Language impact on the integration of refugees
From a long time ago, the integration of refugees into the host country’s society has been a topic of discussion within the EU, which has been amplified due to the large influx of refugees in 2015 and 2016.
Before we dive into the details, we need to understand the central terms of this blog: ‘refugee’ (see definition in Grace’s post) and ‘integration’.
Integration is defined as “a dynamic and multi-faceted two-way process which requires efforts by all parties concerned […] and meet the needs of a diverse population”.
In today’s world where immigration is historically high, language has become one of the significant elements that play a key role in the integration process of refugees in the host country, but also a means of expressing your ideas, emotions, and create a sense of inclusivity when adjusting to a different culture. Moreover, it helps refugees to build a more cohesive society in a new country. In our globalized world, language determines your success and your future, opening the doors of opportunities, which would otherwise be difficult.
In order to effectively help refugees with their integration process, the European Commission adopted an action plan for third-country nationals in 2005 from which it is clear that language is a key determinant that decides to what extent refugees can participate and be active in the society of the host country. Therefore, one prominent focus of this plan was the promotion of language training with the aim of enhancing the participation and integration of refugees into their host society.
It is commonly accepted that having a good level in the language of the host country is a fundamental element of integration without which the integration process can be demanding and hard. Hence, the more proficiency one achieves in the language of the host country the better and sooner one will integrate into the society.
Additionally, language proficiency helps to increase the chances of finding jobs and to be socially and politically active. Therefore, it is necessary that refugees gain fluency in the target language to be active and included in society and to prevent inequality and discrimination towards them.
However, research has also indicated that “factors such as age, exposure to language in the host culture, the level of education in one’s country of origin and past traumatic experiences will all contribute to one’s (in)ability to acquire second language proficiency”.
This shows that the existence of barriers that refugees might face while acquiring the language of the host country could delay their integration.
Moreover, there are other barriers to proficiency of the language, namely and among others,
social interaction significantly influences the level of language proficiency. For example: if refugees feel themselves separated from the natives this creates a social distance between the two groups, which can affect language learning as well.
Another factor that can negatively affect the language acquisition of refugees is the time span of their stay in the reception centers. The longer refugees have to stay in reception centers the more they would be kept at a distance from the natives and less exposed to the language. This results in diminishing their language proficiency and therefore serves as one more barrier to their integration into the host society.
As a refugee myself, who possesses a high-level of language proficiency in the country I am currently residing in, I have experienced increased chances in the job market, and have found myself able to easily network with the natives and interact with my neighbors and classmates. These interactions helped me to create a sense of belonging in the society and being part of a wider community that I can associate myself with, which helped me with my integration process into the society as well.
Knowing the language and feeling included in my host society has also enabled me to be very active in participating in social events, academic and political debates, as well as in co-organizing social activities with natives. Due to these interactions and relationships, I have felt more welcomed and as if I am home with my own people. “From a psychological perspective, linguistic ability helps create a sense of belonging and feeling that one is part of a larger community”. As I have described, this accurately reflects my own experience as well. To end on a positive note, the barriers to learn the language were much less for me as I have experienced my language ability to be decisive in overcoming my traumatic experience and other difficulties and connect with the host society.
Therefore, based on my experience I recommend that the key to successful integration and overcoming the infinite barriers, a few of which we discussed here, is to learn the language of the host country.
The more you learn the language the better the outcome for both the host country and the refugees.
With that being said, in order to help host countries facilitate better opportunities for refugees more research and data is needed to indicate the number of refugees that speak the language of the host country. As well, more nuanced data is required to distinguish between different types of immigrants in order to understand the opportunities and barriers experienced and needed for each category.
Hey! I really enjoyed your blog entry, and I think it gives a great insight into the benefits of learning the language. The structure helped me to understand your argumentation and it was super interesting to read something about your own experience and perception of the topic. I agree that language is a key part of integration and often decides whether integration succeeds or not. Nevertheless, there are many boundaries, and many refugees or immigrants who sometimes live in the country for years don’t manage to learn the language. What do you think could governments do to motivate people and increase their willingness to learn the language?
Jana =)
Hey Jana,
Thank you for your comment. I am glad to have shared some insights along with my personal experience that has contributed to your knowledge. Yes indeed, learning the language of the host country is or can be very challenging for refugees or immigrants especially for those who are older and those who are experiencing post-trauma because of their experience, amongst other reasons and barriers.
A good question that cannot be answered very easily however, I believe the motivation to learn the language should initially come from the refugees themselves. But the governments can use various ways to motivate and help refugees to learn the language as well. Such as providing proper schooling according to the level of the education of refugees (theoretically) and provide workshops or voluntary social tasks to allow refugees to engage in the society with natives (practically). It is important that governments (specifically local government) in cooperation with the refugee centers, identify the talents and skills of refugees and provide them with the suitable opportunities, either theoretical or practical, to learn the language. I hope this subjective response has answered your question.
Haroon 🙂
Hello! I found your post very interesting. Especially because I never thought that much about the issue and so the benefit of helping the refugees to learn the language and about all the problematics for a refugee to learn the language. The video is really fitting in your posed considering that is raising your main arguments but also gives further insights. I also like how you defined the most important terms. I have a question considering the baries you mentioned to learn the local language do you consider that a combination between language course and psychological assistance can help refugees to learn the language and so help them to integrat? Do you think that the EU should invest more in teaching the language to refugees considering that this can help the refugees to integrated and Europe to have less problems related to bad integration of minorities?
I want also to thank you for sharing your personal experiences
Hi Rebecca,
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your constructive feedback on video, definition of terms and development of arguments which I do hope to have contributed to the existing knowledge of language learning and its barriers for refugees.
Regarding your questions, it is an interesting question you have raised. Personally, I do believe it is of great help for refugees to have a combination of language courses and psychological assistance. However, it is hard to get psychological help if you do not possess a high level of language to be able to share your feelings and thoughts therefore, I would prioritize language courses for refugees. However, psychological help can also be offered to ensure refugees’ mental health, perhaps with the help of an interpreter, since they are in a stage of post-trauma and they definitely need psychological help.
Regarding your second question, as I mentioned in the blog, the action plan of European Commission for helping refugees with learning the language is a good starting point for helping refugees to learn the language and foster their integration process. There are various opportunities provided by the EU at various levels for refugees to learn the languages, such as free courses and language schools for under 18 youth, specifically, in the Netherlands and Germany. These opportunities definitely help with integration however, practical opportunities such as being able to work, or voluntary jobs, or helping elderlies at an elderly home surely helps to boost their integration process and learning the language by doing. Because as defined in the blog, integration is not a one way process therefore the native society plays an important role in creating these opportunities and assist refugees in their integration process.
I hope to have provided sufficient response to your question, in any case, you know how to reach me for more discussion on this topic!
Haroon 🙂
Hello, I considered your post to be quite insightful. I’ve often wondered how much the language contributed to immigrants’ assimilation into society, but I’ve never had the opportunity to take the time and read a proper article. The evidence you discovered, as well as how you described it, helped to clear my mind regarding the subject. Also, thank you for the informative video and for sharing your own experience. Is there any evidence that the governments from where the immigrants came can assist the migrants in learning and practicing widely spoken languages in the destination countries?
Hello, thank you for your comment. I am delighted that this blog has been useful in providing you information on the assimilation and integration of refugees and immigrants in the host society by learning its language.
It is a very interesting question that you have raised. In short I would say I don’t know, because it depends on the country of origin of the immigrant and that is in itself very hard to find out, especially about each country’s policy and the situation of immigrants, among all other reasons. Adding in to that, I argue that it is very rare that the country of origin helps the immigrants to learn the language of the host country or the widely spoken languages in the destination country. It largely depends on the host country to provide and facilitate platforms, language courses and other ways to help immigrants and refugees to learn the language of the host country, especially if refugees or immigrants are planning on staying in the host country to become a citizen.
I can not really touch upon this topic in depth as it is not part of my topic in this blogpost, however, if you know about this topic and would like to share your knowledge, it would be helpful for me and other readers as it is indeed an intriguing question.
Hope to have shed some light on to your question!
Haroon 🙂
Dear Haroon,
Your post has been a contribution to the field in terms of integrating those migrants that have language deficiency. However, observing my mother which lives now for more than 30 years here in the Netherlands, she still has problems with making herself clear in speaking Dutch. My father has sent my mother to various courses with little effect. I believe that the main problem which my mother encountered was her surroundings. I believe that if, you watch, in our case; Turkish series, listen to Turkish music, socialize only with Turkish people you will never understand, learn the language. She is 45 years old now, which kind of advice can you give her in letting her improve her language deficiency.
My sincerity,
Emre Cavusoglu
Dear Emre,
Thank you very much for your comment and sharing a real life example on the topic of learning language of the host country by immigrants or refugees.
It is indeed very interesting to learn about other factors as well, that why your mother has not been able to master the Dutch language, before I provide my advice on how she can improve her language skills.
According to the data you provided, your mother was 15 years old when she came to the Netherlands, and as she was underaged (under 18 years old) according to the educational system of the Netherlands she must have started with her education starting by learning the language at a specific language school and then continuing to secondary and then to higher education.
In this case if she has followed Dutch system of education then she should have been fluent by now with no issues on her language. Now, I assume that there has been other factors playing role, other than the factors you have provided, that hinders her to master the language in this long period of time.
However, one specific advice that I can give is to help your mom find a suitable job where she is surrounded by native speakers and not by Turkish speakers so she wouldn’t have the chance to speak Turkish with anyone except when she is with her family and friends.
On top of that, another good idea is that she starts doing voluntary works, that would enhance her participation in the society and have positive influence on her language. In both of these provided advices, she would have the most exposure to the Dutch language and hopefully would help her to master the language and to communicate in Dutch easily.
I hope to have provided sufficient information and do please let know what you think about my advices.
Haroon 🙂