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Book Cover for: Meeting the Needs of Reunited Refugee Families: An Ecological, Multilingual Approach to Language Learning, Sarah Cox

Meeting the Needs of Reunited Refugee Families: An Ecological, Multilingual Approach to Language Learning

Sarah Cox

This book explores the gap between policy, practice and academic literature within language learning for refugees and argues that a multilingual approach, which combines translanguaging principles, decolonising methodology and linguistic hospitality, provides a more accessible starting point than current monolingual pedagogies. It considers the multilingual and multilateral approach laid out within Scotland's New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy, which recognises the importance of linguistic diversity and two-way integration. The divide between policy, practice and theory points towards the need to counteract the dominant monolingual/social cohesion narrative through suitable pedagogies which highlight linguistic diversity in a positive way. The author suggests 'ecologising' as an alternative language pedagogy, drawing on three key findings: the significance of decolonising, collaborative learner/teacher relationships during the liminal phase of refugee arrival; the importance of place and orientation; and an increased understanding of language and 'languaging'.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Multilingual Matters Limited
  • Publish Date: Nov 14th, 2023
  • Pages: 256
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.21in - 6.14in - 0.63in - 1.16lb
  • EAN: 9781800414600
  • Categories: Emigration & ImmigrationLinguistics - GeneralStudy & Teaching

About the Author

Cox, Sarah: -

Sarah Cox is a Research Fellow at The Open University, UK and an Affiliate Researcher at the University of Glasgow, UK. She has over 20 years' experience working in English language teaching in the UK and abroad and has worked in the third sector managing ESOL provision for New Scots in Glasgow for 16 years. She holds a PhD in Education which she completed with the UNESCO Chair Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

Praise for this book

Sarah Cox gracefully weaves together hitherto disparate strands of scholarship in this exciting, methodologically rigorous treatment of language ecology, multilingualism, translanguaging, and learner identities. Her study exposes the weaknesses and fissures in well-meaning instruction for newcomers, particularly as it impacts women. She then develops a compassionate, decolonised pedagogy representing genuine linguistic hospitality through which learners are truly heard and the teacher becomes the learner.
Cox's book is an act of historical witness in an age of state-engineered hostility toward people seeking refuge. Throughout, Cox makes plain that hope isn't just a feeling; it is a material, multilingual, ecological, collaborative, and political activity. This is a gorgeous picture of love, vigilance, humility, and courage on so many levels - from Cox's own voice as a teacher and researcher, to the many careful drafters raising expectations across Scotland for better, deeply humane civic policy.
This book invites the reader into a journey of personal connection and stories with warmth and languages. Sarah Cox creates a unique process of research by engaging and providing space for people to share their experiences, and to do so in a spirit of togetherness and patience with one another.