1. Teaching Refugee and Immigrant Adults: A Focus on the Languages They Speak
Martha Young-Scholten
Newcastle University, England
Belma Haznedar
Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey
Joy Kreeft Peyton
Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC
Symposium on Language, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Vulnerable Populations
New York City, May 11-12, 2017

2. Martha Young-Scholten Newcastle University, England

3. 2012-2018 EU-Speak Project, led by Newcastle University, UK
Teaching Adult Immigrants and Training their Teachers
This presentation has been produced with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The contents are the sole responsibility of the EU-Speak partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the NA and the Commission. Project ref: UK01-KA KA2

4. Migration Flows in Europe and the Middle East
4.7 million people immigrated to one of the 28 EU Member States in 2015
2.4 million were citizens of non-member countries

5. Migration Flows in Europe and the Middle East (of the 4
Migration Flows in Europe and the Middle East (of the 4.7 million immigrants)
631,500
1,543,800
363,900
342,100
280,100
631,500 – United Kingdom
(Eurostat Statistics, 2017)

6. Migration Flows in Europe and the Middle East
Turkey: :
Turkey: 201
5,000,000 asylum seekers
3,200,000 Syrian refugees
(Erdogan, 2017)
Nearly 1,000,000 Syrian refugees left for European countries
Over 40% of the immigrants in Turkey are under 18
(Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015)
Lebanon: over 1,000,000 Syrian refugees
Significant displaced populations from Syria
Jordan: 1,200,000 Syrian refugees
A survey of Syrian refugees. International Rescue Committee

7. Migration Flows in the U.S. 84,994 refugees admitted to the US in 2016
Myanmar (also known as Burma)
Somalia
Syria
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Ukraine
(State Department Worldwide Refugee Admissions Processing System, WRAPS)
Afghanistan
Bhutan
Eritrea
Iran
Iraq
Also Sudan, El Salvador, Ethiopia

8. Adult Learner Population
Around 758 million adults worldwide (15 – 65+ years old) without basic literacy in their home or any other language
65 million displaced persons, in addition to economic and social (e.g., for marriage) migration
(UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2016)
Adults who have limited education and literacy in their country’s language resettle in a country where they need to gain oral proficiency in the country’s language and learn to read for the first time in the language. Not surprisingly, their progress in literacy is considerably slower than that of educated migrants.
(Condelli et al., 2003; Kurvers et al., 2010; Schellekens, 2011; Tarone et al., 2009)

9. Adult Learners With Limited Education and Literacy
These learners come from many different countries and situations.
Other countries include Bhutan, Nepal, and Sudan.
(Eurostat Statistics, 2017)
Top 10 countries
The conflict in Syria continues to be by far the biggest driver of migration.
But the ongoing violence in Iraq, abuses in Eritrea, and poverty in Kosovo are also leading people to look for new lives elsewhere.

10. Concord, NH – From Bhutan and Sudan
Richmond, VA

12. With Focused Professional Development, Effective Instruction is Possible
Newcastle, England
Concord, NH

13. LESLLA: Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults/Adolescents
An international forum (est. 2005) of practitioners, researchers, and policy makers from a range of disciplines who promote the development of second language and literacy skills by adults with little or no formal education prior to immigration.
LESLLA’s annual symposium has attracted thousands
of international and national experts, national
policy makers, and local practitioners with venues
alternating between English- and non-English-speaking
countries. Visit:
Palermo 2018 host; Tilburg 2005 inaugural host ->
Next conference August 10-12, 2017, Portland, Oregon

14. EU-Speak Project
Improve the ability of teachers of adult learners to work successfully with the LESLLA learner population : Workshops by partners to share experience with all components of LESLLA instruction: approaches, methods, materials, assessment, provision, policy, teacher training/professional development : Training/professional development: surveys of those who work with these learners; training and development; curriculum with six online modules; vocabulary module designed by the Cologne partner and piloted in five languages : Design and delivery (twice) of online modules in English, Finnish, German, Spanish, and Turkish

15. EU-Speak Online Modules
Working With LESLLA Learners Virginia Commonwealth University, February 2016/April 26, 2017 Language and Literacy in their Social Contexts University of Jyväskylä, October 2016/May 2017 Bilingualism and Multilingualism Boğaziçi University, May 2016/October 2017 Reading Development from a Psycholinguistic Perspective University of Granada, February 2017/November 2017 Vocabulary Acquisition University of Cologne, May 2017/February 2018 Acquisition and Assessment of Morphosyntax Newcastle & Northumbria Universities, October 2017/April 2018
6 international, multilingual online professional development modules for teachers and volunteers who work with immigrant adults with limited education and literacy, taught in 5 languages. The project partner listed here designed and delivered the module

16. Countries of Module Participants

17. Adult Education Program Focus
Programs typically focus on the learning country’s language and on social and cultural integration into the life of the country. They focus on preparing learners for working and for dealing with the demands of daily life – jobs and survival.
There is limited focus on the languages that adults and their children speak and on the ways they use those languages.
Recent focus on heritage/community/native languages/mother tongues/National Languages of learners is beginning to influence programs and initiatives and to show they how they can focus on, appreciate, and develop their languages.

18. Council of Europe Principles
“VALUE MIGRANTS’ LANGUAGES OF ORIGIN AND THEIR UNIQUE PLURILINGUAL AND PLURICULTURAL IDENTITIES. Their languages of origin play an important role in the integration process. In a plurilingual and intercultural approach to language provision, it is important to show that these languages are valued and to encourage migrants to transmit them to their children in view of their importance as markers of identity and an asset for the whole of society.”
Council of Europe, Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM)
This work is in line with the Council of Europe’s principles related to Migrants.
An example of implementation of this principle is this an Erasmus+-funded project.

19. Including Languages of Origin in the EU-Speak Curriculum
Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey

20. Bilingualism and Multilingualism Week-by-week syllabus
1. Overview of bilingualism: definitions
2. The linguistic development of bilinguals
3. Bilingualism and cognitive development
4. Neurolinguistic perspectives
5. Bilingualism in the community
6. Biliteracy

21. Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Bilingualism and multilingualism of learners
simultaneous bilingualism
successive/sequential bilingualism
receptive/productive bilingualism
societal/family bilingualism
heritage bilingualism
subtractive vs. additive bilingualism
balanced bilingualism
myths about bilingualism
Encourages module participants to explore ways to support learners in maintaining their home/heritage/previous languages.

22. Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Bilingualism and cognitive development
Do bilinguals have cognitive limitations?
Is bilingualism burdensome for children?
Does the child’s mental space get limited with the addition of another language?
Does bilingualism have a positive impact on cognitive development?
Based on the research, there are no reasons to not support bilingualism in language learning.

23. Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Learners as parents of bilingual children Promoting bilingualism/multilingualism through heritage/community language maintenance
Most of the module activities contributed to this topic in some way.

24. Bilingualism and Multilingualism: Activities to raise teachers’ awareness
What languages do your students speak? What languages are spoken in the countries from which they come, and what status do these languages have? Consult find out more. 
Code mixing/switching is a common phenomenon, which demonstrates bilingual speakers’ linguistic creativity. Find two or more bi/multilinguals and observe their code mixing/code switching.
Find out about the writing systems used in the languages that your students speak. Get samples of these and add them to your map.
Ask your students help you make a list of the languages they speak themselves and that they hear in their household and immediate community.

25. Bilingualism and Multilingualism: Activities to promote learners’ languages of origin
How does the wider community support your students’ home languages? Try to find out from your students how proficient their children are in their parents’ (your students’) language of origin. If the children are school-age, we can assume that they are at least starting to become fairly proficient in the host country’s language.
Webinar with Trudie Aberdeen (University of Alberta) and Naeema Hahn (UK) on this topic

26. Bilingualism and Multilingualism Response to Activities
Languages used in the household and the community
Teachers employed various methods to implement the activity, including classroom questionnaires and interviews.
105 participants in 15 countries:
Almost 60% of the teachers completed the activity.
53% of the teachers completed most of the discussion forum questions.

27. Bilingualism and Multilingualism Response to Activities
Languages used in the household and the community
Teachers commented that …
Classroom activities fostered interaction between teachers and learners in the class and gave learners a sense of engagement and agency.
Discussion forums allowed them to gain new knowledge from their fellow participants.

28. Bilingualism and Multilingualism Some Reasons for Joining the Module
I need to have further education in notions of bilingualism/ multilingualism, to find more teaching practices and approaches focused on the needs of this public, to exchange knowledge with other teachers and specialists, and to get more skills in order to help my students.
I would like to keep up to date with teaching methodologies and strategies.
I have over ten years of experience helping low literacy adults who were Canadian born, but I have very little experience with individuals from other countries. I hope I can get a better understanding of these individuals and their needs. I want to do what is best for my students.
I am interested in finding some applications to assist teachers in working with LESLLA adults.
To learn more about learning a second language so I teach my students better.

29. Next Steps:
Each module is being offered a second time – Bilingualism and Multilingualism in October 2017
Online modules will be hosted by LESLLA – can be offered modules locally, online, or face to face (e.g., a group might offer modules as part of a professional development program)
(See LESLLA web page
LESLLA symposium in Portland, OR: A Repository of Heritage Language Resources
Young-Scholten & Peyton (2019). Theory and Practice in Teaching Immigrant Adults With Limited Education and Literacy. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. Will have a chapter on each module.

30. If you would like to participate in or offer a module…
Anyone working with LESLLA learners, anywhere, is invited to participate in any of the modules.
The modules are free, but space is limited.
Contact Us
Visit

31. Resource Repository Connect With Available Resource Collections
Global Book Alliance – books for every child
Bloom Book Library – over 1,000 books in nearly 80 languages
Room to Read
All Children Reading – compilation of digital libraries that provide early grade reading materials
Global Digital Library – development underway
Create an international repository of materials in specific languages – For use in instruction and for individual, pleasure reading
LESLLA could be a contributing repository and might pull from or collaborate with these other efforts.
Bloom Library – a good site to find materials to adapt in new languages and for different populations – its primary purpose is to share books that others can put in their focal language

32. Resource Repository Connect With Those Developing Materials
DigLin: Beginning reading software currently in Dutch, English, Finnish, and German. Using the DigLin template and methodology, stories could be available in heritage languages.
Simply Cracking Good Stories: Beginning fiction, currently in English and Spanish, could be translated into heritage languages.
Teachers in Omaha, Nebraska, working with students and their parents, have created bilingual Karen-English and Nepali-English picture books, in which authors tell stories about their homeland cultures and family experiences. (Yaffe, 2017)
Ask them to collaborate with us by posting their resources in the collection or providing a link to their resources

33. Questions Modules Resource Repository
How might we reach teachers and volunteers working with this population, including in refugee camps?
Resource Repository
Does one need to be developed?
What are additional places to find materials?
What languages are key? (Are they written? Are they standardized?)
How might resources be organized and made available?
How can we collaborate in this endeavor?

34. Thank you! Martha Young-Scholten, Newcastle University Belma Haznedar
Belma Haznedar
Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey
Joy Kreeft Peyton, Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC

35. Collaborating Partners
EU-Speak Project
Project Lead Partner
Martha Young-Scholten, Director Newcastle University, England  
Yvonne Ritchie, Assistant Newcastle University, England
 Collaborating Partners
Nancy Faux Virginia Commonwealth University, U.S.
Belma Haznedar Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
Rola Naeb Northumbria University, England
Andreas Rohde Universitaet zu Köln, Germany
Marcin Sosiński Universidad de Granada, Spain
Minna Suni University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Taina Tammelin-Laine University of Jyväskylä, Finland

36. EU-Speak Project Advisory Board
Paula Bosch University of Amsterdam, Netherlands  
Larry Condelli American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC
Saratu Ishaku Adult education, Gombe State, Nigeria
Joy Kreeft Peyton Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC
Maisa Martin University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Beatrix Groves Training & Development Consultant, England

37. References
Condelli, L., Spruck Wrigley, H., You, K., Seburn, M., & Kronen, S. (2003). What works for adult ESL literacy students. Volume II. Final Report. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research and Aguirre International.
Council of Europe. (2017). Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM).
Erdogan, M. (2017). Urban refugees from ‘detachment’ to harmonization: Syrian refugges and process management of municipalities: The case of Istanbul. Istanbul, Marmara Municipalities Union explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics
Eurostat Statistics. (2017). Migration and migrant population statistics explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics

38. References
Kurvers, J., Stockmann, W., and van de Craats, I. (2010). Predictors of success in adult L2 literacy acquisition. In T. Wall and M. Leong (Eds.), Low-educated second language and literacy acquisition (pp ). Calgary: Bow Valley College.
Schellekens, P. (2011). Teaching and testing the language skills of first and second language speakers. Cambridge: Cambridge ESOL.
Sirin, S. R., & Rogers-Sirin, L. (2015). The educational and mental health needs of Syrian refugee children. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
Solving the refugee employment problem in Jordan: A survey of Syrian refugees. International Rescue Committee. Airbell Center IRC- SyrianRefugeeEmployment-72-dpi pdf

39. References
Tarone, E., Bigelow, M., & Hansen, K. (2009). Literacy and second language oracy. Oxford University Press. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2016). Literacy data release aspx Yaffe, D. (2017, April 11). Breaking school language barriers: Teaching K- 12 students content in native language shows promise, though translations beyond Spanish can be hard to find. District Administration. language-barriers