'What Language are You?' A Glimpse into Multilingual Childhoods

The first paper in this collection refers to recent theorising about Globalisation and the resultant outcomes for educational contexts specifically in relation to English language learning in Australia. Much has been written about the importance of the global economy, its influence on education and mounting commentary that the English language is central to notions of Globalisation. Held's (1999) definition of Globalisation suggest that there is a widespread perception that the world is rapidly moulded into shared social space by economic and technological forces (Held, 1999). This paper seeks to focus on and explore the way that Australian childhoods are being affected by globalisation and presents data from a study which was collected during discussions with students who have had 'global childhoods'. Finally this paper suggests ways that education systems might consider engaging students who have global childhoods and are multilingual.