29.2401, Review: Language Acquisition; Sociolinguistics: Thalgott, Beacco, Krumm, Little (2017)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-29-2401. Tue Jun 05 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.2401, Review: 	Language Acquisition; Sociolinguistics: Thalgott, Beacco, Krumm, Little (2017)

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Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:22:15
From: Melissa Hauber-Özer [mhauberr at gmu.edu]
Subject: The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants / L’intégration linguistique des migrants adultes

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-1648.html

EDITOR: Jean-Claude  Beacco
EDITOR: Hans-Jürgen  Krumm
EDITOR: David  Little
EDITOR: Philia  Thalgott
TITLE: The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants / L’intégration linguistique des migrants adultes
SUBTITLE: Some lessons from research / Les enseignements de la recherche
PUBLISHER: De Gruyter Mouton
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Melissa B Hauber-Özer, George Mason University

Editor: Jean-Claude Beacco
Editor: Hans-Jürgen Krumm
Editor: David Little
Editor: Philia Thalgott
Title: The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants / L’intégration
linguistique des migrants adultes
Subtitle: Some lessons from research / Les enseignements de la recherche
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Year: 2017

Reviewer: Melissa Hauber-Özer, George Mason University 

SUMMARY

This bilingual (English and French) edited volume reports on research
presented at the Council of Europe’s 2016 symposium in Strasbourg, part of the
Council’s Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM) project. This
project offers support for member states in developing and implementing
educational policy and practice grounded in human rights and respect for
diversity. 

The entire book is available for download under creative commons licensing at
https://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/472830. 

This compilation of symposium proceedings emphasizes the crucial role of
education for the social and economic integration of adult migrants,
particularly in promoting the development of language proficiency and cultural
competence for the new society. However, the editors and several of the
authors express concern about recent trends in Europe of imposing strict
integration policies requiring proof of language proficiency in order to
obtain residency or citizenship, which they believe potentially violate the
dignity and human rights of migrants. In response, the editors propose
modifying policy and practice to more fully honor migrants’ diverse identities
and linguistic repertoires and offer these contributions from recent research
to inform such changes.

The 54 chapters comprising this volume are organized in eight sections:
keynote chapters addressing current issues; policy considerations; linguistic
repertoires and multilingualism in the classroom; content, methods and
materials; testing and assessment; language in the workplace; the needs of
specific groups of learners; and the intersection of teaching and research.
Taken together, the contributions present a wealth of knowledge about the
needs of adult language learners and highlight appropriate practices to
support learning and positive integration.

Keynote Chapters 

Ofelia Garcia begins the volume by situating language learning in the context
of current patterns of voluntary and forced migration and the associated
changes to national identities and linguistic boundaries. Garcia seeks to
disrupt the exclusion and racialization of minority language speakers by
encouraging teachers to employ translanguaging to support meaningful,
interactive acquisition of the dominant language that also honors migrants’
voices, values, languages, and cultures. In the second keynote chapter, Claude
Springer addresses the role of web-based literacies and social networks in
migrant’s linguistic integration. Springer suggests that the development of
social inclusion projects that incorporate learners’ digital worlds would more
fully facilitate integration. In the final keynote chapter, Rosemarie Tracy
contrasts the original intent of the Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages (CEFR), to positively represent Europe’s linguistic and cultural
diversity, with recent deficit-focused applications used to limit immigration
by enforcing language proficiency thresholds for residency or citizenship.
Tracy questions the utility of the CEFR to measure linguistic competence and
warns of the potentially detrimental effects of such practices on integration.

Policies for Language and Integration

The second section of the book consists of seven chapters examining language
and integration policy. First, Reinhilde Pulinx and Piet Van Avermaet present
findings from a study of adult migrants in a compulsory newcomer integration
program in Flanders, Belgium, which indicate that the program did little to
increase migrants’ social participation. François Grin and Guillaume Fürst
follow with the results of a survey of young Swiss citizens’ views on language
and integration, finding unanimous expectations that immigrants learn the
local language despite positive overall feelings toward migration. In the
following chapter, Furio Bednarz provides an overview of language training
policy and practice in France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and highlights
a need for additional resources, teaching materials, and training for teachers
and teacher educators to better meet the needs of today’s migrants. Brian
North and Enrica Piccardo propose an amendment of the CEFR standards that
surpasses static categories of receptive and productive skills to include more
dynamic acts of socially negotiating meaning and processing information. Kate
Hammer follows with a study linking perceived English proficiency among Polish
young adult migrants in the U.K. with sociocultural integration. Monika Jezak
and Encarnacion Carrasco examine language use and attitudes among migrants in
multilingual contexts and call for an epistemological shift in settlement
services and integration policy in such settings. Jamel Sarraj closes this
section with an examination of policy implementation challenges in
Switzerland, particularly regarding religious minorities, xenophobia, and
labor participation. 

Linguistic Repertoires and Integration

The five studies in this section focus on the use of linguistic repertoires in
society, from the classroom to the courtroom. Thomas Laimer and Martin
Wurzenrainer describe a partnership between an adult education institution,
two small NGOs, and a university-based research unit in Vienna aiming to
incorporate a dynamic concept of multilingualism in the language classroom.
The next two chapters investigate heritage language maintenance and identity
constructs in minority communities in France: Büsra Hamurcu Süverdem in the
case of the Turkish population and Salih Akin among the Kurdish diaspora.
Isabelle Bambust then examines language use in judicial contexts, while
Antonelle Benucci closes this section with a report on linguistic repertoires
in the penitentiary system. 

Teaching: Content, Methods, and Materials

Making up the lengthiest section in the volume by far, these twelve chapters
examine the instructional needs of adult learners and appropriate responses.
Emile Lebreton reports on an interventional research study in two French
language training organizations and advocates for deeper reflection among
stakeholders and consultation with learners to inform practice. Thomas Fritz
and Dilek Donat discuss barriers to learning among young adult migrants,
finding a need for stability, social connections, and trust to support
educational progress. Myriam Schleiss and Margrit Hagenow-Caprez describe the
implementation of the innovative _fide_ framework for migrant integration in
Switzerland, and Enrica Piccardo and Danielle Hunter show the potential of an
online platform to encourage motivation, confidence, learning, and awareness
of community services among immigrant learners in Ontario, Canada. George
Androulakis, Anastasia Gkaintartzi, Roula Kitsiou and Sofia Tsioli report on
two nationwide Greek as a second language initiatives aimed at empowering
immigrants and fostering social cohesion through task-based learning in a
supportive environment. Next, Michel Gout discusses four language instruction
approaches for newcomers: the use of identity texts for self-expression,
artistic and theatrical activities to promote positive interactions in the new
language, speaking from within to negotiate cultural differences, and
empowerment training to increase leadership and civic engagement. 

In their contribution, Peter Lenz and Malgorzata Barras examine how teaching
chunks can impact beginner-level German learners’ oral and written
proficiency. Christa Nieuwboer and Rogier van’t Rood outline principles of
adult learning with particular attention to migrants’ needs to develop
intercultural communication and negotiate changes in personal cultural
identity. Katherine Swinney describes a participatory study engaging adult
English language students, teachers, and providers in a super-diverse
community in Sheffield, Northern England in advocacy for continued funding for
community education. Sabrina Machetti and Lorenzo Rocca follow with their
detailed description of the Italian Knowledge of Society test, which is
required along with basic language proficiency (CEFR Level A2) for residency
and citizenship, and illuminate possible ethical problems with the assessment.
The following chapter, by Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Mark Gaved, Ann Jones, Lucy
Norris, and Alice Peasgood, explores potential uses of smartphone applications
for extending language learning beyond the classroom through flexible,
self-directed, personalized engagement with the surrounding linguistic
environment. Mariet Schiepers, Annelies Houben, Annelies Nordin, Helga Van
Loo, Helena Van Nuffel, Leen Verrote, and Kris Van den Branden complete this
section with six guiding principles for online second language learning:
authentic content, relevant tasks, learner control, instant feedback,
connection of online tasks to the real world, and easy access. 

Language Testing and Assessment for Integration

The six contributions in this section examine the use of language assessment
in migration policy, particularly as a condition for permanent residency and
citizenship. Jane Lloyd and Michaela Perlmann-Balme begin with a brief
position paper addressing ethical concerns in language assessment and the use
of proficiency tests to limit migration and integration, and Boris Printschitz
contests language tests for residency as “instruments of power” (p. 241) used
for exclusion and often based on inconsistent and arbitrary criteria. The bulk
of the contributions in this section highlight concerns regarding the design,
ethics, validity, and effects on integration of language proficiency
instruments imposed for residency in France and Switzerland (Coraline
Pradeau), Italy (Paola Masillo), and the Czech Republic (Jitka Cvejnová and
Kamila Sladkovská). Sari Ohranen, Heidi Vaarala, and Taina Tammelin-Laine
conclude the section with a more optimistic perspective from Finland,
describing the development of a standardized assessment model that evaluates
oral and written production and comprehension as well as literacy and basic
mathematics skills to facilitate more meaningful educational experiences. 

Language and the workplace

This section addresses linguistic challenges and potential supports for
integrating migrants in the workforce. Anke Settelmeyer begins with a study of
the communicative tasks employees need for success in the retail and medical
sectors, which employ high numbers of migrants, to inform targeted language
instruction. Aurélie Bruneau’s chapter follows with an examination of how
female migrants in France acquire socio-linguistic competencies in order to
participate in social life and the workforce. Using statistical analysis of
Euro stat data from 26 EU member states, Michele Gazzola reports on
correlations between between migrants’ language acquisition and economic
integration. Matilde Grünhage-Monetti and Alexander Braddell then describe the
efforts of the Language for Work Network (LfW) to support contextualized
language learning for workplace integration, while Braddell and Linda Miller
report on barriers to attending language classes for low-income migrants in
London and recommend targeted supports. Matilde Grünhage-Monetti and Anna Svet
report on an empirical analysis of the “German at the workplace” project,
finding that communication skills are crucial for migrants to access
employment and advance in their careers across industries and jobs. In
Bradell’s third co-authored contribution to this volume, he joins Kerstin
Sjösvärd in challenging common assumptions that workplace engagement leads to
language acquisition among migrants and describing large-scale linguistic
integration projects employed in Sweden to increase both the language and
vocational skills of care providers from migration backgrounds. Sonya
Sahradyan’s linguistic ethnographic study of migrants working for an NGO in
Finland closes the section with an example of how employers can support
migrants’ language learning through engagement in organized language classes
as well as everyday workplace tasks such. 

Towards linguistic integration: specific learner groups 

This section of the book examines language learning among specific categories
of migrants, with a focus on learners with limited formal education and
literacy. Samira Moukrim explores language barriers experienced by non-French
speaking immigrant women in France, exemplifying how communication
difficulties decrease access to healthcare and increase costs. Marcello
Amoruso and Mari D’Agostino examine the challenges of integrating learners
with varying educational backgrounds in language classes in Palermo, Italy,
suggesting the incorporation of arts-based activities to support literacy
development. Stefano Kluzer and Rocco De Paolis propose a technology-based
approach to meeting the needs of language learners acquiring basic literacy in
Italy and describe the development of a thematic curriculum and accompanying
teacher training protocol. Fernanda Minuz and Alessandro Borri relate the
process of developing and validating CEFR-based standards and criteria for
teaching and assessing Italian language and literacy, which include domains,
content themes, “can do” descriptors, and a lexicon. Marie Hélène Lachaud
examines the development of written language, highlighting the connection
between oral and written language skills and the potential to build upon
learners’ competencies to facilitate workplace integration.  Antonella Benucci
and Marilisa Birello bring the reader’s attention back to the penitentiary
context with their contribution on best practices for rehabilitating and
integrating adult migrants from diverse backgrounds in the prison system
across Europe. 

Linguistic integration: teachers and researchers 

This final section applies a more theoretical lens to language acquisition
research. In the first chapter, Massimiliano Spotti examines the use of
deficit discourse in a Dutch language class for asylum seekers in Belgium,
emphasizing the importance of a perspective that recognizes and draws on
students’ linguistic resources. Maude Vadot’s contribution analyzes the use of
the term ‘integration’ in French language education for migrants, finding the
meaning and the relationship of this process with language learning to be
vague and poorly understood. Eric Mercier challenges underlying assumptions in
the French and dominant European emphasis on language acquisition as a
necessity for integration and the effects of this ideology on policy and
teaching practice. Marie-Cécile Guernier, Marie-Hélène Lachaud, and
Jean-Pierre Sautot analyze two models of teaching French to adult migrants
with limited education, which alternatively discount or build on learners’
existing skills. Carla Bagna, Luana Cosenza, and Luisa Salvati present a case
study on Italian teachers’ perceptions of the challenges of working with
migrant learners who have limited education and literacy and offer
recommendations about placement, assessment, instruction, and teacher
training. Rola Naeb and Martha Scholten address this need for professional
development in the next contribution, which describes the collaborative
development of the EU-Speak project consisting of six free online training
modules for teachers of low-literacy language learners. Véronique Castellotti,
Emmanuelle Huver, and Fabienne Leconte complete the volume by examining the
role and ethical duties of research regarding the linguistic integration of
migrants and calling into question the assumptions underlying much of current
policy and practice in the field. The authors echo two prevalent themes in the
volume, a problematic deficit perspective of learners with limited prior
education and the use of language proficiency testing for nationality and
residency, and highlight a need for additional research leading to a more
nuanced understanding of learner identity and the learning context.  

EVALUATION

This dense volume contains a variety of perspectives on the barriers to and
potential supports for language learning among migrants in Europe. Overall,
the book provides glimpses into the current landscape of language policy and
practice in Europe and is a helpful resource for researchers, policy
advocates, curriculum developers, and program administrators. The selections
suggesting classroom-based methods offered fresh insights and practical ideas,
although additional detail would be more useful for implementing these
approaches. As a result, the volume is perhaps less useful for classroom
teachers than for administrators, scholars, and policymakers. 

With the exception of the keynote chapters, contributions are quite short,
consisting for the most part of concise explanations of particular contexts,
study results, and implications for migrant integration. However, this means
that they often lack depth and detailed descriptions of research design and
findings. Several chapters refer readers to expanded information available
online (see Schleiss & Hagenow-Caprez; Schiepers et al.; Grünhage-Monetti &
Braddell), which can be useful for study replication or modification for other
contexts.  

Although the overall organization of the book is logical, three sections, the
third (“Linguistic repertoires”), penultimate (“Towards linguistic
integration: specific learner groups”), and final (“Linguistic integration:
teachers and researchers”) sections lack cohesion. Several of the chapters
have clear connections with other sections, and it is unclear why the editors
chose to group them in this way. For example, Vadot’s and Mercier’s chapters
would fit well in the policy section, and Benucci and Birello’s chapter would
logically follow Benucci’s other contribution describing linguistic
integration efforts in the penitentiary system. Additionally, the numerous
chapters addressing literacy-level instruction warrant a separate section.  

The volume also lacks balance in geographical focus and language medium.
“Language testing and assessment for integration” includes a range of
perspectives, from Finland to the Czech Republic, while the majority of the
chapters in “Towards linguistic integration: specific learner groups” are set
in the Italian context. In addition, some sections are dominated by either
French-medium (“Linguistic repertoires and integration” or English-medium
(“Language teaching for integration,” “Language and the workforce”) chapters.
Balance is understandably difficult to achieve when compiling conference
proceedings, but this limits accessibility and applicability for readers. 

These limitations aside, The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants offers
an up-to-date view of the complex field of language acquisition policy and
practice in Europe. The volume highlights important ethical and practical
quandaries, particularly related to the use of language proficiency testing as
a gatekeeper for residency and citizenship. The book’s primary value is as a
springboard for further research and the development of context-specific
standards, curricula, targeted instruction, and fair and valid assessment
procedures. As the concluding chapter highlights, much work clearly remains to
be done in this area.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Melissa Hauber-Özer is pursuing her PhD in International Education George
Mason University. Her research focuses on language and literacy learning for
adult immigrants and refugees.





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