Language as a Border

How do language & citizenship interact?

Language-identity hierarchy

 Language is linked to who is perceived as a citizen and who isn’t, creating a hierarchy even for those who are legal citizens.

• The “ideal citizen” is associated with being a "native speaker” and monolingual. They give the state a sense of secure homogeneity.

• The “non-citizen” is associated with being a migrant, “non-native speaker,” and multilingual. They are seen as inherently problematic or threatening.

 Social and institutional policies

People not considered the “ideal citizen” are subject to social and institutional policies that are enforced through language. Below are examples from three different countries.

1. Denmark’s “Ghetto Policy” designates certain areas as "ghettos" regardless of their constituents’ citizenship statuses.

• One criterion: “half or more of the residents are of non-Western descent” — meaning anyone not from North America, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand..

• Children in these areas are then separated from their families for 25+ hours/week of mandatory Danish values & language classes.

2. The US has no official language. But, passing an English proficiency test is required for:

• citizenship or immigration

• education and university

3. The 2001 “Northern Race Riots” in the UK were blamed on migrant communities — even if the people were actually citizens.

• The UK then added an English speaking/listening requirement to their citizenship test.

How are people affected?

• Non-citizens are ostracized & burdened, leading to a pattern of isolation & lack of support.

• Families, children, & entire communities face harm, loss of rights, & culture erasure.

What can we do?

• Write letters to media editors to reframe their perception of "nativeness" and the legitimacy of language testing.

• Question language testing policies and hierarchical structures out loud or in school.

• Ask elected officials about their policies in this area and advocate for change.

Source

• Khan, Kamran. (2024). Citizenship, security and the ‘undecidability’ language. Keynote presented at the 1st ROLE Symposium.