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Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This article aims to explore the link between linguistic subordination and linguistic inferiority complexes in the context of English as a second language (ESL) migrants in Australia. We address the following research questions: (a) To what extent and how do ESL migrants in Australia suffer from linguistic subordination? (b) To what extent and how is this linguistic subordination linked to linguistic inferiority complexes for ESL-migrants in Australia? (c) What are the main social implications of the link between linguistic subordination and linguistic inferiority complexes for ESL migrants? Design/methodology/approach: The study involved the participation of 150 participants who were observed using linguistic ethnography. The participants engaged in interviews and focus group discussions so that we could explore the psychological consequences of linguistic subordination that they encountered. Data and analysis: The interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed and analysed with consideration to the context, as well as the participants’ utterances and paralanguage. The study followed alternative quality criteria. Findings/conclusions: Many ESL migrants in Australia face linguistic subordination for the way they speak English. Consequently, these migrants suffer from linguistic inferiority complexes – psychological and emotional damages, which result in self-marginalisation, self-vindication, loss of sense of belonging, social withdrawal, fear, anxiety and the erosion of self-confidence. We find that there is a direct link between linguistic subordination and linguistic inferiority complexes. Originality: This article addresses a gap that exists regarding the link between linguistic subordination and the development of linguistic inferiority complexes, discusses how this has real-life consequences for ESL migrants, and explores how this may be overcome. Significance/implications: ESL migrants need support so that they can cope with their experiences of linguistic subordination, thus helping them better deal with issues related to linguistic inferiority complexes. In addition, the broader society needs greater education on how their comments and actions can affect the wellbeing of others.

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Accentism refers to the ways that “unequal English accents” become re-allocated in particular English-speaking dominant contexts, creating different presumptions, ideologies and attitudes towards the English accent and pronunciation of English speakers. Using data derived from two larger ethnographic studies, this article aims to explore the ways that English as an Additional Language (EAL) migrants experience covert accentism – the social exclusion caused covertly when the dominant members of society misunderstand the accents of EAL users. Our study shows that EAL users express their worry of being stereotyped for their English accents, which interferes with their social and daily life. In particular, the participants noted forms of social exclusion such as a lack of interest in them or their experiences, and deficit perspectives surrounding their overall English practices including their accents. We conclude that such instances of covert accentism can lead to more serious implications, such as having difficulty fostering relationships with members of the dominant society, accent bullying, and psychological damage.

Drawing on linguistic ethnographic data, this study examines the language-based discriminatory experiences of skilled transnational migrants in the labour market of Australia. Moving beyond two main concepts of ‘interlingual’ and ‘intra-lingual’ discrimination in applied linguistics, this article points out the concept of ‘translingual discrimination’, which refers to inequality based on transnational identities’ specific linguistic repertoires and backgrounds that are substantiated by the national order of things. Translingual discrimination adds intensity to transnational processes, with the skilled migrants showing particular potential for exclusion regarding two factors: translingual ‘name discrimination’ and ‘English discrimination’. ‘Translingual name discrimination’ is a homogenous form of ‘name’ policing, evident in multiple examples where the skilled transnational migrants’ job applications are often largely rejected on the grounds of their ‘birth name’ written on their curriculum vitae. ‘Translingual English discrimination’ is another common form of discrimination, where the skilled transnational migrants become subject to discrimination based on their English proficiency and their overall language skills, leading to ‘the paradoxes of migration’—discrepancies between the imagination and the reality—where they fall from ‘hero to zero’ in the host society.