campusreview . com . au industry & research direct and you will understand that this is a linguistic racism because it ’ s quite explicit , it ’ s quite verbal , it ’ s quite violent . Covert linguistic racism on the other hand , and it ’ s quite subtle , it ’ s quite hidden and indirect . It often happens in the form of social exclusion , interpersonal and institutional rejections and other microaggressions . When we say social exclusion , for example , when you are say in the classroom and international students whose English is not their first language , they ’ re seated separately from a local Australian speaking students , and then Australian speaking students are speaking , for example , English without really noticing the international students are being excluded from the peer interaction . So that ’ s a very subtle subordination . Also , it can happen in an institutional context , which for example , if you go to a hospital , go and see a doctor and you can ’ t explain yourself in English properly or fully , so you ’ re expected to speak English .
ER : How does linguistic racism occur in the higher education sector ? Australia is a very much a multicultural , multilingual country and we receive a large number of international students every year . In an Australian context , it can happen especially in terms of international students whose first language is not English . In overt forms , they can experience on an interpersonal level when they start talking to local people , when they start interacting , for example , with a dominant society . Whereas covert linguistic racism usually happens on campus in the classroom between interactions with peers and lecturers . So we have a lot of examples from international students who have experienced both covered and overt linguistic racism on campus .
ER : How does this impact on international students emotionally and also on their studies ? It can really affect them mentally really badly . For example , many Chinese students in Australia , when they come to Australia they offer the sort of alternative , Anglosounding names to their lecturers and peers . Because many people cannot pronounce their names correctly and it ’ s very embarrassing for them to hear their names mispronounced constantly . And they eventually seek to avoid correcting their teachers and peers in the classroom .
So they offer us some Anglo sounding Australian names , but it ’ s very hurtful to them because one ’ s birth name means a lot . It ’ s part of their identity . For example , in an Asian society , one ’ s birth name has a lot of cultural , religious and linguistic implications . And then when you move to an English speaking country and use an Anglo sounding name , it hurts their sense of belonging and so forth . That was just a small example .
In terms of their academic studies , many international students start suffering from depression . We have also examples of substance abuse . Once they start losing their self-confidence and start feeling foreign language anxiety , they start losing the ability to really focus on their academic ability . So once you have these mental health issues like depression and so forth , their academic ability can be harmed severely . We have a lot of examples of students who started having suicidal ideation and quit their studies and move back to their country , due to these severe depressive symptoms caused by linguistic racism .
ER : How does linguistic racism affect academic staff and researchers who are from another country ? When you are a culturally and linguistically diverse background academic in the Australian educational system , you have to prove that you know how to speak English and write in the language . So many of our
research participants , they informed us that they have to work really hard to achieve the Australian standard , and to show that they are really good at what they ’ re doing . Otherwise in terms of employment or promotion , it ’ s very hard for non-English speaking background educators because they have to be publishing and teaching in English . Their work outcome will be compared to Australian native English speakers . And in order to get promoted and to find a suitable job that they really like , it ’ s a big barrier for them .
ER : What can the higher education do to not only limit linguistic racism but get rid of it ? Because it ’ s so institutional and systematic it ’ s very hard to combat linguistic racism . And around the world globally , linguistic racism has not been discussed a lot compared to other racisms . So it ’ s very important , for example , to raise awareness , public awareness . It ’ s very important to inform policy makers and decision makers about the harmful effects of linguistic racism . We don ’ t really have much public awareness and we need to start talking about it more often . We also need to embrace linguistic diversity . For example , I guess around Australia , on so many levels as researchers , as educators , as academics , we really need to raise that awareness among public and mainstream society and also policy makers and decision makers . And we can work together towards combating linguistic racism . ■
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