INTEGRATING REFUGEES INTO SOCIETY AND EDUCATION THROUGH LANGUAGE TRAINING: A CASE STUDY IN ORDU, TURKEY

Abstract

This paper approaches addressing the linguistic needs of Iraqi refugee students living in Turkey.  Having a command of Turkish and English will allow them to feel more self-confident, more easily establish communication with their peers, receive a better education, have broader employment opportunities, and eventually earn a better income. Language will also help remove the distance between them and society, enable healthy dialogue, and speed up their process of social integration. Turkey is trying to find solutions to this language and social barrier. The core of this research is comprised of eighty-three Iraqi refugee students receiving education at a middle as well as high school in the province of Ordu. The students’ educational progression was evaluated through classroom observation, interviews, e-mails, telephone conversations, face-to-face discussions, family visits, and casual talks with parents, children, youth, and teachers, and then defined as the sample group. The aim of this paper is to show what benefits that the foreign language training we provide has on institutions, communities, and individuals in order to accelerate guest students’ adaptation into the society within which they are living, as well as into education. This paper is also expected to serve as a reference guide for language training programs in especially multicultural environments as is based on the results obtained from our research and experience.