Diversity in Cultural and Linguistic Background- Australia
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Added on 2020-02-18
Diversity in Cultural and Linguistic Background- Australia
Added on 2020-02-18
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Running head: CULTURAL AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS1Cultural and Linguistically Diverse BackgroundsNameInstitution
CULTURAL AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS2Cultural and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds in Australia1.History of diversity in cultural and linguistic background in AustraliaContinuous migration which began after the first world war and peaked in the second world war has shaped the Australian population to a large extent. This migration has led to the characteristic cultural and linguistic diversity experienced in Australia (Nicola & Kurzak, 2013). Altogether, policies and historical events have heavily influenced the cultural and language diversity in Australia. During world war two, there was an invasion into Darwin by the Japanese. This invasion convinced most people that Australia was incapable of protecting itself due to its small population which was seven million people at the time. Consequently, there was a call for immigration as a means of boosting the population leading to a policy called ‘populate or perish’.Due to the immigration of new people, the Australian population has steadily increased since the 1940s. In the beginning, the migrants came from North west European countries including Germany and the United Kingdom. More migrants followed from Eastern and Southern parts of Europe in countries such as Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy. Initially, the Australian government only allowed white immigrants in a policy called white Australian policy. This is whereby it onlyallowed immigrants who were of British and Irish descent (Jupp, 2002).However, in 1977, it adopted a non-discriminatory intake of immigrants which looks at the people’s skill levels. More migrants arrived in Australia in the late 1970s mainly from countries in South East Asia. These countries include; Cambodia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Recently, migrants are predominantly from Southern and North-East Asian countries like India and China(Australia, 2017).
CULTURAL AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS3 Australia was initially inhibited by the Aboriginal people. This changed with the arrival of the English settlers (Birch, 2008). The British came in to colonize the Aboriginal people and brought prisoners from its overcrowding jails. There was a clash in the beginning between these two groups of people that was hateful and cruel. This was mainly because the British invaded theland and acted as if the land was uninhabited- terra nullius. The aboriginal resistance against the settlers persisted fighting for more than a century leaving more than twenty thousand people dead. There were other conflicts that later developed along the lines of religion and ethnicity. The religious conflict was between the protestant English and the catholic Irish. Another conflict existed between the Victorian Gold Fields and miners from China (Dewhirst, 2008). The main conflict here was because the Chinese worked very hard and were accused of unfair labor competition.Traditionally, Australia was an egalitarian society. Divisions due to class were limited and there was social justice (Sheppard Jill & Biddle Nicholas, 2015). This has been one of the foundations under which present day multiculturalism is founded. The outlook of many Australian people has also changed from an ethno-centric, insecure nation to a cosmopolitan, self-conscious economic and political power. Nevertheless, there are Australians who have not enjoyed social justice in the country due to their cultural and linguistic backgrounds (QueenslandGovernment, 2010). These are mainly people from non-English speaking countries.2.Political, Economic, and Social Issues Impacting People from Cultural and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds
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