Embracing the Language Barrier: Ignoring Misunderstandings in Teaching Language to Newly Arrived Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum in Norway
In this contribution, the focus is on the task of teaching unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum in Norway. These young asylum seekers, aged between 15 and 18, are admitted to high schools without much consideration of their previous school experience. Some have no school experience, while others have already completed both primary and secondary education in their home countries, which can only be authenticated once they have legal status. It is crucial to understand their experiences and backgrounds to provide them with the appropriate education. What they get from school depends mainly on what teachers think might be appropriate for them. From teachers’ experiences, these young persons are seen to be lacking the necessary skills (language and self-managing skills) relevant for introductory classes and ordinary classes. While it is reasonable for the majority language to be the medium of instruction, it is challenging to establish mutual understanding between educators and students, especially when newcomers are without prior knowledge of the majority language. Since language serves as the bridge between us to understanding our shared world, how can new, unaccompanied minors seeking asylum articulate their own experiences or learn anything when they still need to acquire a language comprehensible to the majority? As newcomers, they mediate their understanding by translating words into relatable meanings, which is not always easy. There is a clear line of thinking inherent in language acquisition as a tool or skill that the global citizen could use in the marketplace. This does not say enough about the possibilities of a disturbed and “troubled relation within language” (Williams E, Stud Philos Educ 40:145, 2021) that some newcomers might have. Heidegger says “that language is the home of being” (Heidegger M, Basic Writings 204:83, 1993). To Heidegger, language is more than a tool or an instrument to be used in ready-at-hand mode. This means that language transcends being a mere instrument readily available for our use. For this chapter, an example of a seemingly failed teaching moment is introduced, derived from an observation made in a language class for newcomers in Norway, of which unaccompanied minors were part. In this example, the teacher uses a story derived from folklore, typical in European cultures, for newcomers who do not understand it. This example is explored phenomenologically at three levels. First, the anecdote is explored as a pedagogical example with Korsgaard’s theoretical lens of exemplarity to show that examples are culture sensitive, which means teaching newcomers requires more than a cultural understanding of examples. Second, the teacher’s showing of pictures is explored as a moment of calling to attention and asking students to study; that is, students understand the picture differently. Lastly, the picture itself is seen as an object that elicits new understandings that might transverse the original picture given by the teacher.
Publisert i 2025
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