Language education
ESOL classes as trauma-sensitive physical spaces
I have worked in ESOL for the best part of 15 years now in the west of Scotland in a number of educational contexts engaging learners with ESOL needs from a variety of backgrounds. I have often thought of working in ESOL as akin to completing a 1000-piece jigsaw; having to work with an infinite number of variables, fitting together…
2024
Performing the good (im)migrant: Inclusion and expectations of linguistic assimilation
This paper analyzes how language is framed as a route to full inclusion, particularly for unaccompanied asylum-seeking students labelled as disabled. It is based on a qualitative study carried out in the Italian city of Rome, which, although cosmopolitan, is often characterised by nationalistic political landscapes. The manuscript reveals how institutional biases (re: race, ability, and migration) about unaccompanied forced…
2024
Portuguese perspectives for education and inclusion of young forced migrants through sport
As migratory waves increase and get more complex, social inequalities are likely to arise due to challenges associated with cultural differences, language or lack of supportive networks. Beside international laws and guidelines, responses have been developed for supporting young forced migrants inclusion in host countries. There are suggestions in the literature that sport, if intentionally used as an educational strategy…
2024
The social and linguistic integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees through community and urban education courses in Iceland
This study explores Ukrainian refugees’ perspectives on and experiences with courses aimed at developing L2 skills and facilitating social integration in Iceland. The theoretical framework draws on tenets of experiential education which emphasise learning through direct experience, active engagement, and reflection. The data originates from group interviews with seven Ukrainian refugees and individual interviews with two teachers of the courses.…
2024
Experiences of language in migration: Communicating well-being in Finland and Germany
This study investigated adult learners’ experiences with the language of their new living environment. Migrants and refugees’ personal goals for language learning in their specific life situations were captured in in-depth interviews conducted as part of ethnographically oriented field studies in Finland and Germany. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was chosen as a structured approach to scrutinizing complex lived experiences. The…
2024
Language education for migrant/refugee inmates inside two prisons in Greece: A nexus analysis research
The article discusses the challenges and methodological choices undertaken within a research project on language education in two prison schools in Greece with migrant multilingual student inmates, aged 18–22 years old. The 2.5 years of research adopted Nexus Analysis as a methodology and an interpretive framework. Throughout prolonged engagement of the research with the field, data were generated via inclusive,…
2024
English in displacement: Language learning and test preparation experiences of refugees and asylum seekers
In an effort to better support adult and refugee English language learners, this paper aims to focus on understanding the needs and experiences of one specific group, that is, refugee and asylum seeker healthcare professionals (RASHPs), based in the United Kingdom. RASHPs tend to be highly educated and experienced learners. One of their main objectives is to acquire high levels…
2024
The Toisto-method: Language learning experiences of newly arrived Ukrainians in Finland
This study focuses on how newly arrived Ukrainian refugees to Finland have experienced learning Finnish language with a method called Toisto (’Repetition’). Toisto is a modeling-based method that was developed to enable volunteers to teach the basics of Finnish to newcomers, as linguistic first aid. The Toisto-method is built on the ideas of direct method, communicative teaching, suggestopedic atmosphere, and…
2024
Polish language learning practices and strategies used by multilingual migrants and war refugees from Ukraine
Increased cross-border mobility caused by the Russian assault on Ukraine encourages specialists involved in teaching Polish as a foreign and second language to undertake new research projects that revise existing psycholinguistic and glottopedagogical assumptions. The current situation highlights the significance of continued efforts to support the teaching of Polish as a second language, developed since the second decade of the…
2024
CLIL on the spot: Migrant education in Greece
Introduction: This study aims to explore the instructional strategies employed by Greek teachers in primary and secondary school classes attended by large numbers of refugee and migrant students. As there is not a clear methodological ‘blueprint’ for CLIL that teachers are required to follow, our study will investigate which of the principles framed for the CLIL approach are in fact…
2024
Linguistic and cultural interference in teaching Polish as a foreign language to war refugees from Ukraine (Survey results)
An anonymous survey was conducted in June 2023 among refugees from Ukraine who participated in an intensive Polish language course aimed at preparing them for employment in Poland. The research group consisted of 89 people. The research results indicate that a solid interference can be observed among Ukrainians learning Polish, both linguistically and culturally. The respondents noticed numerous phonological, lexical…
2024
Importance of personality traits for destination-language acquisition: Evidence for refugees in Germany
We analyze the role of personality traits in destination-language proficiency among recent refugees in Germany. While personality traits have been shown to predict educational outcomes, they have been largely overlooked for immigrants’ language acquisition. We extend a well-established model of destination-language proficiency and assume that personality traits’ effects manifest through the channels of exposure, efficiency, and incentives. Using longitudinal data…
2024
Did COVID-19 put language certificate acquisition on hold? Uptake and outcomes of language training amongst refugees
Most highly developed countries invest considerably in language training programmes for refugees, which are assumed to facilitate economic, social, and cultural integration. Although recent research has turned to particular patterns of host country language acquisition amongst refugees, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hitherto remained understudied. Consequently, this article assesses changes in refugees’ uptake and outcomes of language training…
2024
The language engagement landscape of Ukrainian temporary protection holders in Ireland
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ireland has granted temporary protection to over 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the conflict. In light of this, the current study employs a case study approach to explore the language engagement of six Ukrainian temporary protection holders (UTPHs) living in an Irish city. Using narrative inquiry, the research examines UTPHs' access to language engagement opportunities,…
2024
Language repertoires of pupils with refugee and migration background: A case study at the 2nd High School of Intercultural Education in Ioannina, Greece
This article presents the findings of a case study conducted at the 2nd High School of Intercultural Education in Ioannina, Greece. In the first part, recent statistics on the education of students from refugee and migrant backgrounds are presented, as well as an analysis of concepts such as multilingualism, multilingual and intercultural competence, and multilingual and intercultural education. In the…
2024
Exploring socio-ecological factors that support the navigation and negotiation of education by unaccompanied and separated children in Greece
Record numbers of unaccompanied refugee minors continue to arrive in high-income countries seeking asylum and protection. Despite receiving educational support, unaccompanied refugee minors continue to be vulnerable to negative educational experiences and outcomes. The review investigates what resilience factors enable unaccompanied refugee minors in high-income countries to have positive educational experiences and outcomes. It aims to inform the literature on…
2024
Language education
Non-formal education
Social workers
Surveys & questionnaire
Digital education
Greece
Thematic content analysis
Correlational analysis
Interview
Adult education & training
Teachers & educational staff
Informal education
English
Resilience & adaptation
Unaccompanied & separated children
Formal education
Tertiary education
Secondary education
‘I need to know what to say when children are crying’: A language needs analysis of Scottish primary educators learning Arabic
This article discusses the language needs analysis which informed the development of a beginner Arabic language course for Scottish primary education staff who work with Arabic-speaking refugee children and families. Interviews and focus group were carried out with: Scottish educators; Arabic-speaking refugee children; and parents/carers. They highlighted the following language needs for the course: (a) language for hospitality; (b) language…
2023
Affirming the rights of emergent bilingual and multilingual children and families: Interweaving research and practice through the Reggio Emilia approach
Affirming the Rights of Emergent Bilingual and Multilingual Children and Families explores how the philosophy, principles, and practices of the internationally acclaimed Municipal Preschools and Infant Toddler Centers of Reggio Emilia, Italy, advance the social justice and linguistic human rights of emergent bilingual and multilingual children and their families, particularly immigrants and refugees. The book is driven by the authors’…
2023
Schooling of refugee students from Ukraine in Austria and its risk for creating educational inequity
Due to the unexpected outbreak of war in Ukraine and the resulting forced migration, access to education became an immediate priority for refugee children and youth. Against this backdrop, this study highlights school models of Ukrainian students and sheds light on the associated distribution of school resources using data from 14 problem-centered interviews with school personnel. Results indicate great diversity…
2023
Navigating constraints, finding freedom: Exploring asylum seekers’ access to urban arrival infrastructures
This paper explores asylum seekers’ experiences of urban arrival infrastructures, illustrating how these provide asylum seekers with opportunities for familiarization with the reception location and its inhabitants. Drawing on two qualitative case studies in Augsburg, Germany, three different subsets of arrival infrastructures emerged as relevant to familiarization; infrastructures for information, for language learning and for social connection. The analysis shows…
2023
Making the most of language acquisition of Syrian asylum permit holders in the Netherlands: The role of policy factors examined
In this article, we examine the relationship between important types of policies for asylum permit holders in the Netherlands and the improvement in their command of Dutch. As far as asylum policy is concerned, we find that participation in activities in the asylum seekers reception centre - and in particular, following Dutch language classes - contribute to an improvement in…
2023
Language and integration of refugee children: Reflections on delinking and decoloniality
In this contribution we illustrate and discuss the decolonial approach adopted in a research project exploring the potential of including in education a language spoken by children and families from refugee backgrounds. The international project team from Palestine and the UK collaboratively designed a bespoke Levantine Arabic language course for beginners tailored to the needs identified by primary school staff,…
2023
Geographies of care: The Catholic Church in Poland’s assistance to refugees from Ukraine during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The purpose of the article was to analyze the collected empirical material in the form of in-depth interviews, observations, statistical data, and numerous accounts of the assistance of the Catholic Church in Poland in the first 8 months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The results of the survey revealed that the Catholic Church’s activities and support to Ukrainians were carried…
2023
Increased educational disadvantages of refugee students in German language support classes during Covid-19 school closures in Austria: Perceptions and pedagogical reactions of Austrian teachers
The integration of students with a migration biography into the national school and education systems is prioritized by several countries across the world (Bešić et al. 2020; Hilt 2017). However, such a drive for ensuring inclusive educational opportunities for all students varies from one school system to another. The interpretations of the conceptual meaning of inclusive education do not always…
2023
Teaching the Greek language in multicultural classrooms using English as a lingua franca: Teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, and practices
The present study examines teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, and practices regarding the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) to teach Greek as a second language (L2) in multicultural classrooms in Greece, a largely underexplored area in the field of applied linguistics. The research was based on self-reports collected through questionnaires, written accounts, metaphor elicitation, and semi-structured interviews provided by…
2023
A multi-method profiling of adult refugees and migrants in an L2 non-formal educational setting: Language needs analysis, linguistic portraits, and identity texts
This paper will attempt to visualize adult refugees and migrants, as well as a specific multilingual and multicultural educational setting in Greece. This study aspires to depict/present the plurilingual profiles, language needs, and challenges of L2 Greek students through a variety of tools/methods, e.g., questionnaires, portraits, narratives, needs analysis, and assessment tools. In a complementary way, this research focuses on…
2023
Teachers’ views on the challenges faced in the non-formal context of teaching Greek as a second language to refugees/migrants
The worldwide migration waves of the recent decade have led to social changes and population heterogeneity inevitably affecting the field of education, as an increasingly vast number of people seek instruction in the host language challenging teachers and making their work even more demanding. In Greece, besides the governmental initiatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have orchestrated Greek language courses to facilitate…
2023
Education and language policies toward Syrians in the Turkish state: Incorporation of former imperial subjects into the Neo-Ottomanist political regime
With its imperial past, nationalist tradition, past westernization attempts, inverse ori-entalism toward populations from the East, and current neo-Ottomanist policies, Turkey presents an interesting case in which to examine the ideologies underlying its education system. Turkish schools began receiving a large number of Syrian refugees following the outbreak of the Syrian War in 2011. How does Turkey seek to absorb…
2023
Journeys to higher education in displacement: A narrative portrait of Syrian refugees in Turkish universities
Despite high aspirations to pursue personal development, self-sustaining employment, socio-economic integration, and stable futures in their host, origin, or resettlement countries through higher education, intersecting legal, economic, linguistic, and sociocultural barriers severely constrain refugees’ options. There is limited research on how refugee students overcome these barriers to access higher education, particularly in displacement settings like Turkey, which perpetuates a deficit…
2023
Beyond language: The complex positioning work by language teachers in an integration classroom
This article investigates the roles of language teachers in a language and integration programme in Denmark. The results show that the teachers' work goes beyond the role of language teacher per se. The teachers are shown to take on the role of integration workers, who, as part of the integration system, contri-bute to socializing the students into a marginalized position.…
2023
Refugees’ language learning and career aspirations: An agentic lens
This paper extends language-sensitive research in international management by shedding light on the role of language skills in the integration and employment of refugees. We approach refugees as agents whose actions are shaped by their own habits, imagination, judgment and motivations, even while severely constrained by external forces. We explore how refugees perceive the role of language skills as a…
2023
Guided play supporting immigrant children’s participation and bilingual development in preschools
In recent decades, refugee immigration has had significant impact on educational contexts in Sweden, with preschools the primary arenas for young children’s language learning experiences. The present study examines second language and literacy training practices for immigrant children (aged 1–5) in preschools in Sweden. The empirical data consist of video recordings of teacher-guided play activities. These were designed to create…
2023
Linguistic integration of adult migrants in Greece and Italy: Language requirements and learning opportunities in L2 Greek and L2 Italian
Migration has almost always been accompanied by language-related processes and concerns. Integration dimensions interact with numerous language-related issues, such as language requirements and learning opportunities, and the purpose of our paper is situated in the broader field of linguistic integration of adult refugees and migrants in Greece and Italy. Greece and Italy share a double role both as host and…
2023
Meeting the needs of reunited refugee families: An ecological, multilingual approach to language learning
This book explores the gap between policy, practice and academic literature within language learning for refugees and argues that a multilingual approach, which combines translanguaging principles, decolonising methodology and linguistic hospitality, provides a more accessible starting point than current monolingual pedagogies. It considers the multilingual and multilateral approach laid out within Scotland's New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy, which recognises the…
2023
Body-voice and improvisation to explore trauma-informed performative pedagogy: Open the door
This chapter explores how the author, using the same training as that of actors and performing artists, explored techniques to promote embodied language learning in her facilitator practice for the Sorgente project. The aim was to create a sense of belonging among a young refugee and migrant group in Dublin, Ireland; the practice was framed with the concept of ‘duty…
2024
Performative language practice and ethical principles in the Sorgente project
This introductory chapter provides some key definitions of the concepts informing the Sorgente study. First, the chapter defines performative language teaching as an embodied pedagogy. Performative language pedagogy is illustrated in terms of its roots, main influences and orientation towards using the arts in language education. Second, it grounds the discussion in contemporary research, exploring the impact of the arts,…
2024
Zine-making and critical reflection: Portals of shared discovery
This chapter describes the delivery and impacts of a zine workshop delivered to members of the Sorgente project. The Sorgente project utilised multiple arts-based practices in order to investigate the teaching and learning of additional languages with migrants and refugees in Ireland and Italy. The zines emerged as a theme in response to the first research question of the project…
2024
Adult refugees and asylum seekers’ basic need satisfaction and educational success in pre-study programmes in Germany
Host country education can be crucial for the social integration as well as labour market outcomes of refugees and asylum seekers. To meet the same admission criteria for studying at German higher education institutions (HEI) as other international student applicants, refugees and asylum seekers can attend pre-study programmes at preparatory colleges or language centres of HEI. According to the self-determination…
2024
Challenging normative influences in refugee and migrant education: Reflections of a trainee teacher cohort
This study reports how participants in an MA course on language education for refugees and migrants in Greece engaged in meaning-making during their teaching placements. The reflections of 33 trainee teachers (elicited in 2021–2022) were thematically analysed using ecological theory. These show how participants negotiated the transition between the ‘ecologies of ideas’ of the postgraduate programme and the locus of…
2024
But life goes on: Drama classes, Ukrainian refugees, and Icelandic language learning
This paper explores the relationship between additional language (L2) literacy development and drama plays based on the experiences of adult refugees from Ukraine in Iceland. This inquiry is guided by the following questions: What are the learners' experiences and perceptions of drama classes in relation to their literacy development in Icelandic as an L2? What role might engaging in drama…
2024
Language learning, gender and education: Understanding the agency and affordances of refugee-background women with emergent literacy
Forced migration can bring adults who have previously been denied formal education and print literacy into contact with highly technological and literacy dependent societies that lack the knowledge and expertise to cater to them as simultaneous learners of language and literacy. As educational disadvantages are often conditioned by gender, many of these learners are also women and mothers who may…
2024
Comparing pre-war and forced Ukrainian migrants in Poland: Challenges for the labour market and prospects for integration
Before full-scale war broke out in 2022, over 1 million Ukrainians resided legally in Poland. Within weeks of Russia's aggression, around 1.5 million new Ukrainian forced migrants had arrived, many of whom remain in Poland. As of September 2023, 970,000 Ukrainian refugees were still in Poland, where they enjoyed temporary protection status. This paper analyses data from a 2022 survey…
2024
Unlocking learning: The use of education technology to support disadvantaged children’s language learning and social inclusion in Italy
In Italy, more than 700,000 asylum seekers and migrants arrived in the country between 2014-2020. Newly arrived children including refugees and migrants need to quickly acquire Italian skills to succeed in school and society. To help address this urgent need, the Akelius digital learning application was introduced in Bologna and Rome for Italian and English language learning in the 2021/22…
2023
Unlocking learning: The use of digital learning to support the education and inclusion of refugees and migrant children in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the number of refugees and migrants arriving in the country has increased from just a few dozen arrivals annually prior to 2017 to 95,000 between 2018 and 2022. This increase has put incredible strain on the country's education systems. This research presents critical findings on the implementation and effectiveness of the Akelius digital learning application in…
2023
Assessing the criteria for equality of the right: Refugees’ higher education from the perspective of human rights [Hak Eşitliğine İlişkin Kriterlerin Değerlendirilmesi: İnsan Hakları Perspektifinden Mültecilerin Yükseköğrenimi]
With the Syrian refugee crisis, the subject of refugees’ access to HE, which was only partially funded owing to donor reluctance, was prominently covered in the news, with concepts such as preventing the lost generation, resilience, reconstructing countries, and education as a human right. With the Ukraine crisis, the issue of supporting the higher education of refugees came to the…
2023
Inclusion of migrant and refugee children in the education system: Exploring and overcoming language and social boundaries in the Una-Sana Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) has become strongly affected by migrants from the Global South who aim to migrate into the EU. However, due to the strengthening of the external EU border, migrants increasingly remain in B&H for a longer period making it a receiving country for migrants, 20% of whom are estimated to be children. Since education is a fundamental…
2023
Language learning and forced migration: An ethnographic approach [Språklæring og tvungen migrasjon: en etnografisk tilnærming]
Most of those who learn Norwegian in the Introduction Programme for recent arrivals are forced migrants. These are people who have fled their homes due to war, persecution or other factors that make escape seem the only means of survival. Through ethnographic research among 14 resettlement refugees from The Democratic Republic of the Congo in Norway, we have become aware…
2023
Welcoming refugee children with a moral, rather than merely legal, right to education: Ideas for a cosmopolitan design of education
In this paper, we argue for the moral and not merely the legal right to education for refugee children. National education in many countries is challenged by refugee flows and influx of displaced people. However, there is a tendency to think of refugee flows as isolated events rather than parts of the dynamics of a world society that national education…
2023
The migratory experience: Challenging inclusionary measures
This chapter explores how refugees wishing to attend tertiary education experience a language learning initiative in Norway. It shows how this ostensibly inclusionary measure, instead of supporting the refugees' ambitions, hampers their efforts and works to exclude. Through a collaboration involving five prior participants enrolled in language learning, all with refugee status, and three researchers positioned differently towards the topic,…
2023
Prevalences of mental distress and its associated factors in unaccompanied refugee minors in Germany
Prevalences for mental disorders within minor refugees are comparatively high and heterogeneous. To reduce heterogeneity and identify high-risk subgroups, we compared unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) to accompanied refugee minors (ARM) regarding depressive symptoms and mental distress. Furthermore, we examined associative factors of mental distress in URM on a broad scale. We conducted a survey with a cross-sectional design in four…
2023
English
Resilience & adaptation
Unaccompanied & separated children
Mental health & psychosocial well-being
Formal education
Tertiary education
Detention & deportation
Language education
Germany
Surveys & questionnaire
Cross-sectional study
Regression analysis
Vocational & technical education
Integration & assimilation
Adult education & training
Caregivers
Gender