Language maintenance and identity among Sudanese-Australian refugee-background youth

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a sociolinguistic survey-based study of the Sudanese community in a regional settlement in Australia. The context of this study represents a distinctive language contact setting with a unique combination of social, cultural and demographic factors. The study aimed to explore attitudes, perceptions and the actual use of mother tongue in a refugee context among adolescent and young adult secondary school learners from the Sudanese community in a regional settlement in South-East Queensland. Findings from this study demonstrate that the Sudanese refugee community in Australia is strongly attached to their mother tongue, Dinka; however, English is increasingly used in various public and private domains among those of the survey group.