To Örebro University

This descriptive paper is based on a desk review to unpack the opportunities and challenges that migrants face in constructing and maintaining meaningful lives in their transition and destination countries. The paper explores factors that affect inclusion and draws insights on the general and targeted support for migrants in their new environment. The findings show that migrants face challenges of being perceived deficient by most stakeholders in migration. Most strategies for inclusion do not factor migrants’ involvement and are often designed from the lens of the host governments and the organizations working with migrants. There is more focus on migrants’ experience in the destination countries than their experience during transition. It also emerged that migrants’ individual characteristics interact with factors in their new environment to affect inclusion. To achieve sustainable futures, the paper recommends interventions that focus on engagement of migrants as resourceful persons in development and enhance their opportunities for inclusion during transition and in the destination countries.

This study explores the use of digital multiliteracies by migrants with varied literacy skills in Kenya and in Sweden. The research questions are: What digital multiliteracy resources are used by migrants in Kenya and in Sweden in different contexts, and what are the attitudes to these resources? The material consists of semi-structured interviews of 9 informants in Sweden and 8 in Kenya. The interviews have been analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The findings show that many of the digital resources used in the two countries are similar. However, migrants in Kenya employ more digital resources in education and use of some functions are more common in Kenya. Factors relating to physical location, digital infrastructure, digital skills, and information safety emerged as possible explanations for migrants’ attitudes and use of digital technologies. Migrants, especially in Kenya show a broad knowledge of digital multiliteracy. Even migrants with short education use a variety of. digital resources. Based on the findings, the study concludes that digital resources are instruments of migration, integration, and tools for meeting life needs in particular contexts.

This paper explores refugees’ sense of agency on integration through digital literacy and the use of digital technologies in Kakuma refugee camp. The qualitative method involved content analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with 8 purposively sampled participants who reside in the camp. The analyses focused on the resources provided by mobile phone, computer and reading tablet and the life goals enabled by the technologies that enhance refugees’ sense of agency in integration. The findings show that most participants use mobile phone more often than computer and reading tablet. From the analyses, three life goals emerged; social relationship, effective task performance and recreation. The paper concludes that digital literacy and the enabled life goals provide opportunities for refugees to experience a sense of agency, belonging and wellbeing. Based on the findings, the paper recommends vocational training for refugees on the use of digital technologies to support integration with the global community and to help them achieve their life goals.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how teachers perceive teaching a pluri-centric national minority language, in this case Swedish as a second language in Finland, and in comparison, with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish teachers views on teaching national majority languages as second language. The research method that is used in this study consists of qualitative analysis of professional terminology in second language teachers' description of their own teaching and of classroom observations of their teaching. The material includes 13 interviews conducted with second-language teachers and field notes from classroom observations in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The result show that teachers in Finland did not demonstrate any awareness of that Swedish is a pluricentric national minority language in Finland. None of the Finnish interviews used any explicit terminology regrading pluricentric language but only common terms such as grammar, pronunciation, illiteracy etc. No distinctions were made between teaching Swedish as second language, a minority language or national language. Everything was simply called Swedish. All interviews also favored a monolingual teaching approach. The Finnish teachers’ strategy is most consistent with views of teachers teaching non pluricentric language in Denmark. The view on teaching Swedish as second language in Finland differed most from the views of teaching Swedish as second language in Sweden. The scope of the results and research prospects can be used to improve understanding of the complexities of teaching second language in different contexts.

This study investigates language use in political debates. It takes a closer look at linguistic markers of expressivity and truthmaking on word level in a presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The results show clear differences between these two debaters. Trump uses expressive language more extensively than Biden. Examples of markers that Trump uses more often than Biden are rein-forcing: very, much, super, totalizing: all, every, never, mental: know, think, want, verbal: tell, talk, say, hypothetical: if, could, would, and self-reference: I, me. Ex-amples of markers that Biden uses more often that Trump are reinforcing: more, totalizing: none, mental: feel verbal: ask, hypothetical: should, and self-reference: my. All in all, Trump uses these kinds of linguistic resources both more often and in lager clusters. There is also a difference between Trump and Biden in their choice of markers from the same group, for example between know (Trump) and feel (Biden), and between tell (Trump) and ask (Biden). The methodological results show that our current constellation of linguistic markers is effective as an analytical tool and highlights the importance of expressivity, in relation to empirical and logical truth, as a crucial component of truthmaking in political debates.

Purpose of Work: The aim of this pilot study is to explore the significance of different local contexts for classification of the learning of a minority language, in this case the possibilities of applying the term second language on Finland Swedish in Finland.

Research Questions: Is it possible to use the term second language when learning Finland Swedish in different regional contexts in Finland? What are the theoretical implications of the results?

The Research Methods: The method is rational reconstruction. The included terminology and the context of its application are illustrated through a fictitious case study that is used as a heuristic tool.

The Material: Official national documents.

The Result: The results show that contextual prerequisites differ considerably between varieties of Finland Swedish in Finland and that these differences are crucial for adequate terminological choices. Examples of this are that there are no clear cases when the learning of Finland Swedish can be accounted as second language learning. Åland and Nerpes are examples of these unclear cases while Helsinki is an example of a case where second language learning is impossible. The results indicate that there is a need for more research on the applicability of common linguistic terminology on small minority languages.

The Scope of the Results and Research Prospects: The results point out the need of new research in order to develop a more contextual sensitive terminology in case of small minority languages.

The purpose of the work is to investigate linguistic methods for detailed analyzes of rationality and to explore their usefulness, in this current study by analyzing how Nordic language teachers rationalize their views on second language. The research methods consist of explorative qualitative analysis of focus group interviews by using linguistic markers of different rationality forms on a word level.The material consists of focus group interviews of second-language teachers in Finland, Denmark and Sweden.The result show that all interviewed teachers in the Nordic countries favored a monolingual view on second language learning, which is in opposition to the national curricula in one of the Nordic countries that advocates multilingualism, and in addition, despite that one of the countries has two national languages.

Issues in minority education in relation to citizenship have received more attention lately, because of new requirements for language testing in several countries (Bevelander, Fernandez & Hellström, 2011, p. 101). The acquisition of citizenship is more decisive for immigrant participation in society than the duration of stay in the country (Bevelander, Fernandez & Hellström, 2011). The second language is crucial for active citizenship and integration in this perspective. Most countries in the EU (except Ireland and Sweden) have language requirements for citizenship and the use of language testing becomes increasingly common among the countries that receive migrants. The rapid development highlights the need for new international studies on the relationship between citizenship and conditions for second language learning. The goal of the recent study is to compare premises, perspectives and scales of values of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish language educators, related to the requirements for immigrant citizenship. Previous studies (Björklund & Liubiniené, 2004) indicate that there are major differences in value systems even between the neighbouring countries. To reach the objective of the present study, interviews were conducted with language educators in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The results have revealed two opposing patterns. The values of Swedish informants show a wide-ranging variation, while the Danish and Norwegian data on values are consistently similar. The results raise further questions about the effects caused by differences in values among language educators when comparing the countries and call for a further verification of the data in a more extended study, including Lithuania and other Baltic states.