Can an Ecological, Multilingual Approach Help Us to Better Support Reunited Refugee Families in Scotland with Language Learning?

Sarah Cox

doi:10.31261/TAPSLA.7805

Published: 2021-01-14

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2020)

Can an Ecological, Multilingual Approach Help Us to Better Support Reunited Refugee Families in Scotland with Language Learning?

Sarah Cox

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.7805

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between academic literature, policy, and practice in terms of language learning within the specific context of families who have been recently reunited in Glasgow through the British Red Cross Family Reunion Integration Service. The paper presents research findings from an exploratory teaching study working collaboratively with participants within their first few weeks of arriving in Scotland to explore whether an ecological, multilingual approach to language learning is effective in this context. Building on principles of translanguaging with participants using their full "linguistic repertoire" (Garcia, 2010) and drawing of Norton’s construct of "investment" (2013) the paper explores key themes of empowerment and identity in the classroom. The results enable us to draw conclusions regarding the balance of power in the classroom and the impact of the recognition of refugees own languages within the learning process.

Keywords:

ecological approach , translanguaging , family reunion , multilingualism

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Cox, S. (2021). Can an Ecological, Multilingual Approach Help Us to Better Support Reunited Refugee Families in Scotland with Language Learning?. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 6(2), 11–34. https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.7805

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Vol. 6 No. 2 (2020)
Published: 2020-12-23

ISSN: 2450-5455

eISSN: 2451-2125

10.31261/tapsla

Publisher

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

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