Interaction, language learning and social inclusion in early settlement

Language Learning and Integration of Adult Bhutanese Refugees: An Ethnographic Study

“…Several SLA researchers have stressed the significance of interaction beyond the classroom context for developing learners' communicative competence in the target language (Norton Pierce, 1995;Spolsky, 1988;Chiswick & Miller, 1995 These findings are in line with the previous studies (Norton Pierce, 1995;Yates, 2011), which have shown that the learners' investment in a second language is largely shaped by the immediate social context in which they find themselves in. Despite the high motivation and interest some Bhutanese had, their investment in their identity as a language learner was constrained by the social, cultural and linguistic limitations imposed on them by their bonding kinship and ethnic networks.…”

Maintenance, identity and social inclusion narratives of an Afrikaans speaker living in New Zealand

“…Social inclusion for him plays out on different intersecting domains, including (a) the home, family and neighbourhood, (b) the South African community, (c) his workplace, and (d) New Zealand society at large. His sense of affiliation, belonging and being valued (Yates 2011) within these domains, mediated by his language choice and use, means that in some contexts (e.g. microinterpersonal and macro-sociopolitical) he feels a sense of inclusion -thus moving in one direction along the inclusion continuum.…”

“…If Gert does indeed begin to experience inclusion it is within two intersecting domains. Firstly, it appears that he senses (with prodding from his son's friend) recognition and respect from the "they" in the small story -the wider New Zealand society; inclusion here being the quality of reception by members of the host community (see Yates 2011). Secondly, the story shows that Gert has decided that he no longer needs to "pretend" to be Kiwi for instrumental and emotional reasons, and that, with some relief possibly, he can retreat to his work-related network embedded within the South African community to seek inclusion there.…”

“…The social networks they establish and maintain, via the dominant language of the community, have significant implications for their social inclusion. Yates's (2011) research in Australia, for example, found that some migrants existed in "ethnic bubbles" (she cites the use of this term in a study by Colic- [2002] of the experiences of cultural and emotional integration, or the lack thereof, of Croatian migrants in Western Australia), whereby they found refuge (security, affiliation, safety) within their own ethnic group's social networks. They did not seek social connections beyond these networks, and so felt disaffiliated from the broader English-speaking society.…”

“…Social inclusion is therefore not only about migrants overcoming settlement challenges but also "valued recognition", respect and acknowledgement (Yates 2011: 460) by communities in these contexts. Both Yates (2011) and Piller and Takahashi (2011) argue that language mediates access to social inclusion. It is widely assumed that language competence is linked to social inclusion (e.g., being a proficient English speaker in New Zealand makes it easier to engage in education and employment and attain a sense of achievement and belonging), or that linguistic assimilation "is the high road to social inclusion" (Piller and Takahashi 2011: 372).…”