New language test to become a Brit

[Vayu]

Taken from "The Age", in Melbourne

New language test to become a Brit
By Annabel Crabb
London
August 20, 2004
British mockery of the Australian accent and vernacular has boiled over into outright hostility with new regulations demanding that Australians submit to English language tests before taking out British citizenship.
Home Secretary David Blunkett has decreed that applications for a British passport must be supported by certificates of proficiency in English, supplied by designated English teachers or consular officials.

The Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that a 30-year-old Australian writer had already been rejected, despite her possession of two degrees - one in English and one in public communications. So had a 44-year resident of Britain who had been knighted.
British immigration laws have had an English proficiency requirement for citizenship since 1981, according to a statement from the Home Office, but testing for applicants from English-speaking countries has not been mandatory until now.

The new requirements do, however, appear to contain a loophole for less-than-honest applicants prepared to fake a Welsh accent.
Applicants who speak English have to demonstrate their proficiency, but those who claim to speak the notoriously treacherous and consonant-laden Welsh language, or the indigenous Scottish Gaelic, are exempt from testing.

The new rules apply to Australians as well as Canadians, New Zealanders, Americans and South Africans.
Britons have for years enjoyed close contact with the Australian vernacular thanks to twice-daily screenings of Neighbours and Home and Away. The newly popular Kath and Kim is expanding cultural horizons even further.

But the Home Office insists that Australians applying for British citizenship, which most are entitled to do after five years residency, cannot be assumed to speak English simply because they come from an English-speaking country.

According to guidelines issued by the Home Office last week, successful applicants must be able to perform conversational feats in English from following instructions to describing experiences, hopes and ambitions. Labour MP Sarah Teather has written to Mr Blunkett describing the new process as a bureaucratic nonsense.

[tvt]

It is not the same language what they speak down there.

[Chess]

Geezers from both ends speak a wee bit different vibes

[Kayalami]

my 0.02 p worth,

Just an overblown hype by the media trying to shift units - Oz requires proof of language skills for both permanent residence and citizenship. All applicants including Brits must demonstrate they have a basic understanding of English (for Oz citizenship) with a higher requirement for the skilled migration class. Applicants are moaning about the UK english tests - the Home Secretary last Friday (20th August) updated various options to demonstrate capability for native speakers of english or those who have academic qualifications requiring a high enough standard of english.

The focus in on english tests because only a very low proportion of people state to be Welsh or Gaelic speakers. The Home Office is just standardising tests for all applicants to comply with anti- discrimination legislation - that there is a financial benefit for them or english teaching institutions is a plus.