Syrian Refugees’ Participation in Language Classes: Motivators and Barriers

Nicole Ives; Anna Oda; Jonathan Bridekirk; Michaela Hynie; Susan McGrath; Rana Mohammad; Mona Awwad; Kathy Sherrell; Mahi Khalaf; Marcela Diaz

doi:10.25071/1920-7336.40799

Auteurs-es

Nicole Ives McGill University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2772-1310
Anna Oda York University
Jonathan Bridekirk York University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7493-8515
Michaela Hynie York University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9266-9902
Susan McGrath York University
Rana Mohammad Carizon
Mona Awwad OMNI Television
Kathy Sherrell Immigration Services Society of British Columbia
Mahi Khalaf Immigration Services Society of British Columbia
Marcela Diaz Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, Ontario

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40799

Mots-clés :

refugees, language, integration, Syria, resettlement, literacy

Résumé

L'alphabétisation dans la langue du pays d’accueil facilite l'intégration et réduit la marginalisation sociale et économique. Ainsi, l'accès à l'apprentissage de la langue est une question de justice sociale. Les réfugiés réinstallés au Canada sont admissibles à une formation gratuite en anglais/français. Entre 2015 et 2017, le Canada a réinstallé 47 735 réfugiés syriens. Nous avons exploré les prédicteurs de la participation aux cours de langue pour les réfugiés syriens, en examinant les données de 1 915 réfugiés syriens adultes dans des cours de langue financés par le gouvernement en Colombie-Britannique, en Ontario et au Québec. Les facteurs entravant la participation variaient selon la province et comprenaient le sexe, la santé physique/mentale, l'éducation, l'alphabétisation en anglais/français et l'emploi. Des recommandations pratiques et politiques sont discutées.

Statistiques

Chargement des statistiques…

Bibliographies de l'auteur-e

Nicole Ives, McGill University

Nicole Ives is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, at McGill University. She can be reached nicole.ives@mcgill.ca.

Anna Oda, York University

Anna Oda is the Syrian Refugee Integration and Long-Term Health Outcomes in Canada research study coordinator at the Centre for Refugee Studies, York University. She can be reached at annaoda@yorku.ca.

Jonathan Bridekirk, York University

Jonathan Bridekirk is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at York University. He can be reached at jbride@yorku.ca.

Michaela Hynie, York University

Michaela Hynie is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University. She can be reached at mhynie@yorku.ca.

Susan McGrath, York University

Susan McGrath is a Professor Emerita at the School of Social Work at York University. She can be reached at smcgrath@yorku.ca.

Rana Mohammad, Carizon

Rana Mohammad is the Newcomer System Navigator-Carizon in Kitchener, Ontario. She can be reached at ranaamohamad@gmail.com.

Mona Awwad, OMNI Television

Mona Awwad is a News Reporter at OMNI Television. She can be reached at mona.awwad.q@gmail.com.

Kathy Sherrell, Immigration Services Society of British Columbia

Kathy Sherrell is the Director of Settlement Services at Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia. She can be reached at kathy.sherrell@issbc.org.

Mahi Khalaf, Immigration Services Society of British Columbia

Mahi Khalaf is a Program Manager at Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia. She can be reached at mahi.khalaf@issbc.org.

Marcela Diaz, Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, Ontario

Marcela Diaz is a Settlement and Integration Program Manager at the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, Ontario. She can be reached at mdiaz@themcc.com.

Références

Alhussain, A. M. (2019). An empowerment tool for teaching English effectively to refugees: A case study of Syrian adult refugees in the UK. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(1), 389–406. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n1p389

Amrhein, V., Trafimow, D., & Greenland, S. (2019). Inferential statistics as descriptive statistics: There is no replication crisis if we don’t expect replication. American Statistician, 73(S1), S262–S270. https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2018.1543137

Bhalla, A., & Lapeyre, F. (1997). Social exclusion: Towards an analytical and operational framework. Development and Change, 28(3), 413–433. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00049

Boyd, M., & Cao, X. (2009). Immigrant language proficiency, earnings, and language policies. Canadian Studies in Population, 36(1–2), 63–86. https://doi.org/10.25336/P6NP62

Casimiro, S., Hancock, P., & Northcote, J. (2007). Isolation and insecurity: Resettlement issues among Muslim refugee women in Perth, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues,42(1), 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1839-4655.2007.tb00039.x

Choudhry, U. K. (2001). Uprooting and resettlement experiences of South Asian immigrant women. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 23(4), 376–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/019394590102300405

Ertorer, S. E. (2016). Acculturating into the Canadian society: A case of Karen refugees. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42(11), 1864–1884. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2015.1128809

Farrugia, R. (2009). Integration at what cost? Research into what refugees have to say about the integration process. International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 11(1), 51–74. http://www.unesco.org/shs/ijms/vol11/issue1/art3

Finn, H. B. (2010). Overcoming barriers: Adult refugee trauma survivors in a learning community. TESOL Quarterly, 44(3), 586–596. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27896747

Gordon, D. (2011). Trauma and second language learning among Laotian refugees. Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, 6(1), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.7771/2153-8999.1029

Government of the USA. (2018). UNHCR resettlement handbook: Country chapter—United States of America. UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/protection/resettlement/3c5e5a764/unhcr-resettlement-handbook-country-chapter-united-states-america.html

Grzymala-Kazlowska, A., & Phillimore, J. (2018). Introduction: Rethinking integration. New perspectives on adaptation and settlement in the era of super-diversity. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1341706

Hauck, F. R., Lo, E., Maxwell, A., & Reynolds, P. P. (2014). Factors influencing the acculturation of Burmese, Bhutanese, and Iraqi refugees into American society: Cross-cultural comparisons. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 12(3), 331–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2013.848007

Holm, A., & Dodd, B. (1996). The effect of first written language on the acquisition of English literacy. Cognition, 59(2), 119–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(95)00691-5

Hynie, M. (2018). Refugee integration: Research and policy. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 24(3), 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000326

Hynie, M., Korn, A., & Tao, D. (2016). Social context and social integration for government assisted refugees in Ontario, Canada. In M. Poteet & S. Nourpanah (Eds.), After the flight: The dynamics of refugee settlement and integration (pp. 183–227). Cambridge Scholars.

Hynie, M., McGrath, S., Bridekirk, J., Oda, A., Ives, N., Hyndman, J., Arya, N., Shakya, Y. B., Hanley, J., & McKenzie, K. (2019). What role does type of sponsorship play in early integration outcomes? Syrian refugees resettled in six Canadian cities. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 35(2), 36–52. https://doi.org/10.7202/1064818ar

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (2016, December). Rapid impact evaluation of the Syrian refugee initiative. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/evaluation/pdf/evaluation-syrian-refugee-initiative.pdf

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (2017a, November). Evaluation of the settlement program. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/evaluations/settlement-program.html

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (2017b). Syrian refugees—Monthly IRCC updates [Open source data]. http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/01c85d28-2a81-4295-9c06-4af792a7c209

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (2019, June). Syrian outcomes report. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/evaluations/syrian-outcomes-report-2019.html

Ives, N., Denov, M., & Sussman, T. (2020). Introduction to social work in Canada: Histories, contexts, and practices (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Ives, N., & Sinha, J. W. (2010). The religious congregation as community partner in refugee resettlement: An overview of theory and practice for social workers. Canadian Social Work, 12(1), 210–217.

Morrice, L., Tip, L. K., Collyer, M., & Brown, R. (2021). “You can’t have a good integration when you don’t have a good communication”: English-language learning among resettled refugees in England. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(1), 681–699. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez023

Nawyn, S. J., Gjokaj, L., Agbényiga, D. L., & Grace, B. (2012). Linguistic isolation, social capital, and immigrant belonging. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 41(3), 255–282. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241611433623

Okyay, A. S. (2017). Labour market integration of Syrian refugees in Germany and Turkey: Challenges and prospects (Global Turkey in Europe working paper 18). https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/gte_wp_18.pdf

Phillimore, J. (2021). Refugee–integration–opportunity structures: Shifting the focus from refugees to context. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(2), 1946–1966. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaa012

Statistics Canada. (2022). Population estimates, July 1, by census metropolitan area and census agglomeration boundaries, 2016. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710013501

Strang, A., & Ager, A. (2010). Refugee integration: Emerging trends and remaining agendas. Journal of Refugee Studies, 23(4), 589–607. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feq046

Tadayon, F., & Khodi, A. (2017). Empowerment of refugees by language: Can ESL learners affect the target culture? TESL Canada Journal, 33(10), 129–137. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v33i0.1250

Tip, L. K., Brown, R., Morrice, L., Collyer, M., & Easterbrook, M. J. (2019). Improving refugee well-being with better language skills and more intergroup contact. Social Psychology and Personality Sciences, 10(2), 144–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617752062

Valenta, M., & Bunar, N. (2010). State assisted integration: Refugee integration policies in Scandinavian welfare states: The Swedish and Norwegian experience. Journal of Refugee Studies, 23(4), 463–483. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feq028

Valtonen, K. (2008). Social work and migration: Immigration and refugee settlement and integration. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315609669

Wilkinson, L., & Garcea, J. (2017). The economic integration of refugees in Canada: A mixed record? Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/TCM-Asylum_Canada-FINAL.pdf