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ACQ
Volume 13, Number 3 2011
ACQ
uiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing
Table 1. Primary and secondary languages spoken by Australian 4- to 5-year-old children and their parents
(n = 4983)*
Child’s primary
Additional language(s)
Parent 1’s
Parent 2’s
language
other than English
primary language
primary language
spoken or understood
by the child
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
1. African languages
7
0.1
–
–
8
0.2
7
0.1
2. Afrikaans
–
–
–
–
6
0.1
7
0.1
3. Arabic
78
1.6
102
2.0
89
1.8
87
1.7
4. Australian Aboriginal
–
–
22
0.4
–
–
–
–
5. Assyrian
10
0.2
12
0.2
13
0.3
10
0.2
6. Bengali
11
0.2
–
–
12
0.2
11
0.2
7. Cantonese
64
1.3
69
1.4
66
1.3
54
1.1
8. Croatian
6
0.1
–
–
6
0.1
5
0.1
9. Dutch
–
–
–
–
7
0.2
8
0.2
10. English
4285 86.0
n/a
n/a
4113
82.5
3480
69.8
11. French
18
0.4
–
–
19
0.4
19
0.4
12. German
12
0.2
–
–
18
0.4
18
0.4
13. Greek
40
0.8
69
1.4
52
1
47
0.9
14. Gujarati
–
–
–
–
6
0.1
5
0.1
15. Hakka
8
0.2
–
–
8
0.2
7
0.1
16. Hindi
21
0.4
–
–
22
0.4
23
0.5
17. Indonesian
8
0.2
–
–
8
0.2
7
0.1
18. Italian
36
0.7
143
2.9
59
1.2
56
1.1
19. Japanese
8
0.2
24
0.5
7
0.1
6
0.1
20. Khmer
–
–
2
0.0
–
–
–
–
21. Korean
–
–
6
0.1
5
0.1
6
0.1
22. Macedonian
6
0.1
–
–
9
0.2
8
0.2
23. Maltese
–
–
–
–
–
–
6
0.1
24. Mandarin
42
0.8
70
1.4
51
1
45
0.9
25. Maori (New Zealand)
5
0.1
–
–
9
0.2
–
–
26. Oceanian Pidgins and Creoles
–
–
–
–
–
–
5
0.1
27. Persian
–
–
1
0.0
–
–
–
–
28. Polish
6
0.1
–
–
10
0.2
8
0.2
29. Portuguese
9
0.2
–
–
11
0.2
11
0.2
30. Punjabi
6
0.1
–
–
7
0.1
7
0.1
31. Romanian
–
–
–
–
5
0.1
–
–
32. Russian
4
0.1
–
–
5
0.1
5
0.1
33. Samoan
23
0.5
–
–
28
0.6
23
0.5
34. Serbian
12
0.2
16
0.3
11
0.2
12
0.2
35. Sinhalese
8
0.2
–
–
11
0.2
11
0.2
36. Somali
11
0.2
–
–
10
0.2
7
0.1
37. Spanish
23
0.5
50
1.0
36
0.7
24
0.5
38. Tagalog
13
0.3
–
–
31
0.6
21
0.4
39. Tamil
15
0.3
–
–
19
0.4
19
0.4
40. Thai
8
0.2
–
–
9
0.2
5
0.1
41. Tongan
5
0.1
–
–
8
0.2
10
0.2
42. Turkish
17
0.3
22
0.4
22
0.5
20
0.4
43. Urdu
7
0.1
–
–
7
0.1
8
0.2
44. Vietnamese
50
1
58
1.2
54
1.1
40
0.8
45. Other
11
0.2
477
9.6
12
0.3
6
0.1
Confidentialised
90
1.8
–
–
90
1.8
71
1.4
Missing data
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
745
15.0
Note. * Dashes indicate that this language may either have not been used by anyone, or may have been used by a few participants, and these
data may have been amalgamated under “other”.