Innovation in Language Learning

The United States has long been a country for immigrants to seek refuge from segregation and oppression, from all around the world. Currently, the United States is the most “linguistically, culturally, religiously” and an “ethnically diverse nation in world history” (Howard, 2010, p. 39-40; Galbraith, 1996, p. 70; Prewitt, 2002 as cited in Spinelli, 2008, p. 101). According to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one person in five (or 47 million U.S. residents age five and older) spoke a language other than English at home in the year 2000 (U.S. Census, 2010).

The United States sees resettlement in a third country as a durable solution for the world’s most vulnerable refugees (U.S. Department of State, 2015; UNHCR, 2015). In Fact, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) provides the opportunity of resettlement of refugees worldwide regardless of their “national origin, health status, occupational skills, or level of educational attainment” (U.S Department of State, 2015, p. 1).

Refugees resettled to the United States, however, face numerous obstacles entering higher education and obtaining a college degree. Education, including higher education, is a means of enabling refugees to effectively acculturate in their new country as well as become self-sufficient, which provides avenues for social engagement, enhancing refugees’ social and cultural capital (Mosselson, 2002, Ager & Strang, 2004, McBrien 2005, Roxas 2008). Researchers indicate that education is crucial for restoring social and emotional healing (Huyck & Fields, 1981; Sinclair, 2001 as cited in McBrien 2005). 

Education is a means of enabling refugees to acculturate leading towards becoming self-sufficient in their new country (Mosselson, 2002a; Ager & Strang, 2004). Thus, education is considered both an indicator of integration and a means of attaining it. Various factors enable and constrain the self-sufficiency and integration process, including but not limited to the English language, educational background, and sociocultural status (Mosselson, 2002a; McBrien, 2005a; Clark, 2007; Ager & Strang, 2004; Roxas, 2008; Clipper, 2008). English language fluency is an important aspect of self-sufficiency as it provides access to economic, political resources and power (Hoyles, 1977). Furthermore, education is considered an essential self-sufficiency tool, where English language proficiency is the “overriding importance” toward self-sufficiency (Stewart, 1993, p. 50). For the refugee populations, post-secondary education is an outlet toward self-sufficiency because many Refugee Resettlement Programs rely on short-term and inadequate grants, which in turn provide uncoordinated services to refugees (Dawood, 2011 as cited in Patnaik, 2014).

This paper challenges the deficit discourse in educational research by demonstrating various factors that enable and constrain the self-sufficiency and integration process of refugee students, including but not limited to the English language, educational background, and sociocultural status (Mosselson, 2002a; McBrien, 2005a; Clark, 2007; Ager & Strang, 2004; Roxas, 2008; Clipper, 2008).