Name of variable
5. The standard name of the variable is Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home. The standard acronym for this variable is MLOTESH. The name of the variable should not be shortened to Main Language Spoken at Home as this would be inaccurate and may confuse users.
Definition of variable
Nominal definition
6. Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home is the main language, other than English, spoken by a person in his/her home, on a regular basis, to communicate with other residents of the home and regular visitors to the home.
7. Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home is an attribute of the counting unit 'person'. That is, it is an attribute of an individual as opposed to a family or household.
Operational definition
8. Operationally, Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home is defined as the main language, other than English, reported by a person as being spoken in his/her home. If a person reports that he/she speaks more than one language at home (not including English), they are asked to report the language spoken most often.
9. The issue of what constitutes a language is addressed in the Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL), Second Edition (ABS Ccat. no. 1267.0) which can be found here. Further references to ASCL in this standard are to the Second Edition unless otherwise stated.
Discussion of conceptual issues
10. Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home identifies languages other than English that people speak within the home environment and in family interactions. If more than one language is spoken in the home, respondents are asked to report the language spoken most often. This variable maximises numbers for the more established migrant communities where the main language spoken outside the home is English but a language other than English is spoken at home. In some cases, however, this measure may not reflect complete language use, for example, when English is the only language spoken in the home but a language other than English is spoken outside the home, within a person's ethnic community. This measure may also record those people whose main and preferred language is English but who have learnt another language which is occasionally, but not normally, spoken at home.
11. Related language variables such as First Language Spoken, Preferred Language, Language Usually Spoken, Languages Spoken at Home and Main Language Spoken at Home have been used in collections to measure aspects of Australian language usage. It is considered that the variables Main Language Spoken at Home and Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home may be used in preference to other language variables when the aim is to measure 'active ethnicity' or the likely disadvantage experienced by persons whose usual language is not English.
12. Main Language Other Than English Spoken at Home is one of four language variables (the others are Languages Spoken at Home, First Language Spoken and Main Language Spoken at Home), one of which must be asked before a question on Proficiency in Spoken English. Proficiency in Spoken English identifies people who may potentially suffer a disadvantage as a result of a lack of competence in spoken English. The purpose of asking a language question before the proficiency question is to filter out those people who mainly speak English, as the purpose of the question is not to attempt to assess the spoken English capacity of the Australian population in general. Respondents are sequenced to the Proficiency in Spoken English question only if a language other than English is selected in the language question.
13. The treatment of sign languages such as Auslan need to be considered when identifying languages spoken in the home. Individuals who use non-verbal forms of communication make up at least one per cent of the Australian population (see the 1993 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers). It should be noted that sign languages fall into two groups, signed English/finger spelling and other sign languages such as Auslan. Signed English/finger spelling is considered to be another form of 'English' and is treated as such. Auslan is regarded as a distinct language and is treated as a language other than English.
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