[EDLING:2221] Howard government unveils new “Australian values” citizenship test

[Francis M. Hult]

Melbourne Indymedia

Howard government unveils new “Australian values” citizenship test

Howard’s claim that after four years of Australian residency “it’s not 
unreasonable” to expect migrants to develop a “facility in the English 
language” lacks any foundation. The website of the Centre for Adult English 
Language Acquisition states that five years is generally acknowledged as the 
minimum time required for a person with no previous English to achieve most 
communication tasks. It takes 500-1,000 hours of instruction for an adult who 
is literate in another language, but has no prior English instruction, “to 
reach a level where she can satisfy her basic needs, survive on the job, and 
have limited social interaction in English”. 

Full story
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/135672.php