This dissertation is organized into several chapters. In Chapter 2 I review the literature pertaining to refugee resettlement, language, and education, Somali refugees, and the refugee experience, and then introduce the research questions. Chapter 3 discusses the methodological approaches that inform the study, my positionality and orientation to the study, site and participant selection, the research contexts, methods of data collection, management and analysis, ethical considerations and issues of trustworthiness. Chapter 4 provides descriptions of each of the participants and brief demographic introductions as well as information about how I met them. In Chapter 5 I answer the first research question by characterizing the LL of Clarkston and discussing the findings in light of language socialization and participation in the CoP. Chapter 6 responds to the second research question and illuminates the language and literacy practice of the participants, and implications for language socialization in the CoP. Chapter 7 presents the outstanding case of Mama Rita and highlights her FoK and their implications for language socialization in the CoP. Finally, Chapter 8 presents the practical outcomes of the study as well as implications for language socialization and further research.
2 REFUGEE CONTEXT AND RESEARCH: A FOCUSED LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter 2 provides a definition of a refugee and describes the basics of refugee
resettlement. In Chapter 1, I discussed Somali history and context, and in this chapter I provide a review of U.S.-based research that has investigated language in the lives of Somali refugees in the U.S. context, and then I state the research questions.
2.1 Refugees and the Resettlement Scenario
A refugee, according to the 1951 Geneva Convention, is a person who has left his or her country “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion” (Convention relating to, 1951). It is
important to distinguish between refugees and other migrants. The United Nations Refugee Agency (2013) differentiates the two categorizations as follows:
Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom. They have no protection from their own state - indeed it is often their own government that is threatening to persecute them. If other countries do not let them in, and do not help them once they are in, then they may be condemning them to death - or to an intolerable life in the shadows, without sustenance and without rights. (p. 1) The United Nations Refugee Agency emphasizes the notion of migration choice and life
threatening situations in order to extricate the differences between an individual considered a refugee and various other migrants.
In 2009, the World Refugee Survey reported there were over 13 million refugees
worldwide, 80% of whom were women and children. The United States accepts 80,000 refugees a year. The world’s refugee protection system was started through the creation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) in 1950 and the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of refugees in 1951 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2012). The creation of the system was a response to the aftermath of the Second World War which destabilized and forced the migration of various populations. The main purpose of the system is to support the rights of refugees and the countries hosting them.
The UNHCR leads and coordinates the international actions to protect refugees. As noted by UNCHR (2012) the current patterns in forced displacement are more difficult to manage than they have ever been. At the beginning of 2011, 33.9 million people worldwide were categorized as ‘people of concern’ to the UNHCR up from 19.2 million in 2005 (UNHCR, 2012). UNHCR is responding to new refugee situations in places such as Libya and Cote d’Ivoire while they continue to deliver aid to countries with enduring displacement issues. These countries include Afghanistan, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Somalia. UNCHR names the recognition of diversity as a top priority when considering the needs of the various refugee programs and is dedicated to ensuring equitable outcomes in its respective programs (2012). Programming includes a range of activities including ground-aid in refugee camps as well as the processes of resettlement and sometimes repatriation. In 2011 UNHCR estimated that 805,000 refugees necessitated third country resettlement, which is resettlement from their secondary country (usually a refugee camp) to a host country. It was estimated that there were only places for 10 percent of the 805,000 in need.
When refugees are resettled, they do not decide their country of destination, but are told where they are able to be resettled and given a travel loan to migrate to that region. In 2010, an estimated 94 percent of refugees were being resettled to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The UNHCR is currently advocating for more countries to implement resettlement programming. Upon arrival in the country of resettlement, refugees have six months allotted to find employment; refugees are required to take English language classes to qualify for
governmental assistance in the form of Medicaid and food stamps (Immigration and Nationality Act, 2011). Though they are compelled to learn English during their first six months in the country, if during that time they secure employment they may terminate their class attendance.