Development and current challenges of language courses for immigrants in Sweden

Abstract

Sweden has been the target country for migrants and refugees for many decades now. One important tool for the integration of newcomers is the language classes called ‘Svenska för invandrare’ (Swedish for Immigrants). The aim of this article is to answer how Swedish for Immigrants has developed to respond to changes in attitudes to integration and to migration patterns since the 60s (not only as a result of European migration crisis in 2015) and analyse the challenges the system is currently facing. The article outlines the development of the language courses, explores the challenges against the current model and discusses the current state today. It also gives an insight into problems connected with the marginalisation of immigrants in Sweden. The article uses official documents and statistics to draw a picture of the system itself, while analysing the contemporary situation with the help of up-to-date sources, reports and newspaper articles to show that Sweden, often used as a model state for its integration policy, has got limits in this type of education.

Language teachers’ accounts of challenges in two European settings of integration training

“…Teachers face conflicting professional roles and create coping strategies (Becker, 2014). Closely related research in the Swedish context describes a transformative effect of second language instruction for both students and teachers and calls for more opportunities for teachers to influence at the local and national levels (Colliander, 2018, 2019; see also Öbrink Hobzová, 2021).…”