The Impact of Language Learning on Internally Displaced and Refugee Resilience

Year 2018, , 529 - 538, 15.07.2018

Raid Faiq Ameen Emrah Cinkara

https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.3.529

Abstract

One of
the central aspects of displacement and migration is resilience on behalf of
the affected individuals. UNHCR reports that the number of displaced people
around the world reached 65 million by the end of 2015. In another report UNHCR
states that the number of Syrian refugees in Iraq is 233,224. While IOM reports
that the number of the internally displaced persons in Iraq between 2014 and
2016 reached to 3.4 million. As it is crucial to communication and, thus,
survival, language is vital to promoting resilience of such people. Nowadays,
English language learning provides numerous opportunities for individuals to
succeed; hence, it is essential in building resilience among displaced
populations. The current study aimed to explore resilience level of the
displaced adolescents in Iraq, also to verify the impact of English language
learning on their lives. The study has been conducted in camp and non-camp
schools via the delivery of a CD-RISC-25 questionnaire as quantitative method,
followed by interviews as qualitative method. The results concluded that the
participants had medium resilience level, and learning English plays different
roles in building resilience of the participants.

Keywords

Displaced people, refugees, English as a foreign language, Iraq crisis, resilience

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