The Linguistic Integration of Refugees in Italy

Rosella Bianco and Mónica Ortiz Cobo
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Rosella Bianco: Institute for Migration Research, University of Granada, 18151 Granada, Spain
Mónica Ortiz Cobo: Department of Sociology, Institute for Migration Research, University of Granada, 18151 Granada, Spain

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: The creation of laws regarding the linguistic integration of migrants has contributed to the change in Italian language teaching, which has had to adapt its materials and methodology to migrants. However, the specific case of refugees has not been specifically assessed, with the exception of experimentation with the Council of Europe toolkit for refugees. This paper aimed to study the linguistic integration of adult refugees in Italy by conducting an ethnography through participant observation and semi-structured interviews between Italian language teachers and refugees. The results of this work show both the teachers’ perceptions of the refugees’ linguistic integration and the refugees’ perceptions of linguistic integration practice. The conclusions highlight the need for more hours of Italian language courses as well as lessons based on specific integration needs. Moreover, this study emphasizes that the integration practice itself implies language learning. A final consideration is made concerning the current integration situation of refugees in Italy.

Keywords: refugees; integration; Italy; Italian; education; language (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:8:y:2019:i:10:p:284-:d:275045

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