8 Localizing Supranational Concepts of Literacy in Adult Second Language Teaching

Abstract

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Integration policies and adult second language learning in Finland

“…The explicit aim of this assessment is to better support individual learning paths and aims. In the interviews we carried out with various stakeholders, this assessment procedure was mostly seen as welcome, particularly by teachers, but it was also criticized for being a political tool that served as a means of creating new categories for social selection (Holm and Pöyhönen 2012).…”

“…In addition, the view of adult second language learning underpinning the Curriculum and pedagogical practice has been strongly criticized for not taking into account, among other things, the complex, changing, and dynamic nature of literacies in contemporary life and their role in identity construction. (Holm and Pöyhönen 2012. ) Moreover, the physical layout of classrooms, such as those we have observed in our research, and the asymmetric relation of power between teacher and students inevitably shape the lived experiences of teaching and learning and contribute to the reproduction of dominant discourses about what counts as legitimate knowledge and skills and what counts as being a student in integration training courses.…”

“…Different stakeholders (policy makers, civil servants, teachers, migrants, employers) have different views on the aims and means of appropriation of policies of migration and integration. As we have tracked the discourses on migration and integration over the last five years or so, it has become clear that they are in a state of flux and are sometimes contradictory (Holm & Pöyhönen 2012).…”

Adult migrant language education in a diversifying world

“…Once adult migrants have arrived, their education is considered in social policy to be an effective tool to assure their better integration into their host countries. In many places however, such education is narrowly defined as language instruction, and basic vocational education; this is despite migrants already often having an academic background, being multilingual, and possessing extensive work experience (for a critical discussion of these issues in Denmark, see Holm & Pöyhönen 2012). A pattern internationally is that the capabilities migrants possess are not recognised in the new country and that they are assumed to need to acquire further skillsabove all language skillsonce they arrive (Extra et al 2009).…”

Adult Language Education and Migration

“…Different stakeholders (policy makers, civil servants, teachers, migrants, employers) have different views on the aims and means of appropriation of policies of migration and integration. As we have tracked the discourses on migration and integration over the last five years or so, it has become clear that they are in a state of flux and are sometimes contradictory (Holm and Pöyhönen 2012).…”