Integration policies
Blog by Kaatje Dalderop, Live Grinden, Terje Hellesen, Hannelore Hooft, Cosima Lemke, Louise Shepperd & Theresa Wall
Integration policies
Over recent years, many countries in the global North have implemented ever stricter resettlement and civic integration policies. This affects learners in the first place, but it also shapes the classroom reality for practitioners, who are expected to take requirements into account and closely witness their impact on learners’ lives. And how is that for researchers? In a recent LESLLA focused PhD-group meeting, we discussed the topic ‘Policy’.
We intended to discuss a number of topics, including:
Our role and responsibility regarding policy as a researcher;
What do we learn from our studies regarding LESLLA policy;
How in your context policy influences the experiences of LESLLA learners;
How do policies influence LESLLA teachers.
In order to establish an understanding of each others’ contexts, we started (and ended) with a round in which we briefly sketched the policy in our home countries. The meeting was attended by researchers from Norway, Belgium, Canada, Germany, UK and the Netherlands. This blogpost will therefore certainly not be exhaustive, it only gives a brief and somewhat simplified impression of the policies in these countries. In an attempt to reduce complexity we will specifically focus on policies regarding people from refugee backgrounds. We will address three questions:
How is civic integration organized?
What about citizenship?
Are there any facilities specific for LESLLA learners?
For language levels, we will refer to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001). For those who are not familiar with this framework: The levels relevant in this context are called A1, A2, and B1, with B reflecting more advanced competence.
In Norway, civic integration is state funded. Participation in an integration program is mandatory for refugees new to Norway. Being absent from school involves a salary deduction. In order to obtain permanent residency, an A1-level for oral skills is required. Courses are free of charge but learners pay for exams if they do not pass the test at the first attempt.
The requirement for citizenship is a B1-level for the oral skills.
LESLLA learners can participate in language courses longer than highly educated learners. Recently, an option was introduced to grant exemptions to LESLLA learners. But it is a vulnerable system by relying on individuals to confirm that LESLLA learners need an exemption and on the judgement of the employee in the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration to grant exemption. So far, no LESLLA learners seems to have been exempted.
In Belgium, civic integration is mandatory for those who are recognized as refugees. Refugees have to reach A2 during their integration contract and two years after integration, B1 needs to be demonstrated for the oral skills. The A2-certification is also a requirement for social housing and other facilities. Recently, standardized test have been developed. Learners pay a fee for the course as well as for taking the exams. LESLLA learners can be exempted from civic integration duty for language learning if they are considered to have reached their ‘ceiling’ and are labeled ‘no longer progressing’ or ‘of limited learning capacities’, but there are a number of consequences. After exemption, learners will have no more access to certified language courses. They also can’t fulfill their integration contract, but are exempt from the consequences of this. For Belgian Citizenship, though it depends on the type of application, proof of an A2 level in one of the national languages (Dutch, French or German) can be requested.
In the UK, ESOL provision and policy is fragmented. A large proportion of provision is provided by non-governmental and non-profit organisations, including charities, community groups and volunteers. While English language proficiency is given central importance in integration policy, funding has been substantially cut and continues to fall. There are long waiting lists for ESOL classes and lack of funding is one of the main causes. Additional funding for language provision has been released at certain points to support specific resettlement schemes, e.g. Syrian Vulnerable Resettlement Scheme. Individual refugees are to a large extent responsible for learning the language and finding their way in the society, with many struggling to access language and literacy classes. For citizenship, a B1 level or above is required. Although, there are exemptions related to refugee status and humanitarian protection.
In Germany, the bigger groups of refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Ukraine. Newcomers to Germany can take part in so-called integration courses. The target level is B1, for literacy learners this is A2 and additional literacy classes are scheduled. An integration course of 700 lessons costs an average of 1540 euros. Those who successfully complete the course within two years are reimbursed half of the costs.
Some must, some can take part in the integration courses. Social welfare recipients who do not have reached the target level in German may be obliged to attend. Non-participation or early drop-out is sanctioned with reductions in social benefits. Dropping out of the course can also have a negative impact on residency status.
To obtain German citizenship, proof of B1 level is required. In addition, there is a test on the history, politics and German society that applicants for citizenship have to pass. Due to illness, age or other stresses, proof of language proficiency can also be waived.
In order to enter Germany via a family reunion, a level A1 in German must be proven. Only parents of minor children in Germany, persons entitled to asylum and recognised refugees are exempt.
In Canada, a range of services are provided to newcomers, including a language program that is called LINC: Language Instruction to Newcomers in Canada. LINC has two streams of levels to account for the different needs of adult learners with prior formal schooling and those of literacy learners. Portfolio Based Language Assessment is used to keep track of learners’ progress and identify learners’ Canadian Language Benchmarks. For citizenship, a formal test must be passed, which is usually beyond LESLLA learners’ reach. If learners fail the test for a number of times, they may be offered a special route. After having required citizenship, access to LINC classes and settlement services expires.
In the Netherlands, as in many other European countries, civic integration is mandatory for people with refugee status. A new law entered into force since the beginning of 2022. Under this law, the general level required for civic integration has been increased from A2 to B1, but at the same time a track for LESLLA learners was developed, called ‘self-sustainability track’. People enrolled in this track follow a program with language, literacy and community based activities. For this track, there is no preset target level and no exams. The requirement for citizenship is A2 for all skills and LESLLA learners can be exempted for the duty to pass tests. Policy makers intent to increase the level to B1 with no exemption options.
We had only an hour and after exchanging about our contexts, time was up. There is more to discuss about it and we certainly will find a place and a time to follow up on this discussion.
In preparation for this meeting, we shared the following documents and websites: this special issue and MIPEX 2020 .
Further reading:
Abbott, M., Lee, K. & Ricioppo, S. (2021). Does Portfolio-Based Language Assessment Align with Learning-Oriented Assessment? Evidence from Literacy Learners and their Instructors. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique appliquée, 24(2), 260–285. https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2021.31338
Carlsen, C. H., & Rocca, L. (2021). Language Test Misuse. Language Assessment Quarterly, 18(5), 477–491. https://doi-org.galanga.hvl.no/10.1080/15434303.2021.1947288
Flores, J. A. A. (2021). The Interplay of Text and Image on the Meaning-making Processes of Adult L2 Learners with Emerging Literacy: Implications for Test Design and Evaluation Frameworks. Language Assessment Quarterly, 18(5), 508–529. https://doi.org.galanga.hvl.no/10.1080/15434303.2021.1984491
Foster, D. & Bolton, P. (2018). Adult ESOL in England. House of Commons Library, UK Parliament
Pulinx, R., & Van Avermaet, P. (2015). Integration in Flanders (Belgium) – Citizenship as achievement: How intertwined are ‘citizenship’ and ‘integration’ in Flemish language policies? Journal of Language and Politics, 14(3), 335–358. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.14.3.02pul
Simpson, J., & Hunter, A. M. (2023). Policy formation for adult migrant language education in England: national neglect and its implications. Language Policy, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09655-6
Further information about Germany:
https://mediendienst-integration.de/fileadmin/Dateien/infopapier_integrationskurse_2022.pdf
https://www.integrationsbeauftragte.de/ib-de/ich-moechte-mehr-wissen-ueber/einbuergerung/testen-sie-ihr-wissen-1872128
https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/DE/2023/01/asylantraege2022.html
