Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies

Reviewing research methods on adult migrants’ digital literacy

Nicolas Guichon — 2024-06-10

This article presents a selective literature review covering the period from 2016 to 2023, focusing on research published in peer-reviewed journals, to examine the methodologies employed in investigating the digital literacy of adult migrants and refugees. Three distinct approaches emerged: digital use study, ethnography, and pedagogical experimentation and intervention. These methods offer unique perspectives and complement each other in exploring how digital literacy can empower migrants to actively engage in the evolving digital landscape and facilitate language learning. The findings from a subset of 14 studies included in this review were categorized into a digital literacy taxonomy, aiming to inform language teaching practices tailored to the needs of migrants. This research addresses the urgent need for adapting language teaching and curricula in host countries to accommodate the increasing global migration and digitalization of learning. Additionally, suggestions for future research directions are provided to gain a deeper understanding of the specific digital literacy needs of this population and enhance the linguistic skills and social inclusion of newcomers.

Centering indigenous knowledge through multimodal approaches in English first additional language learning

Petronella Nondumiso Nompilo Machimana — 2024-06-10

In this article, we address findings from a study conducted with high school learners in Gauteng, South Africa. It explored the strategies used by learners when learning English as a First Additional Language (EFAL). We used a conceptualisation of Ubuntu as a lens through which to explore EFAL learning. Data collection included an open-ended questionnaire and non-participant observation. Participants were purposefully sampled from peer-tutoring organisations around Gauteng. The key findings, which include the use of indigenous poetry, dance and storytelling by learners, highlight the need to include indigenous practices in the language classroom. Learners also showed a preference for cooperative learning and for using humour as a strategy for EFAL learning. We argue that the silencing of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) perpetuates epistemic violence by limiting the resources available for learning. Therefore, more should be done in the EFAL classroom to ensure the inclusion of IKS. Through the findings of this study, we propose that including Ubuntu values and IKS in the curriculum is imperative if educational outcomes are to be improved, as these systems allow learners to become more involved and engaged in their own learning. This will re-centre African voices and valorise indigenous epistemologies.

English as a gatekeeper

Jenny Bergström — 2024-06-10

This paper investigates power structures in English-language education within Sweden's Language Introduction Program (LIP). In Swedish society, a high proficiency in English plays an important role in accessing further education and the job market. Inadequate proficiency in English can lead to inequality in education, and thus to inequality in society in a long-term perspective. The methodology of this study is based on linguistic ethnography using interview data from seven semi-structured individual interviews with principals, mentors, a student counselor, and a special-needs educator involved in LIP at a Swedish school. Foucauldian perspectives of power and Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis are used to examine power structures and language ideologies within the organization. The results show how LIP’s organizational structures disadvantage the international language of English. Furthermore, power structures of governmentality within the organization steer students towards vocational programs rather than of theoretical programs

“Only this time in English”

Nuranindia Endah Arum — 2024-06-10

While English is widely used as the working language in multinational companies, local languages still play an important role in the workplace. This puts international employees in a difficult position, as they face pressure to become competent in the local language in addition to being proficient in English. This paper aims to shed light on the language learning experience of migrant engineers in Norway by exploring their investment (Darvin & Norton, 2015) in learning Norwegian and its interplay with their language learning trajectories. The analysis of the participants’ autobiographic narrative accounts (Pavlenko, 2007) shows that different workspaces lead to different ideologies at play and a shifting value of linguistic capital over time. The reported language practices in the workplace devalue the participants’ English language capital and create pressure for them to use Norwegian for work. Despite the participants’ investment in learning the local language(s), it does not always translate to a sense of belonging and career progression due to ideologies that marginalize these migrant employees, such as raciolinguistic ideologies (Alim et al., 2016). This study provides new insights into the lived experience of highly skilled professionals as learners of languages other than English in multinational companies.

A qualitative study on identity work and positioning of a Swedish-speaking Finn in the Swiss diaspora

Jessica Rosenberg — 2024-06-10

This study examines a Swedish-speaking Finn’s identity work and positionings in the Swiss diaspora. Based on a qualitative case study approach this study analyses three interviews with a Swedish-speaking Finn, Lia. Using positioning theory as a framework, six central positions that shape Lia’s identity construction were found: patriotic, distanced, diasporic, settled, emotional, and mediated. These positions manifest through her interactions, linguistic environment, and cultural attachments. They shed light on Lia’s complex relationship with her native Finland and adoptive Switzerland, revealing strategies she employs to negotiate her sense of self. Linguistic resources, social networks, and digital communication are vital tools in her identity work. The findings showed that a broader national, Finnish identity in the diaspora setting overshadowed Lia’s identity as a Swedish-speaking Finn. However, preserving and mediating her mother tongue, Swedish, remained paramount. The study illustrates the experiences of this linguistic minority navigating identity in a non-native setting and highlights the significance of the mother tongue when its use is not self-evident.

“We don’t have it in my mother tongue”

Unni Soltun Andreassen — 2024-06-10

This study explores the experiences and evolving stance of a newly arrived adolescent student, Hamid, regarding the use of his first language as a tool for learning in the transition from introduction classes to vocational education and training (VET). The article is based on fieldnotes and interviews from a larger linguistic ethnographic fieldwork and draws on a critical sociolinguistic framework. It reveals that while Hamid initially intended to distance himself from his first language upon transitioning to the mainstream school system, it ultimately emerges as an indispensable linguistic capital for navigating the language and literacy practices of VET. Such a finding challenges prevailing educational policy and practice in Norway, which prioritizes linguistic scaffolding based on students’ first language(s) only at the outset of their educational trajectories and assumes its diminishing relevance over time spent in the country. In the analysis, Bourdieu's (1977) concept of capital is employed as a conceptual lens to interpret Hamid’s experiences and reflections. Furthermore, the study considers how scaffolding (Bruner, 1966) and disciplinary literacy interact and influence Hamid’s stance.

Vocational teachers as policy actors

Mari J. Wikhaug Andersen — 2024-06-10

Linguistic diversity has become a focus in the Norwegian National Curriculum (LK20), which establishes students experiencing “multilingualism as a resource” as a policy intention. This study explores if and how this policy intention corresponds with teachers’ experiences and practices in mainstream vocational education and training (VET). Using the concept of policy enactment developed by Ball et al. (2012) as a theoretical and analytical framework, I analyze the curricular aims set by the LK20 Core Curriculum and a subject-specific VET curriculum, comparing them to the teaching practices reflected in interview data gathered through linguistic ethnographic fieldwork in mainstream Norwegian VET programs in 2020 and 2021. My findings show that (a) the National Curriculum positions vocational teachers as subject-specific, mainly Norwegian-oriented language teachers held to ensure the enactment of “multilingualism as a resource”, even though most vocational teachers are not trained in language education, and that (b) vocational teachers act as interpreters, translators, and relatively passive receivers of language-related policies, also frequently assuming critical positions towards these policies and some organizational features of the educational institution. The study highlights the ambiguous and challenging positions vocational teachers find themselves in, emphasize the necessity of more multilingually-oriented approaches to mainstream vocational education, and show that for language-related policy intentions like “multilingualism as a resource” to be enacted, it is imperative to provide policy actors like vocational teachers with sufficient suitable resources.