ACQ Vol 13 no 3 2011

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ACQ Volume 13, Number 3 2011 115
( n = 291, 5.8%), “not done at all” (n = 1166, 23.4%), and
“don’t know” (n = 1424, 28.6%), and there were missing
data for the remainder of the participants ( n = 256, 5.1%).
Parents’ language status
Primary language spoken by the
children’s parents
Forty-two different languages were spoken by the children’s
parents. Most of the children’s parents spoke English as the
primary language at home (parent 1: n = 4113, 82.5%;
parent 2: n = 3480, 69.8%). There were missing data for
15% of parent 2 on this question (n = 745). The next most
common languages spoken by parent 1 were Arabic (n =
89; 1.8%), Cantonese ( n = 66, 1.3%), Italian (n = 59, 1.2%),
and Vietnamese ( n = 54, 1.1%). After English, the next most
common languages spoken by parent 2 were Arabic (n =
87, 1.7%), Italian (n = 56, 1.1%), Greek (n = 47, 0.9%), and
Mandarin (n = 45, 0.9%) (see Table 1).
Parents’ proficiency in spoken English
Preschool children’s developing speech and language skills
are facilitated by copying the models provided by their
parents (Kohnert, Yim, Nett, Kan, & Duran 2005);
consequently, it is of interest to understand the children’s
parents’ English language proficiency. Parental proficiency
in spoken English was determined during the first LSAC
interview. Interviews were conducted with parent 1. The
majority were conducted in English ( n = 4786, 96.0%);
however, some interviews were conducted with people
interpreting for the parent, specifically: a member of the
family or friend (n = 77, 1.6%), a professional interpreter (n
The main languages other than English spoken by the
children differed for each state/territory. The languages
spoken by more than or equal to 0.5% of children in each
state are listed in order from most to least and are displayed
in Figure 1 and Table 2:
New South Wales: Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Greek,
Vietnamese, Hindi, Bengali, Italian, Samoan, Spanish, and
Tamil.
Victoria: Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Mandarin,
Greek, Hindi, Turkish, Assyrian, and Somali.
Australian Capital Territory: Other, Bengali, Cantonese,
Croatian, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Macedonian,
Russian, Tamil, and Urdu.
South Australia: Greek, African languages, Portuguese,
Vietnamese, Other, and Spanish.
Western Australia: Vietnamese, Arabic, Cantonese, Italian,
Spanish, and Somali.
Northern Territory: Greek, and Other.
Tasmania: Cantonese.
Queensland: Samoan, Vietnamese, and Italian.
Children’s educational language
environment
Over one-fifth of the children were regularly spoken to in a
language other than English (n = 1093, 21.9%). During the
interview, parent 1 was asked to indicate “How well does
the child’s teacher, centre or preschool understand the
needs of families from a non-English background or
indigenous background?” These parents indicated: “very
well” (n = 1050, 21.1%), “well” (n = 796, 16.0%), “just okay”
Figure 1. Main languages spoken by Australian children aged 4 to 5 years in each state and territory
Note: The darker shade indicates 16–26% of children aged 4- to 5- years in NSW and Victoria speak languages other than English. The lighter shade
indicates 4-9% and the lightest indicates 1–3% of children speak languages other than English in that state/territory.
Main languages spoken
(excluding English):
Arabic, Cantonese,Mandarin,
Greek, Vietnamese, Hindi,
Bengali, Italian, Samoan,
Spanish, and Tamil