%0 Journal Article 
%A Škifić, Sanja
%T 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
%D 2013
%@ 1889-5425
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/19554
%X 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.

%K Citizenship
%K Language requirements
%K Inclusion
%K Exclusion
%K Language policy
%K Immigrants
%K Nacionalidad
%K Requisitos lingüísticos
%K Inclusión
%K Exclusión
%K Política lingüística
%K Inmigrantes
%K Lingüística
%K Linguistics
%K Sociología
%K Sociology
%~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala