In this study we provide a comprehensive overview of first-generation migrants' language shift (LS) to English in Australia, as recorded by the 2021 National Census, and supported by a comparison with the 2011 Census data. Our results reveal a previously unreported reduction in the overall rate of LS from 2011 to 2021. However, the apparent finding is also misleading, as most migrant cohorts under investigation still recorded an increased LS rate during the time period in question. Furthermore, close inspection of first-generation migrant cohorts by size, specific sociodemographic, and geographical characteristics (i.e. gender, age, level of education, duration, and place of residence) confirms earlier findings that neither LS, nor much of the factor patterning associated with it, are evenly distributed across or within migrant communities. Of the investigated factors, relative duration of residence in Australia seems to show the most reliable relationship with LS across cohorts. We otherwise argue that the identified LS heterogeneity is a result of complex and varying interactions between different factors, including community-specific language attitudes, practices, exogamy, and (pre-) migration experiences. Importantly, not only is LS not always unidirectional over time in favour of English, the rate of change in LS can also vary greatly between migrant communities.
Hasnain et al. (Tue,) studied this question.