<div dir="ltr"><div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<h1 class="" itemprop="headline">Losing Identity During the Refugee Crisis</h1>
<p class="" itemprop="description">The difference between assimilation and integration in the classroom</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="">
<img src="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2016/05/RTX22CPW/lead_960.jpg?1463398359">
</div>
<span class="">Ele Cundi, 5, a Syrian refugee, poses as she sits with friends in kindergarten at Midyat refugee camp in Turkey</span>
<span class="">Umit Bektas / Reuters</span>
</div>
<div class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<ul class=""><li>
<br></li><li>
<br></li><li class=""><br></li><li><br></li><li class=""><br></li><li><br></li></ul>
<div class="">
<div class="">Text Size</div>
</div></div></div>
<div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class="">
</div>
<ul class=""><li class=""><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/author/tracy-brown-hamilton/" itemprop="url" title="Tracy Brown Hamilton"><span itemprop="name">Tracy Brown Hamilton</span></a></span></li><li class="">
7:30 AM ET
</li><li class="">
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/" class="">
Education</a>
</li></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p dir="ltr">Rachel McCormack
arrived in Europe last November to research international schools
catering to English-speaking students, but her plans were overwhelmed by
the magnitude of the continent’s refugee crisis. Now, she’s
spearheading a campaign to deliver Arabic-language books to refugee
shelters in the Netherlands.</p><p dir="ltr">McCormack, a professor of
literacy education at Rhode Island’s Roger Williams University, says the
crisis felt more real as she watched the European news. “All I was
seeing were images of Syrian families walking across Europe, and
wondering what’s going to happen to them,” she says. “I thought what I
should really be looking at is educating myself more about what’s being
done to assist them.”</p><p dir="ltr">She paired up with an historian of
Syrian descent who’s based in Italy but was born in the Netherlands,
and who is writing a book about Syria. Together they drove for 14 hours,
visiting several shelters by the German-Dutch border and talking with
many of the Syrian families living there.</p><p dir="ltr">McCormack
was particularly interested in the children, and how they would adapt
in their new home. “There’s nothing for the adults to do all day,” she
says. “They can’t work, but every day, the children were picked up in
buses to be taken to Dutch schools with local children.”</p><h4>
Related Story
</h4>
<div>
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/connecticut-schools-syrian-refugees/421968/">
<img src="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/2016/05/lead_960-3/thumb_wide_medium.jpg" width="242"></a>
</div>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/connecticut-schools-syrian-refugees/421968/">The Schools Taking in Syrian Refugees</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Returning to school, particularly when it’s in a
new language, is a huge adjustment for many Syrian children, McCormack
says. Even knowing the appropriate grade level is difficult with older
children, some of whom have been out of school for as many as four
years, and most of whom have no access to their school records.</p><p dir="ltr">These
children are facing a massive adjustment, and maintaining their birth
language and culture is key to every child’s identity. According to the <a href="http://www.idra.org/IDRA_Newsletter/January_2000_Bilingual_Education/Why_is_it_Important_to_Maintain_the_Native_Language?/">Intercultural Development Research Association</a>,
a positive self-concept, which stems from the maintenance of the birth
language, is crucial when adapting to a new language and culture. A
growing body of research shows that for integration to be successful,
Europe—and the U.S.—must embrace the languages and culture of those who
immigrate there.</p><p dir="ltr">Many of the schools Syrian children
attend in the Netherlands have no experience teaching children who do
not speak Dutch, and McCormack—a champion for bilingual education—sees
the lack of Arabic-language support in the schools and even at home as
deeply problematic. According to<a href="http://www.nltimes.nl/2016/02/10/children-make-up-40-percent-of-syrian-migrants-in-the-netherlands/"> recent statistics</a>,
of the 29,000 Syrians who have registered with a Dutch municipality
since 2014, nearly 40 percent of them are children. McCormack is
concerned about how they will be integrated into Dutch society without
losing their own culture and language.</p><p dir="ltr">She asked the
parents she met whether they planned to read to their children in Arabic
to ensure they maintain their native language. “But,” she says, “they
all said they wanted their children to speak Dutch as quickly as
possible, and that they would be only speaking Dutch with them at home.”</p>“They should be speaking the language of their culture and not feeling bad about doing it.”There is <a href="http://www.multilingualliving.com/2013/04/15/why-should-parents-talk-to-their-children-in-their-native-language/">a wealth of research</a>
that points to the value of immigrant parents maintaining their first
language at home with their children, although some educators feel it
makes their jobs harder. McCormack says she hears this often back in the
U.S. “People will complain that they have students in their class that
only speak Spanish at home,” she says, “and I’ll say, ‘Good, that’s what
they should be doing; they should be speaking the language of their
culture and not feeling bad about doing it.’”<p dir="ltr">It is
unlikely that the U.S. will see the surge of Syrian refugees experienced
in Europe. Over the last five years, nearly 4 million refugees have
fled Syria, half of them children, and according to the Refugee
Processing Center, only 2,700 have come to the states. In the fall of
2015, President Obama pledged to receive 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016,
triggering strong political opposition claiming the move would pose a
security threat. Twenty-seven governors said they would not allow
Syrians into their states, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
who said he would not even accept a<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/17/politics/chris-christie-paris-attacks-refugee-orphans/"> 5-year-old orphan. </a></p><p dir="ltr">Regardless, Arabic is already the most common language of refugees in the U.S., and is the<a href="http://cis.org/One-in-Five-US-Residents-Speaks-Foreign-Language-at-Home"> fastest-growing language</a>
in the country. According to the Refugee Processing Center, of the
11,300 refugees admitted to the U.S. this fiscal year, 4,430 speak
Arabic, and the Center for Immigration Studies reports that the number
of refugees and immigrants from the Middle East increased by 13 percent
between 2010 and 2013.</p><p dir="ltr">In the United States, approaches
to integrating immigrant and refugee children in the educational system
focus on getting the children proficient in English as quickly as
possible, often at the expense of their native language, which can
result in interrupted intellectual development and a break in valuable
links to family and community. </p><p dir="ltr">The U.S. doesn’t have an official language, but English is the declared language of more than<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/08/12/states-where-english-is-the-official-language/"> half the states</a>. And in<a href="http://time.com/4024396/sarah-palin-speak-american-energy-department/"> political rhetoric</a>,
it is frequently assumed that speaking English is essential to the
American identity. Other politicians go beyond insisting immigrants
learn English and argue for cultural assimilation. Last September, the
then-Republican party presidential nomination hopeful<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/22/politics/jeb-bush-multiculturalism-iowa/"> Jeb Bush</a>
(a fluent Spanish speaker) told Iowans that we should “not have a
multicultural society,” and that America is “better than every other
country because of the values that people share—it defines our national
identity.”</p>In 2015 these ideas go against the freedoms that are supposed to be at the core of what it means to be ‘American.’This
implication that only English-speaking Americans have values is
destructive, according to A.B. Wilkinson, an assistant professor of
history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who wrote last year on<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/a-b-wilkinson/us-multiculturalism-or-cultural-assimilation_b_8218490.html"> The Huffington Post</a>
that “this type of prejudice threatens the cultural heritage of
millions of people in the United States … Assimilation efforts have
changed over the years, yet they remain colonial, oppressive, and in
2015 these ideas go against the freedoms that are supposed to be at the
core of what it means to be ‘American’.”<p dir="ltr">Wilkinson
went on to argue that a political push to denounce languages other than
English “further pushes the misconception that immigrant families refuse
to learn English.” He writes that in fact 93 percent of U.S. residents
speak at least some English.</p><p dir="ltr">But when it comes to
integrating immigrant or refugee children, speaking “some” English isn’t
enough. Just being conversant in a language—and not fluent—does not
prepare children to learn academically in that language, according to<a href="http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/cummin.htm"> Jim Cummins</a>,
one of the leading experts in bilingual education, who distinguishes
two types of language competences: Basic Interpersonal Communicative
Skills (common in the home and the playground) and Cognitive Academic
Linguistic Proficiency (this superficial communicative ability typical
in the classroom).</p><p dir="ltr">The
former can be developed, according to Cummins, in two to three years,
but he says “this superficial communicative ability may mislead adults
and teachers into thinking that the child is ready for English-only
classroom placement, when in fact the child only has interpersonal
fluency—but not enough academic proficiency in English.” That
proficiency, he says, takes up to seven years.</p><p dir="ltr">That
children need seven years to be academically proficient in a new
language is not reflected in current educational policy in regard to
English language learners, which many<a href="http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/bil164.shtml"> experts</a>
believe is moving backward. The Bilingual Education Act (BEA), Title
VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which President
Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law in 1968, completely changed how
English language learners were taught in the U.S. at the time. Among
other shifts in contemporary thought, it recognized that the government
had a responsibility to ensure “<a href="http://www.liquisearch.com/bilingual_education_act/cultural_implications">educational policy should work to equalize academic outcomes</a>,”
as well as the need for teachers who could not only teach a second
language, but who could teach all subjects in that second language to
students who were not yet proficient in English.</p><p dir="ltr">Several <a href="http://www.umich.edu/%7Eac213/student_projects05/be/legislation.html">amendments</a>
to the 1968 BEA were made over the years. Under the Reagan
administration, for example, more focus was put on the accelerated
mainstreaming into all-English education and funding for English as a
second language (versus bilingual) programs was added. But it was the
passing of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which President George W.
Bush signed into law in 2001, that marked a “180-degree reversal in
language policy,” according to<a href="http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bushplan/index.shtml"> RethiningSchools.org</a>.
English-language learners would now be expected to attain language
proficiency while at the same time meeting the same academic standards
as their native-English-speaking peers.</p><p dir="ltr">In December 2015, President Barack Obama repealed NCLB, replacing it with the<a href="http://www.edcentral.org/essadlls/"> Every Student Succeeds Act</a>
(ESSA), which will come into effect in 2017. ESSA allows for dual
language learners to spend a year in the country before being tested at
the same level as native-English speakers, but it is still, according to
McCormick, entirely too focused on “learning English as quickly as
possible rather than providing bilingual education, which is a more
effective approach.”</p><p dir="ltr">In an interview with <a href="http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/syrian-refugees-struggle-with-american-schools/">Medill Reports Chicago</a>,
Firas Jawish, a Syrian refugee who settled in Chicago in 2014, said
finding an appropriate school for his 3-year-old son has been a great
worry. “We don’t want him to go to a play school,” he says, because they
don’t want him to stop speaking Arabic. Jawish was concerned that
learning English and Spanish in school and speaking Arabic at home would
be too confusing for his son, and that the result would be the loss of
Arabic.</p><p dir="ltr">His concerns are not unfounded. The younger an
immigrant child is immersed in English, the more likely they are to lose
the mother tongue, according to Claudio Toppelberg and Brian Collins,
authors of a<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3526379/"> 2012 report</a>
on the mental health of immigrant children in the U.S. This is
important, they say, because “the development of children’s home
language may associate with strengthening of family cohesion and
intimacy, parental authority and transmission of cultural norms, all of
which can lead to a healthy adjustment and a strong identification and
internalization of the social values of the family.”</p>“The experience of assimilating differs from integrating because it implies losing one’s identity.”According to a 2013 report by then masters candidate<a href="https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/45256/Nathanson%20Report.pdf?sequence=2"> Rebecca Nathanson</a>,
the distinction between assimilation and integration is significant.
“‘Assimilation’ and ‘integration’ are controversial but distinct terms,”
she writes. “[…] the experience of assimilating differs from
integrating because it implies losing one’s identity, which risks
becoming absorb[ed] in the system. Integration, on the other [hand],
makes room for a person’s individual cultural values, practices, and
identity.” According to Nathanson, “integration is the preferred
experience since it acknowledges the mutual relationship and impacts
that refugees, immigrants, and individuals in the host culture have on
each other.”<p dir="ltr">There is some subtle evidence to support a growing openness to this “mutual relationship.” Professional-development<a href="http://www.ritell.org/resources/documents/language%20project/arabic%201.pdf"> tools</a>
exist to support teachers of ELL students with Arabic as a first
language, to help teachers understand different customs relating to
communication, as well as explanations for why these children<a href="http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/10068-5-writing-trouble-spots-for-esl-students-of-arabic"> make certain mistakes</a> when transitioning to English. And in 2014, the<a href="http://monitor.icef.com/2014/12/arabic-language-studies-booming-us/"> The Modern Language Association</a> (MLA) reported that Arabic had become the fastest growing foreign language in the U.S.</p><p dir="ltr">And
many school districts are embracing bilingual education. New York City
Public Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina plans to open 38 bilingual
programs at city schools starting in September, 2016, including,
according to the<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/bilingual-education-nyc-set-big-expansion-article-1.2587215"> <em>New York Daily News</em></a>,
29 new dual-language programs that will include classes taught in
Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Polish, and Spanish—with
English used on alternating days.</p><p dir="ltr">Back in Europe, McCormack hopes her<a href="http://sageliteracyconsulting.com/books-for-refugees/"> Books For Refugees</a>
initiative will help Arabic-language refugees maintain their language
and culture while making their way in a new country, and says it’s
mind-blowing how quickly it’s taken off, how many donations she is
receiving with which to buy books and ship them to refugee centers in
the Netherlands.</p><p dir="ltr">“What I want to do is so simple,” she
says. “Even if I just get the message out there: that many of these
children, some of whom haven’t been in school for a while now, have
parents that probably aren’t even thinking about reading to them in
Arabic. They think: we’re going to get to Holland and learn Dutch and
English and forget all about Arabic. And they shouldn’t do that.”</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/05/balancing-integration-and-assimilation-during-the-refugee-crisis/482757/">http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/05/balancing-integration-and-assimilation-during-the-refugee-crisis/482757/</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>