Multicultural Australian English: The new voice of Sydney

Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Yet the complex relationship between speech production and cultural diversity is largely unknown in 21st century multicultural Australia. This project aims to generate an integrated and inclusive model of Australian-English, through meticulous phonetic analysis of spoken language used by adolescents from a range of ethnic backgrounds. The history of excellence in Australian-English phonetic studies and state-of-the-art facilities make Macquarie University the optimal location for this research. Project outcomes are expected to inform sociophonetic theories of variation, ethnicity, and identity, and provide a framework for supporting sociocultural cohesion in Australia.