In this presentation I would like to reflect on my personal experiences of the role of communication in the process of integration and socialisation into a new society. In practice the host society is less compelled to change, will change far more slowly if at all and, in the long term, will make fewer changes than most immigrants. Cox appears to imply that the minority groups have to comply with the dominant group. There is an accompanying risk that resources will go to the dominant group rather than the minority group. If so, I feel this is a problem.
All newcomers sense the urgency of learning the dominant language.
They know how powerful the dominant language is and how isolating it can be without it. Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. Thus, it is unrealistic to expect a person to integrate into Australia without English skills.