Accessibility, Participation and Agency

Zuocheng Zhang is a member of the English, Literacies and Language Education team at the School of Education, the University of New England, Australia.Ly Thi Tran is a Professor in the School of Education and Research for Educational Impact (REDI) centre, Deakin University, Australia.Toni Dobinson is Discipline Lead in Applied Linguistics, TESOL/Languages in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia.Wei Wang is an interdisciplinary linguist at the University of Sydney, Australia.Meredith Marra is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

This is a timely and carefully curated volume. It foregrounds language as a key site where inclusion and exclusion are negotiated, with immediate consequences for individuals, institutions and society at large. The chapters show that access, participation and agency are never neutral or evenly distributed; they are shaped in and through linguistic practices and in/formal policy in workplace and everyday encounters.The chapters reflect and explore the tensions of contemporary multicultural societies. While openness and diversity are celebrated, the contributions demonstrate how inclusion is negotiated, contested and often remains partial, conditional or symbolic. The volume avoids simplistic accounts of migration and instead captures the complex trajectory to access and fitting in.Bringing together varied contexts, groups and methodological approaches, the volume offers a nuanced account of mobility, employment and belonging in changing societies. Its focus on combining perspectives is especially valuable at a time when single-method and deficit-based accounts are not synchronised with our societal realities. This volume will be direct interest to scholars, policymakers and practitioners concerned with language, migration and social justice.

• Chapter 1. Accessibility, Participation and Agency in the Transitional Experiences of Migrants, Refugees and International Students in Australia: An Introduction; Zuocheng Zhang, Ly Thi Tran, Toni Dobinson, Wei Wang, and Meredith MarraPart 1. AccessibilityChapter 2. Accessibility of Public Communications to New Mobility Groups: Linguistic Landscape and Implications for Settlement and Work in Regional Australia; Wei WangChapter 3. Refugee-Background African Australians: Educational Attainment and Employment Trends; Tebeje MollaChapter 4. Host Community Attitudes and Refugee Employment in Regional Areas; Susan E. Watt and Cameron GoodallChapter 5. “How Did I End up Being an Unpaid Middle Manager?” Institutional and Shadow-Work in New Migrant Communities; Sally Lamping, Toni Dobinson, Sonja Kuzich, Julian Chen, Stephanie Dryden, and Paul MerciecaPart 2. ParticipationChapter 6. From Agency to Action: Job Search Behaviours as Drivers of Skilled Migrants’ Employability; Thi Tuyet TranChapter 7. Ukrainian Migrant Teachers’ Professional Transition in Australia: Factors Supporting and Impeding Their Agency, Access and Participation; Larysa ChybisChapter 8. Assemblage Theory: A Novel Approach to Understanding International IT Graduates’ Experiences of Employability in Australia; Thuan Nguyen, Jane Southcott, and Christopher ThompsonPart 3. AgencyChapter 9. The Education-Migration Nexus: A Longitudinal Case Study of an International Student’s Journey from University to the Workplace in Australia; Zuocheng ZhangChapter 10. International Students’ Agency in Their Use of AI Tools for University Studies: A Qualitative Enquiry; Huifang LiChapter 11. Converting Capital into Employment Outcomes: How Do International Graduates from Australian Universities Leverage Employability Skills, Knowledge, and Experiences to Access the Labour Market in Vietnam?; Ly Thi Tran and Huyen BuiChapter 12. Epilogue: Speaking to and with the World About Employment, Education and Societal Participation; Meredith Marra