32.2272, Diss: Turkish; Applied Linguistics: Author: Melissa B Hauber-Özer: ''Diss Title: “We Must Not Stop Now”: Advocacy Ethnography with Syrian Refugees in Turkish Higher Education''

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-2272. Sat Jul 03 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.2272, Diss:  Turkish; Applied Linguistics: Author: Melissa B Hauber-Özer: ''Diss Title: “We Must Not Stop Now”: Advocacy Ethnography with Syrian Refugees in Turkish Higher Education''

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Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2021 16:19:23
From: Melissa Hauber-Özer [mhauberr at gmu.edu]
Subject: Diss Title: “We Must Not Stop Now”: Advocacy Ethnography with Syrian Refugees in Turkish Higher Education

 
Institution: George Mason University 
Program: International Education 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2021 

Author: Melissa B Hauber-Özer

Dissertation Title: “We Must Not Stop Now”: Advocacy Ethnography with Syrian
Refugees in Turkish Higher Education 

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics

Subject Language(s): Turkish (tur)


Dissertation Director(s):
Meagan Call-Cummings
Rebecca K. Fox
Kathleen Ramos

Dissertation Abstract:

This dissertation examines the experiences of a group of 11 Syrian young adult
refugees living under temporary protection status and studying at Turkish
universities. Using critical ethnography and narrative inquiry methodology and
drawing on critical theory, sociocultural perspectives on language learning,
and Norton’s investment framework, the study examines the ways these students
navigate numerous social, linguistic, and structural obstacles to invest in
their goals. Set in the country with the largest number of refugees in the
world, this study contributes to the limited literature on higher education
for refugees, particularly the gap in research on displacement settings. 

Multilingual, multimodal data were collected in Turkish, English, and Arabic
through a questionnaire, in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and photovoice
workshops and analyzed collaboratively with a Syrian key informant using
layered narrative analysis. Analysis revealed a common story arc running
through the participants’ experiences, which are presented as individual
narrative portraits highlighting both unique and common experiences of
navigating linguistic, economic, and structural obstacles. The findings
underscore the importance of quality language instruction, interpersonal
relationships, and supportive faculty members and illuminate key shortcomings
in current Turkish educational and migration policy and urgent needs for
curricular reform and teacher professional development. 

On a larger scale, the study calls into question assumptions about integration
in the nation of asylum being the ideal long-term outcome for refugees,
indicating instead that access and choice in educational and employment
pathways can facilitate adaptation and positive trajectories. These findings
contribute to the literature by providing richly textured insights and contest
deficit perspectives that paint refugees as a public burden. Finally, this
study lays a methodological foundation for future work which centers the
experiences of refugees and disrupts Northern dominance of forced migration
scholarship.




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