The linguistic integration of refugees in Italy.

Abstract

The creation of laws regarding the linguistic integration of the migrants (Pulinx et al. 2014) has contributed to the change of the Italian language teaching, which had to adapt its materials and methodology to the migrants (Minuz et al. 2016; Minuz and Borri 2016; Borri et al. 2014; Balboni 2008). However, the specific case of the refugees has been not specifically assessed except by the experimentation of the Council of Europe toolkit for the refugees (Council of Europe 2014). This paper aims to study the linguistic integration of the adult refugees in Italy, by conducting an ethnography. A participant observation has been made in Italian language classes attended by refugees. Moreover, semi-structured interviews have been conducted between Italian language teachers and refugees. The results of this work show both the teachers' perceptions over the refugees’ linguistic integration and the linguistic integration practice as told by the refugees. The conclusions highlight the need for more hours of Italian language courses, as well as lessons based on specific integration needs. On the other hand, the study emphasizes that the integration practice itself implies language learning. A final consideration is made over the current refugees’ integration situation in Italy.