Outstanding issues

The study of AusE has a firm foundation in the numerous studies that have been done since the 1940s. The research questions that are currently being addressed have to do with regional descriptions of AusE, as well as the description of ethnolects. The contributions that migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds have made to AusE are only beginning to be understood, not only in adding to the lexicon or the pronunciation of AusE but also to the process of language change. The origins of AusE and the relationship of AusE to New Zealand English, and for that matter other Southern Hemisphere Englishes, can now be addressed because of the advances made so far in dialect description. The further study of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Island English is a neglected area that is also beginning to attract the attention of linguists.