrants’ language proficiency: The United States, 1980–2000. International Migration Review, 43 (3), 519–543. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vargas-Silva, C.
(Ed.) (2013) Handbook of research methods in migration. Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Vigouroux, C. B.
(2017) Rethinking (un)skilled migrants: Whose skills, what skills, for what, and for whom?. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language. (pp. 312–329). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Warman, C., Sweetman, A., & Goldmann, G.
(2015) The portability of new immigrants’ human capital: Language, education, and occupational skills. Canadian Public Policy, 41 (S1), S64–S79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, N. E., Hughes, C., Bhandari, P., Thornton, A., Young-DeMarco, L., Sun, C., & Swindle, J.
(2020) When does social capital matter for migration? A study of networks, brokers, and migrants in Nepal. International Migration Review, 54 (4), 964–991. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wortham, S., & Rhodes, C.
(2013) Life as a chord: Heterogeneous resources in the social identification of one migrant girl. Applied Linguistics, 34 (5), 536–553. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yeoh, B. S. A., Lam, T., & Huang, S.
(2022) Transnational families in the age of migration. In B. S. A. Yeoh & F. L. Collins (Eds.), Handbook on transnationalism (pp. 182–197). Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yijälä, A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I.
(2010) Pre-migration acculturation attitudes among potential ethnic migrants from Russia to Finland. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34 , 326–339. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Y., & Mi, Y.
(2010) Another look at the language difficulties of international students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 14 (4), 371–388. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhu, H.
(2017) New orientations to identities in mobility. In S. Canagarajah (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of migration and language. (pp. 117–132). Routledge.Google Scholar
Zhu, H., & Li, W.
(2016) Transnational experience, aspiration and family language policy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37 (7), 655–666. DOI logoGoogle Scholar