Language education in refugee settings

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between language and education for refugees and displaced people. It begins with case studies from Africa by tracing how language has inhibited some aspects of social integration between refugees and their host communities. Case studies of how African refugees move over relatively short distances to areas where they are familiar with the environment, ethnic groups and languages of their hosts are discussed. These case studies are followed by a review of how asylum and displacement have been organized across the world since the Second World War before moving to a discussion of the role of language in rebuilding people’s lives. This is followed by case studies from the Middle East and a series of real-world examples from refugee settings in order to understand forced migration within the context of globalization. Next, forced migration is examined from a perspective that includes human agency and social networks, and draws attention to the fact that friends and family, intermediaries and agents, are linked to wider processes of global social change as well as increasing inequality across these networks which leads to exclusion, conflict and displacement. The chapter ends with a review of the research on resilience which has been incorporated into humanitarian responses to refugee crises in the Middle East. Within this overview, language is understood as a protective factor – the chapter draws on interviews and classroom observations from different countries in order to illustrate the significance of language in enhancing resilience.