Project description
Language teaching, counter-extremism and migrant integration
European states have increasingly adopted policies on countering extremism, targeted at migrant communities. In this vein, Denmark introduced the ‘ghetto’ policy aimed at socially and linguistically segregated areas. The United Kingdom adopted the Prevent strategy that demands educators to track and refer those demonstrating signs of ‘radicalisation.’ The impact of such policies on migrant communities and language educators is not known. The EU-funded CVELANG project will investigate how adult language education for migrants aligns with governmental security goals in relation to integration. Employing an ethnographic research design, the project will focus on Muslim learners, adult language education teachers as well as institutional level management in relation to policy implementation.
Objective
CVELANG adds to growing literature on the increasing prevalence of CVE (Countering Violent Extremism) measures in public life by innovatively examining how learners of language and language education centres deal with policies that cohere to wider governmental, security objectives relating to integration in Denmark and the UK respectively. The integration of migrant communities through the controversial ‘ghetto’ policy in Denmark, which targets socially and linguistically segregated areas, and the Prevent program in the UK demanding educators detect and report those demonstrating signs of radicalisation. CVELANG investigates language teaching in Danish ‘ghettoes’ as well as Prevent in relation to language centres.
CVELANG explores how such policies are implemented at a ground level through an ethnographic approach. There are three perspectives to this project: (1) Muslim learners and (2) teachers and (3) management who mediate policy. Little is known about the influence of such policies in adult migrant educational settings which this project will address by centering the experiences of those involved in policy implementation. This allows for space to narrate and define bottom up notions of security and integration and how language-security policies influence ordinary people and institutions in their relations with each other, the state and the national language.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
1165 Kobenhavn
Denmark