Citizenship as an Instrument of Inclusion and Exclusion – A Comparative Analysis of Language Requirements in Naturalization Processes in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand

Abstract

Citizenship is an extremely complex concept and, as such, can be utilized in sociolinguistic research in order to account for differences in language policies. Language requirements in naturalization processes point to differences in particular countries’ language policies. Specifi cally, analysis of such language requirements reveals the different facets of the countries’ language policies in terms of the ways in which applicants for citizenship via naturalization are expected to know and use the countries’ offi cial language(s) or the main language (in cases where there is no offi cial language). The paper aims to address changes in such language requirements in four immigration countries which are bound by a specifi c past associated with colonialism and the fact that English is the medium of communication for the majority of the population. The countries are: the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. A comparison of past and current language requirements provides an insight into both past and current status of immigrants and their languages in the four countries. This, in turn, leads to assessments of citizenship increasingly being regarded more as an instrument of inclusion rather than as an instrument of exclusion.

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