1. AMEP Longitudinal Study: Employment, workplace participation, and settlement success among recent migrants
Charlotte Setijadi, George Major, & Dr Agnes Terraschke
Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University 1

2. Language training and settlement success
Funded by Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Aims:
Explore language needs of migrants in early settlement:
Language use and needs
How language affects settlement experience
Role of Adult Migrant English Program
→ Improve support for migrants 2

3. Language training and settlement success: A two phase study
Qualitative, longitudinal, multi-site study
Phase 1: 152 migrants over 1 year
Phase 2:
60 participants from Phase One (Cohort A)
85 new participants at AMEP (Cohort B)
Locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Launceston, Brisbane, Perth 3

4. Language training and settlement success
Data:
semi-structured interviews
classroom observations
teaching and assessment materials
out-of-class interactions
fieldnotes 4

5. This presentation
Report on longitudinal snapshot of Cohort A data from Phase 1 (2009) and Phase 2 (2011)
Focus on migrants’ stories on finding work and their experiences in the workplace:
General employment trends
Patterns of under-, and unemployment
Language use at work
Workplace socialisation 5

6. Some key employment trends

An educated cohort: 40 out of 60 participants have at least 13 years of education
36 participants were employed by the start of phase 2 of AMEP LTS (end of 2011)
7 participants are unemployed and actively looking for work
12 women are stay-home mothers/housewives 6

7. Longitudinal view of participants’ employment
Occupation group
Pre-migration
Phase 1
Phase 2
Managers 6 2
Professionals 19 5 7
Technicians & Trade Workers 1
Community & Personal Service Workers 3
Clerical & Administrative Workers
Sales Workers
Machinery Operators & Drivers
Labourers 4 11
Housewives 9 12
Students
Unemployed
Retired 7

8. Longitudinal view of participants’ employment
Occupation group
Pre-migration
Phase 1
Phase 2
Managers 6 2
Professionals 19 5 7
Technicians & Trade Workers 1
Community & Personal Service Workers 3
Clerical & Administrative Workers
Sales Workers
Machinery Operators & Drivers
Labourers 4 11
Housewives 9 12
Students
Unemployed
Retired 8

9. Longitudinal view of participants’ employment
Occupation group
Pre-migration
Phase 1
Phase 2
Managers 6 2
Professionals 19 5 7
Technicians & Trade Workers 1
Community & Personal Service Workers 3
Clerical & Administrative Workers
Sales Workers
Machinery Operators & Drivers
Labourers 4 11
Housewives 9 12
Students
Unemployed
Retired 9

10. Goals and aspirations
Employment important marker of settlement success
Majority would like to be in the same industry as the one they were in pre-migration
Employment viewed as a relatively quick way to improve English and integrate into Australian society 10

11. Over-qualified and under-employed
5 participants explicitly stated that they could not get jobs that match their overseas qualifications and/or working experiences
Path to getting overseas qualifications recognised seen as too difficult/expensive/time consuming 11

12. Unemployed and unable to find work
7 participants are unemployed for a number of reasons, including:
Not being able to find a job in the industry that they desire
Not having good enough English for work
Unemployment can make participants feel financially vulnerable, unable to contribute to society, and unfulfilled:
“I cannot find myself when I’m just at home and not working” 12

13. Language at work
Of the participants who were employed at phase 1 (n=32) and phase 2 (n=36):
Three participants work mainly in an L1- speaking environment 13

14. Language at work
“I want to find a job in the Aussie shop… Hm because I want change… You know still in Chinese shop I can’t improve myself. I can’t improve my English or that is not for the long time job. So I MUST be change”
Lily (Chinese bakery worker) 14

15. Language at work
Of the participants who were employed at phase 1 (n=32) and phase 2 (n=36):
Three participants work mainly in an L1- speaking environment
Four participants work in an English-speaking environment but are able to mainly use their L1 at work 15

16. Language at work
“My English is very limited now so, I have to settle with this job”
Li Ming (cleaner)
Through an interpreter 16

17. Language at work
Of the participants who were employed at phase 1 (n=32) and phase 2 (n=36):
Three participants work mainly in an L1- speaking environment
Four participants work in an English-speaking environment but are able to mainly use their L1 at work
Most participants speak ONLY English at work 17

18. Talking to clients/customers
More participants in phase 2 (69.44%) interact with customers daily than in phase 1 (43.75%)
Some have only very minor interactions with customers – either because of the nature of the job or because they are actively discouraged from talking with clients 18

19. Talking to clients/customers
“One thing might be my English, yeah. Like, um, it might make his shop look unprofessional, because - but, yeah, but still, I think many reason, but it's one of the reason that, I think because the owner doesn't - because I can do everything. If I have money, I can open my own”.
Lisa (dog groomer) 19

20. Talking to clients/customers
More participants in phase 2 (69.44%) interact with customers daily than in phase 1 (43.75%)
Some have only very minor interactions with customers – either because of the nature of the job or because they are actively discouraged from talking with clients
Others describe positive experiences about gaining the confidence to talk with customers 20

21. Talking to clients/customers
“And now I'm giving them whatever they want and talking to them, ‘How is your day’? ‘Where you come from’? ‘Do you stay in hotel’? ‘How are you doing’? ‘Have you seen Opera House in Sydney’? I start to chat and talk with people”.
Kamran (hotel worker) 21

22. Workplace socialisation
Establishing relationships with colleagues can be a very important part of the workplace experience
Workplace socialisation was explicitly discussed by 11 participants in phase 1, and 21 participants in phase 2
3 participants (all in phase 2) mentioned little or no opportunity for socialisation
8 participants in phase 1 and 13 in phase 2 describe positive experiences 22

23. Workplace socialisation
“I like abouts when I got the good friend and we can talk, we can laugh. I'm proud of myself. I'm not a good English but the way I can make a joke to make them all laughing and then the way they're laughing like before start or break time, I feel happy more than them”.
Tat (chicken factory worker) 23

24. Summary
Finding employment is a crucial milestone for migrants: gateway to Australian society
Restricted access to work due to:
English proficiency
Unrecognised qualifications
Participants often have to adapt their employment aspirations
Some participants have limited opportunities to use English at work and socialise with colleagues 24

25. Summary Majority work in English speaking contexts
By 2011, more participants:
were employed
had direct contact with customers (using English)
Despite facing a range of issues regarding communication in the workplace, many participants report having positive experiences with:
a) gaining confidence in talking to customers
b) socialising with colleagues 25

26. Thanks to all our participants and to the research team:
Ingrid Piller
Lynda Yates
Donna Butorac
John Ehrich
Laura Ficorilli
Sun Hee Ok Kim
Loy Lising
George Major
Pam McPherson
Kerry Taylor-Leech
Charlotte Setijadi
Agnes Terraschke
Alan Williams
Vera Williams Tetteh
Beth Zielinski 26

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