ACQ Vol 13 no 3 2011

Table 2. The languages other than English spoken by ≥ 0.5% of children in each state and territory (n = 4983) NSW VIC ACT SA WA NT TAS QLD n % n % n % n % n % n % n % n % 1. African languages 3 0.9 2. Arabic 43 2.6 28 2.4 4 0.8 3. Assyrian 6 0.5 4. Bengali 11 0.7 1 1.3 5. Cantonese 34 2.4 19 1.6 1 1.3 4 0.8 2 1.2 6. Croatian 1 1.3 7. French 1 1.3 8. German 1 1.3 9. Greek 20 1.2 11 0.9 4 1.1 1 2.2 10. Hindi 11 0.7 8 0.7 1 1.3 11. Italian 12 0.7 15 1.3 1 1.3 3 0.6 5 0.5 12. Macedonian 1 1.3 13. Mandarin 25 1.5 14 1.2 14. Portuguese 3 0.9 15. Russian 1 1.3 16. Samoan 12 0.7 9 0.9 17. Somali 6 0.5 3 0.6 18. Spanish 11 0.7 2 0.6 3 0.6 19. Tamil 8 0.5 1 1.3 20. Turkish 8 0.7 21. Urdu 1 1.3 22. Vietnamese 16 0.9 17 1.4 3 0.9 7 1.4 6 0.6 23. Other 2 2.2 3 0.9 1 2.2 Key: NSW = New South Wales, VIC = Victoria, ACT = Australian Capital Territory, SA = South Australia, WA = Western Australia, NT = Northern Territory TAS = Tasmania, QLD = Queensland. Note: Each column represents the number of children within the state/territory who spoke that language and the percentage equals the proportion of children within that state/territory.

2 including: United Kingdom ( n = 263, 5.3%), New Zealand ( n = 125, 2.5%), China ( n = 70, 1.4%), Lebanon ( n = 54, 1.1%), Viet Nam ( n = 50, 1.0%), and India ( n = 46, 0.9%). When the children’s parents were not born in Australia, the main years of arrival for parent 1 were 1996 ( n = 70, 1.4%) and 1998 ( n = 85, 1.7%) (range = 1955–2004) and for parent 2 were 1988 ( n = 52, 1.0%) and 1989 ( n = 69, 1.4%) (range = 1951–2004). Fewer of the children’s grandparents were born in Australia: parent 1’s mother ( n = 3010, 60.4%), parent 1’s father ( n = 2758, 55.3%), parent 2’s mother ( n = 2476, 49.7%), and parent 2’s father ( n = 2311, 46.4%). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants A small number of the children were identified by their parents as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders ( n = 194, 3.9%). The greatest proportion of children (calculated as the proportion of the state/territory’s 4- to 5-year-old children in this sample) were from the Northern Territory ( n = 8, 17.8% of the 4- to 5-year-old children within the Northern Territory), and Tasmania ( n = 13, 10.3%), with the remainder from Queensland ( n = 67, 6.8%), New South Wales ( n = 65, 3.8%), Western Australia ( n = 17, 3.5%), South Australia ( n = 7, 2.0%), Victoria ( n = 15, 1.3%), and Australian Capital Territory ( n = 1, 1.3%). Across the entire sample there were 22 children (0.4%) who spoke or understood an Australian Aboriginal language. A small number of the children’s parents identified themselves as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (parent 1: n = 142,

= 55, 1.1%), and/or LSAC employee ( n = 65, 1.3%). During the interviews the LSAC interviewer rated the parents’ proficiency in spoken English. Only parents who spoke languages other than English were rated. Parent 1 was rated as speaking English very well ( n = 555, 11.1%), well ( n = 231, 4.6%), not well ( n = 127, 2.5%), not at all ( n = 39, 0.8%), and don’t know ( n = 14, 0.3%). Parent 1 then reported on parent 2’s ability to speak English. Parent 2 was rated as speaking English very well ( n = 540, 10.8%), well ( n = 218, 4.4%), not well ( n = 73, 1.5%), not at all ( n = The majority of children were born in Australia ( n = 4774, 95.8%). There were 9 other listed countries of birth: New Zealand ( n = 41, 0.8%), United Kingdom ( n = 31, 0.6%), South Africa ( n = 13, 0.3%), India ( n = 10, 0.2%), USA ( n = 9, 0.2%), Philippines ( n = 9, 0.2%), China ( n = 6, 0.1%), Kenya ( n = 5, 0.1%), and Japan ( n = 4, 0.1%). Additionally, there were confidentialised data for some children ( n = 81, 1.6%). For children not born in Australia, the main years of arrival were 2000 ( n = 60, 1.2%) and 2001 ( n = 45, 0.9%). The majority of the children’s parents were also born in Australia (parent 1: n = 3696, 74.2%; parent 2: n = 3045, 61.1%). Their reported countries of birth were diverse. For parent 1 there were 47 different countries of birth including: United Kingdom ( n = 263, 5.3%), New Zealand ( n = 126, 2.5%), China ( n = 79, 1.6%), Viet Nam ( n = 68, 1.4%), Lebanon ( n = 62, 1.2%), and Philippines ( n = 53, 1.1%). There were 48 different countries of birth for parent 18, 0.4%), and don’t know ( n = 17, 0.3%). Country of birth and ancestry

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ACQ Volume 13, Number 3 2011

ACQ uiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing