Language
Summary of findings for LSIA 2
Among Primary Applicants in Wave 2, the most common languages spoken at home are English (spoken in 52% of Primary Applicants homes), Mandarin (8%) and Arabic (6%). Major languages vary for different visa groups, for example the three most common languages spoken at home by Primary Applicants from the Humanitarian group are Serbian (25%), Bosnian and Arabic (both 13%).
For Primary Applicants in the Business Skills and Employer Nomination Scheme group, a significant number of jobs required skills in languages other than English. Looking at the main job at the time of the Wave 2 interview, over 40% of jobs required spoken skills in other languages and about a third required written skills in other languages.
Between Wave 1 and Wave 2, the number of Primary Applicants trying to improve their English increased from 27% to 45%. For both waves the most common method used was attendance at AMEP courses. In Wave 1, 23% of Primary Applicants said that attending AMEP courses was their main way of improving English. However, by Wave 2 this figure had fallen to 13%, with other methods becoming more prevalent. For example, TAFE courses were nominated by 7% of Primary Applicants as their main way of learning English - up from only 1% in Wave 1.
In both waves, about 40% of Primary Applicants doing language courses, said the main reason they were doing the course was to obtain work. Around a quarter said they were doing the course to learn 'survival' English.
Of those doing language courses in Wave 2, the overwhelming majority (98%) of Primary Applicants felt that language courses improved their level of English.
Selected LSIA 1 comparisons
| Proportion of Primary Applicants | ||
|---|---|---|
| LSIA 1 Wave 1 (%) |
LSIA 2 Wave 1 (%) |
|
| Languages Spoken Fluently | ||
| English | 64 | 67 |
| Mandarin | 10 | 14 |
| Cantonese | 10 | 8 |
| Vietnamese | 9 | 4 |
| Arabic | 9 | 8 |
| Hindi | 6 | 8 |
| Spoken Languages required for main job (Primary Applicants working at the time of Wave 1 interview ) | ||
| English Only | 84 | 86 |
| English and other languages | 12 | 10 |
| Languages other than English | 4 | 5 |
Tables for LSIA 2
There are 12 tables available in PDF format:
- English Proficiency at Wave 1 & 2: Primary Applicant
- Changes In English Proficiency between Wave 1 & 2: Primary Applicant
- Main Languages Spoken at home in Wave 1 & 2: Primary Applicant
- Top 3 Languages Spoken at home each Visa Group In Wave 1 & Wave 2: Primary Applicant
- Best Language Spoken in Wave 1 & 2: Primary Applicant
- Top 3 Best Language each Visa Group in Wave 1 & 2: Primary Applicant
- Spoken Languages required for main job/business in Wave 2: Primary Applicant
- Written Languages required for main job/business in Wave 2: Primary Applicant
- Ways That Current Language Course Helped : Primary Applicants doing a language course In Wave 2
- Main method of learning English in Wave 1 & Wave 2: Primary Applicants
- Main reason for Learning English in Wave 1 & Wave 2: Primary Applicant
- Whether Wave 2 English course improved English proficiency: Primary Applicant