This expert editorial team present a rich range of research from diverse temporal, geographical and linguistic contexts. Qualitative analysis of workplace interactions explores migrants’ lived experience and the complex relationship between language policy and actual practices. At the forefront of workplace discourse research, the editors strongly advocate an activist agenda for sociolinguistics and applied linguistics research.

Janet Holmes, Professor Emerita, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

This book offers rich insights into the various ways in which language matters in the working life of migrants. The fine-grained ethnographic and historical contributions remind us of the crucial political dimension of language and its impact on the lives of people on the move. The volume constitutes a valuable resource for sociolinguists, applied linguists and discourse analysts.

Alexandre Duchêne, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

This outstanding volume employs interdisciplinary and critical sociolinguistic, theoretical and methodological frameworks to explore the debate over which language competences and ‘skills’ might be regarded as adequate or not, by whom and why – especially in the case of migrant workers. It becomes apparent that the workplace continues to be one of the salient contexts which perpetuates societal power asymmetries. This book is a must read for scholars and laypeople alike who are concerned about the rising inequalities in our globalized societies.

Ruth Wodak, Emerita Professor, Lancaster University, UK and University of Vienna, Austria