Refugee linguascapes: The role of English in Australia-run detention contexts

Abstract

Drawing upon the framework of Critical Sociolinguistics, this paper aims at understanding the role of English within the Australian mandatory detention system vis-à-vis the material, communicative and symbolic marginalization to which a group of refugees were subjected. On this premise, the research applies a content-analytical ethnographic framework to the purposely built Refugee Interview Corpus (ric). In particular, the work reflects upon the role of the English language and its perceived contexts of use. Findings have shown that English was viewed by research participants as a bridge language (lingua franca); a resistance language (lingua liberatrix); an oppression language (lingua opprimens); a socio-digital language (lingua socialis); and an educational language (lingua instruens). While serving multifarious purposes inside detention, English formed continuums of usages in a variety of situational contexts. If on the one hand refugees acquired linguistic agency through English, on the other, the linguascape of detention emerged as embedded within broader dynamics of power, subjugation, and violence.