Language Learning Of Adult Migrants In Europe

This volume focuses on the learning of host-country languages by migrants in Europe. It identifies, clarifies, and offers insights into issues and central questions related to the learning of host-country languages with an emphasis on adolescent and adult language learners in formal and informal settings. The book draws on data collected following the refugee ‘crisis’ in Europe of 2015-16, which led to dramatic increases in the number of migrants arriving in Europe.

The linguistic integration of migrants affects every aspect of settling in a new country (employment, health, etc.). The aim of this collection of texts is to propose a number of specific measures member states can take to help adult migrants become acquainted with the language of the host country. The main focus is on organising language courses that meet migrants’ real communication needs. It is not enough for authorities simply to consider the technical aspects of such courses, they should also design and conduct them in accordance with the fundamental values of the Council of Europe. A number of issues concerning the linguistic integration of adult migrants are presented here, beginning with the notion of linguistic integration itself. Family reunion, the nature of citizenship and the function of language tests, among others, are dealt with from the point of view of language and language use. Readers are invited to reflect on the type of language competences that need to be acquired as well as an appropriate use of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The collection also sets out approaches and instruments designed to assist in implementing effective policies.

This collection examines the learning and teaching of minority languages for adult migrants in Europe, with studies featuring perspectives from adult migrants themselves as well as local authorities, teachers, education planners and representatives from working life. The volume provides context on the attitudes and ideologies which inform adult migrant language education in different minority languages in Europe. Adult migrant language learners are understood here as newcomers settling and living in regions where the minority language is politically acknowledged and societally significant. The studies presented in the chapters are all original, and most are based on qualitative data such as interviews, ethnographic observations and policy documents. Some authors draw upon census and register data and surveys. The book is designed to be relatable to policy formation and implementation in other national contexts, in Europe and beyond. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in language education, language and migration, language and mobility, minority language studies, language policy and linguistic ethnography, as well as language policy professionals.

Report on the 2018 Council of Europe and ALTE survey on language and knowledge of society policies for migrants Migration is one of the most contentious issues in current international politics. To better understand this issue, the Council of Europe conducted an extensive survey among Council of Europe member states on requirements regarding language and knowledge of society that migrants must meet to obtain access to the country, residency or citizenship. This report, based on that survey, will be relevant to anybody interested in migration and language policy. It pays particular attention to vulnerable learner groups and the degree to which member states provide migrants with adequate learning opportunities. In addition to discussing current trends, it also shows that language and knowledge of society requirements were gradually made stricter between 2007 and 2018. Based on the survey results and on available research, the authors formulate a number of policy recommendations, emphasising the importance of providing adequate learning opportunities and warning against requirements that might hinder, rather than foster, integration.

Learner-Centred Education for Adult Migrants in Europe: A Critical Comparative Analysis contributes to the field of Adult Education by investigating the ways in which Learner-Centred Education (LCE) is being enacted, implemented or neglected in specific settings.

Adult Language Education and Migration: Challenging Agendas in Policy and Practice provides a lively and critical examination of policy and practice in language education for adult migrants around the world, showing how opportunities for learning the language of a new country both shape and are shaped by policy moves. Language policies for migrants are often controversial and hotly contested, but at the same time innovative teaching practices are emerging in response to the language learning needs of today’s mobile populations. This book: analyses and challenges language education policies relating to adult migrants in nine countries; provides a comparative study with separate chapters on policy and practice in each country; focuses on Australia, Canada, Spain (Catalonia), Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Adult Language Education and Migration is essential reading for practitioners, students and researchers working in the area of language education in migration contexts.

Language skills foster, among other things, social inclusion, access to education and employment. Within this context, non-literate or low-literate migrants have specific educational needs. This reference guide is meant for language educators, curriculum designers and language policy makers in their endeavour to design, implement, evaluate and improve curricula tailored toward the specific needs of non- and low-literate adult migrants. This group of migrants faces the complex and demanding task of learning a language while either learning to read and write for the first time or developing their literacy skills. They rarely receive adequate instruction in terms of hours of tuition and targeted teaching approaches, whereas they are very often requested to take a compulsory written test. The reference guide contains: a definition of target users and learners; the rationale related to the development of the descriptors; principles for teaching literacy and second languages; scales and tables of descriptors; aspects of curriculum design at the macro, meso and micro levels and recommendations on assessment procedures and tools within the learning environment. The guide also contains descriptors that build on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the CEFR Companion volume up to the A1 level for adult migrants, with special attention given to literacy learners.

The OECD series Making Integration Work summarises, in a non-technical way, the main issues surrounding the integration of immigrants and their children into their host countries. This fifth volume explores the issue of language learning for adult migrants, addressing methods to ensure such training is provided in an efficient and effective way, taking into account migrants’ different starting points and circumstances.