Welcoming Languages:
Including a Refugee Language in Scottish Education
لغات مرحبّة: تضمين احدى لغات اللاجئين في التعليم الإسكتلندي
The Welcoming Languages project explores the inclusion of a ‘refugee language’ in Scottish education as a way to enact the idea of ‘integration as a two-way process’ that is at the heart of the "New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy" (Scottish Government, 2018). We do this, by offering a tailored (Levantine) Arabic language course for total beginners to education staff in Scottish primary schools.
The Welcoming Languages project believes that, by learning some simple language useful in a school setting, education staff can make Arabic speaking children and parents/carer feel welcome, to see that their language is valued and that education staff are willing to make the effort to move ‘towards’ them.
We aim, through this project, to show that it is possible to make space in Scottish education for the many languages that New Scots bring with them and to give a space in Scottish schools to a greater number of languages that include those of the people who chose Scotland as their new home.
As the PI and Co-I of the Welcoming Languages project, a collaboration with language teachers and academics the Gaza Strip, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues and students in Gaza, who are committed to carry on quality teaching and learning in appalling circumstances. - Giovanna Fassetta and Maria Grazia Imperiale
Useful Links روابط ذات صلة
About Us معلومات عنا
The Welcoming Languages project is based at the University of Glasgow (School of Education). This collaborative project is carried out by an international team, based at the University of Glasgow and at the Arabic Center of the Islamic University of Gaza (Palestine). The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (Ref n. A H /W0 0 6 0 3 0 / 1) and by a UofG GKEF grant.
The UofG team collects the language needs of Scottish educators and Arabic speaking families and oversees the development of the project in Scotland, including evidencing the learning and its effects on Arabic speaking New Scots.
The Arabic Center team lead on developing a bespoke beginner language course specifically designed to respond to the language needs expressed by Scottish education staff and by Arabic speaking parents/carers and families. They are also responsible for the online delivery of the Arabic course and for adapting the content according to ongoing feedback from Arabic learning school staff.
More On The Project المزيد عن المشروع
The Welcoming Languages project aims to: include Arabic as a refugee language in Scottish education to enact integration as a two-way process; provide proof of concept for language diversification in education. It pursues these aims starting from education as a context of integration and through the following objectives: (i) adapt the OAfP to the needs of Scottish educators; (ii) teach Arabic online to educators in Scotland; (iii) introduce Arabic in the Scottish educational context; and (iv) draft recommendations on the potential of, and approaches to, the introduction of a refugee language in Scottish education.
Marhaba!
Elaine is a member of staff in one of the participating schools. In this end of course video, she introduces herself in Arabic.