27.692, Confs: Anthropological Ling, Applied Ling, Discourse Analysis, Forensic Ling, Lang Acq, Socioling/UK

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-692. Fri Feb 05 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.692, Confs: Anthropological Ling, Applied Ling, Discourse Analysis, Forensic Ling, Lang Acq, Socioling/UK

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Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:59:27
From: Lisa McEntee-Atalianis [l.atalianis at bbk.ac.uk]
Subject: Migrants & Language(s)

 
Migrants & Language(s) 

Date: 21-Mar-2016 - 22-Mar-2016 
Location: London, United Kingdom 
Contact: Elena Zelibabkova 
Contact Email: e.zelibabkova at bbk.ac.uk 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Forensic Linguistics; Language Acquisition; Sociolinguistics 

Meeting Description: 

The current migration crisis faces the UK and other countries with urgent
issues within which language plays a significant role. These include for
example: decisions about who gets refugee status, which depend partly on
origin and may be determined on linguistic grounds; how to integrate migrant
children in schools, and adults in employment, when they do not speak the
host-country language well (or at all); how they are to communicate in
hospitals, banks, with landlords and administrations. Less immediately
obvious, but equally significant linguistic issues include:

- how politicians and the media construct discourses about migrants which
affect how they are perceived
- the role of maintaining the migrants’ languages of origin in their
integration process and sense of identity, and attrition of their mother
tongues
- how the languages of origin impact on the host country, bringing in new
linguistic skills but also potentially transforming the host country language:
 young people’s multicultural vernaculars are recognised by linguists as a
significant source of language change

A public event and conference organized for March 21 and March 22 will bring
together a range of experts on migration and linguistics and draw attention to
the role played by language in this crisis. Although there are other research
projects investigating migrants from a linguistic perspective they do not
normally involve the participation of practitioners. The conference will
address the particular responsibility of linguists to carry out and
disseminate research which will enable policy-makers to take well-informed
decisions affecting both the migrants’ futures and those of the host society.

Links for registration at one or both events are provided below:

The Language(s) and Migrants public event (March 21) booking form: 
https://www2.bbk.ac.uk/bih/landm/index.html
 
The Language(s) and Migrants Conference (March 22) booking form: 
https://www2.bbk.ac.uk/bih/landm/conference.html
 

Program:
 
PUBLIC EVENT: 21 March 2016, 6-8pm
Title of Event: Migrants and Language(s): Issues arising from the current
crisis
Location: Clore Lecture Theatre, Birkbeck, University of London

18.00-18.15 
Introduction: Language and the Refugee Crisis 
Penelope Gardner-Chloros and Lisa McEntee-Atalianis 
(Birkbeck, University of London)

18.15-18.30 European Perspectives on Promoting Multilingualism & Their
Relevance in the Current Migrant Crisis 
Guus Extra (Tilburg University)

Abstract
The constellation of languages in Europe functions as a descending hierarchy
with the following ranking:

- English as “lingua franca” for transnational communication
- National or “official state” languages of European countries
- Regional minority (RM) languages across Europe
- Immigrant minority (IM) languages across Europe
 
Whereas the national languages of the EU with English increasingly on top are
celebrated most at the EU level, RM languages are celebrated less and IM
languages least. IM languages are only marginally covered by EU language
promotion programmes and  - so far – are mainly considered in the context of
provisions for learning the national languages of the “migrants’ countries of
residence”. There is a great need for educational policies in Europe that take
new realities of multilingualism into account. Against this background, the
following topics will be addressed:

- The status of IM languages vs. RM languages in Europe
- The current migrant crisis from the perspective of EU policy makers vs.
asylum-seekers

 
18.30-18.45 
How (well) does language-testing of asylum seekers work? 
Peter Patrick, (University of Essex)

The UK, plus a dozen other countries around the world, relies partly on
language testing to assess whether to grant asylum – usually for people
without documents, claiming to originate from a handful of high-volume source
countries. This testing is based on what an asylum seeker claims as their
native language – e.g. if they claim to natively speak a Syrian Arabic
dialect, they are tested to determine if their speech matches what is known
about Syrian Arabic. Some key questions about this process include:

- What sort of knowledge about language is needed for testing to be valid and
reliable?
- How accurate is it? (How) Can procedures be improved to make it more
accurate?
- Do some countries/procedures do a better job than others? Why?
- Are some languages more difficult to test than others? Why?
- Do such differences make it unfair to base asylum decisions on language
testing?

As a linguistic expert who has evaluated 75+ government tests in a dozen
languages, researched language testing in asylum cases, and convened meetings
of people on all sides of the debate, Prof. Peter L. Patrick will give a view,
and take questions, about the value of language testing for asylum decisions.

18.45-19.00 
''Stop calling it a crisis!'' said the linguist 
Sofia Ali (Language and Literacy Consultant)

Abstract
The integration of migrant children into UK schools is not a new phenomenon,
much has been written about how schools and local authorities can address this
in a uniformly positive way. Government policy with regard to provision for
English as an additional language (EAL) can be traced from the introduction of
Section 11 (of the local Government Act) in 1966, when specialised funding was
first introduced, to April 2012 when the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant
(EMAG) stopped being ring-fenced and schools were no longer required to spend
the funding on EAL learners or ethnic minority pupils at risk of
underachievement. The end of EMAG, cuts to local authority EMA services, and
the absence of any government guidelines on how to manage the integration of
EAL pupils in our schools has led to a diversity of practice across the UK.
This short presentation will highlight some of the issues faced by schools and
will argue that creating a language rich, multilingual, inclusive school
environment is not only beneficial to all pupils but to wider society in
general.  I argue that the current mass movement of people across the globe
and the arrival in the UK and other countries of children and young people who
have English as an additional language (EAL) can be seen not as a crisis but
an opportunity which we should embrace.

19.00-19.15 
Understanding the language learning needs of Syrian refugees: experience from
Syria's neighbours 
Tony Capstick (University of Reading)

Abstract 
This talk provides an overview of the language context in Syria with a
specific focus on the languages used in education. The first part of the talk
explores the language learning that goes on in schools and at homes in Syria.
Both spoken and written language practices will be discussed with reference to
specific domains and locations in rural and urban areas. The second part of
the talk looks in greater detail at family life and the role of language in
the individual accounts given by refugees currently living in the neighbouring
countries to Syria: Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Northern Iraq, Kurdistan. The
findings draw on recent interviews and classroom observations carried out in
the region during the winter of 2015/16. The findings are part of a British
Council research project which seeks to identify how language use and language
learning help refugees enhance their resilience during the crisis. By taking
an ethnographic approach to the research, the talk aims to illuminate the
discussion about the future for refugees from Syria by drawing on first-hand
accounts of Syrians living in the four countries. 

19.15-19.30 
Migration & Characterisation: How UK Newspapers Narrate Migrant Groups and Why
it Matters for Public Perceptions
William Allen (Oxford University)

Abstract 
Social scientific studies identify at least three key components of
narratives: characters, plots or series of events, and a ‘moral’ or point to
the story that is rarely explicitly stated. This paper explores how British
national newspapers have characterised migrant groups since 2006, using corpus
linguistic methods. It focuses attention on adjectives and verbs associated
with mentions of ‘immigrants’ to identify patterns over time. Then, it links
the analysis to ideas in political psychology about how members of the public
build images of ‘who’ immigrants are—and what they supposedly do. Finally, it
argues that mass media provide crucial sources of information that mediate
public perceptions about immigrants (the group) and immigration (the issue).
This opens up future research to questions about which kinds of narratives in
media as well as civil society might be more ‘effective’.

19.30-20.00 
Questions & Discussion


CONFERENCE: 22 March 2016, 9.30-5.30pm
Title of Event: Migrants and Language(s)
Location: Room 101, 30 Russell Square, Birkbeck, University of London

Objectives of Conference:

Our aim is to respond, as linguists, to the challenges posed by the current
migrant crisis in Europe:  
- by raising awareness of the linguistic aspects of the current crisis 
- by discussing these issues with specialists in a 1-day conference
- by defining the type of research which linguists could engage in so as to
contribute to effective policies for these groups.

Conference Programme: Migrants and Languages

9.30-9.45 
Welcome and Introduction (L. McEntee-Atalianis & P. Gardner-Chloros)

9.45-10.15 
A Political Contextualisation of the Current Migrant Crisis Eric Kaufman
(Birkbeck, University of London)

Abstract
This paper examines the causes and consequences of the Migrant Crisis. It sets
the scene by outlining previous refugee crises, the war in Syria and ideas
around the drivers of mass migration. It then goes on to consider the
challenge that the Migrant Crises posed, and poses, for The European Union and
individual member states.

10.15-10.45 
The Constellation of Languages in Europe: Comparative Perspectives on
Immigrant and Regional Minority Languages  
Guus Extra (University of Tilburg)

Abstract
The constellation of languages in Europe functions as a descending hierarchy
with the following ranking:
- English as “lingua franca” for transnational communication
- National or “official state” languages of European countries
- Regional minority (RM) languages across Europe
- Immigrant minority (IM) languages across Europe

Whereas the national languages of the EU with English increasingly on top are
celebrated most at the EU level, RM languages are celebrated less and IM
languages least. IM languages are only marginally covered by EU language
promotion programmes and  - so far – are mainly considered in the context of
provisions for learning the national languages of the “migrants’ countries of
residence”. There is a great need for educational policies in Europe that take
new realities of multilingualism into account.

Against this background, the following topics will be addressed:

- The role of language in identifying diversity of population groups
- The status of IM languages vs. RM languages: conceptual similarities and
differences
- EU policies on promoting multilingualism in Europe and their relevance to
the current migration crisis
 
10.45-11.15 Coffee

11.15-11.45 
Expertise in Language Analysis for the Determination of Origin
Peter Patrick (University of Essex)

Abstract
Language Analysis for Determination of Origin (LADO) is a recent application
of linguistics to institutional, forensic and/or political contexts, used by
governments in processing asylum seekers who are applying for refugee status.
As part of testing their claim to come from a certain nation, region or group,
some asylum applicants are interviewed by government agencies or commercial
contractors seeking to ascertain whether they natively speak the language of a
group they say they belong to. Many linguists and some judges have been
critical about the standard of expertise used in these cases: Can language
testing be done validly and reliably? For which sorts of cases? Are
governments employing a useful tool, or paying for ''bad science''? I will
focus on developments in the UK, including a 2014 Supreme Court case (in which
I was consulted) which promises to raise standards for the use of linguistic
evidence in asylum cases.

11.45-12.15 
Politics, pedagogy and protest: teaching English to migrants in the UK 
Melanie Cooke (King’s College, University of London)

Abstract
Migrants to the UK are regularly exhorted to acquire competence in English in
the name of community cohesion, integration and better citizenship and the
ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) sector is increasingly
influenced by government driven curricula. At the same time, though, provision
is subject to savage public spending cuts. In this talk I will discuss this
and other tensions in the sector before focusing on teachers and learners
themselves. Some of the questions I will raise are: what exactly are the
English language learning needs of migrants? How are these addressed in formal
language classes? What versions of Britain are transmitted during ESOL
instruction? And, finally, drawing on my own research I ask: how do teachers
mediate between their students and the official curricula of the state? 

12.15-12.45pm 
New Arrivals: family communication, literacy and identity 
Raymonde Sneddon (University of East London)

Abstract
When families with young children first arrive in the UK, whether as new
migrants or asylum seekers, their immediate focus is on survival in the new
environment.  While keen for their children to learn English as soon as
possible, families are unprepared for how quickly children lose the active use
of the family language once they start school and the resultant breakdown in
family communication. The presentation will explore the role of community
organisations and complementary schools, working in partnership with
mainstream schools, to both maintain and develop children’s language and
literacy skills as well as strategies for teaching literacy that help children
develop confident personal identities.

12.45-1.45pm Lunch 

1.45-2.15pm 
Tracing the Migrant Voice in UK Print Media
Colleen Cotter (Queen Mary, University of London) & Lisa McEntee-Atalianis
(Birkbeck, University of London)

Abstract
Recent critical studies of news discourse have investigated the power of the
media to construct and propagate myths about migrants, often delegitimising
their status and negatively influencing public ideology. Within articles the
voice of the migrant is frequently silenced however traces can be found in
some news stories. In this paper we uncover the rhetorical function and the
discursive and linguistic realisation of the migrant ‘voice’ in UK print
media, focusing our analysis on direct and indirect (reported) speech, using a
corpus of data gathered over a 12 month period (2015-16). We aim to analyse:
- the identity of the agents who are given voice by the journalists;
- how and why direct and reported speech is used, including its role as for
example, a stance-taking device in the construction of the agent and their
story, and
- how direct/indirect speech functions as an argumentative device in news
discourse (e.g. as an epistemic evidential or affective marker) in order to
lend accountability and authority to the reporting, and engender audience
alignment with the news story.

2.15-2.45pm 
Migrant & host country languages: Interaction and Possible Outcomes 
Jacomine Nortier (Utrecht University) & Penelope
Gardner-Chloros (Birkbeck, University of London)

Abstract
One of the issues of specific interest to linguists as an outcome of the
current refugee influx is the effect of contact between migrant and host
languages. The outcome of language contact can vary enormously – from crossing
and code-switching to borrowing, grammatical change, the emergence of new
vernaculars or contact varieties or even language death - as when Irish Gaelic
speakers emigrated to the USA. In this paper we review some of the factors
relevant in the present circumstances and discuss possible outcomes, using
comparable examples from European settings where the results of contact have
been studied, such as studies in London and Paris and among migrant groups in
the Netherlands. We emphasize two aspects: (1) the variation within these
populations, even when they come from the same country, in terms of language
background, educational level and need for language instruction in the local
language; (2) the role of relations with existing communities with the same
origin, and with the communities ‘back home’ and worldwide, which have
increased in significance thanks to social media. The paper takes the form of
a dialogue or mini-debate between the two authors. One will argue that the
influence will be all one-way: migrants will take over or even absorb standard
languages from the host communities while their languages won’t influence host
languages. The other will argue that various effects on the host country
languages will be felt, for example through the development of youth
vernaculars. An essential element will be to place the current influx in
Europe in the context of previous comparable arrivals of large groups with
similar language backgrounds.

2.45-3.15pm 
Language, Mobility, and Citizenship: Ideologies and Institutional Practices   
Melissa Moyer (UAB, Barcelona)

Abstract
Mobility –including the recent arrival of refugees to Europe- constitutes a
challenge for traditional ways of understanding citizenship that is defined by
nation-states as a relatively homogeneous entity that includes persons who
share a language, culture and a common worldview (Castles and Davidson 2000).
The ideological underpinnings of this view of citizenship do not easily
incorporate the multiple identities, languages, and transnational connections
that migrants and refugees bring with them to their new country of residence. 
A careful examination of the language practices in a public health clinic
attending recently arrived migrants (Moyer 2013) illustrates how institutional
ways of thinking and acting (re)produce social exclusion and racism. This
example intends to contribute to current debates about nation state stances on
refugees and how legitimacy as a citizen is being constructed and the
important role of language and multilingualism in this debate.

3.15-3.45pm Tea

3.45-4.15pm 
The changing languages of migrants
Monika Schmid (University of Essex)

Abstract
It is often assumed that knowledge is the one possession which is safe in
situations of persecution or migration – it cannot be disappropriated or
taxed, it does not have to fit into limited luggage and it can be easily
transported across any border. And, in this context, what could be more stable
and reliable than knowledge of one’s own native language?

This talk will demonstrate that the knowledge of a first language, even for
healthy speakers, may to some extent be changeable for long-term migrants. I
will present evidence that shows that, after a decade or longer of life in a
new country and a different linguistic environment, native speakers of a
language can no longer reliably be differentiated from non-natives who have
learned that language later in life. I will illustrate some of the phenomena
that regularly occur in languages that are undergoing such a process of change
and deterioration (referred to as ‘language attrition’), and discuss these
findings in light of their political implications. 

4.15-4.30pm 
The Council of Europe Project on the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants
(LIAM)
Presentation by Prof David Little (Trinity College, Dublin & member of LIAM).

4.30-5.00pm 
Summary and Discussion led by Nikos Gogonas (Luxembourg University)

5.00-5.30pm Refreshments





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