Dissertation committee:
Ευγενία Μαγουλά, Καθηγήτρια του ΠΤΔΕ-ΕΚΠΑ
Ευδοκία Καραβά, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια του ΤΑΓΦ-ΕΚΠΑ
Θωμάς Μπαμπάλης, Καθηγητής του ΠΤΔΕ-ΕΚΠΑ
Γεωργία Ανδρέου, Καθηγήτρια του Παιδαγωγικού Τμήματος Ειδικής Αγωγής του Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλίας
Βασιλική Μητσικοπούλου, Καθηγήτρια του ΤΑΓΦ-ΕΚΠΑ
Αλεξάνδρα Ανδρούσου, Καθηγήτρια του ΤΕΑΠΗ-ΕΚΠΑ
Μαρία Ιακώβου, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια του Τμήματος Φιλολογίας του ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
In recent years, in Greece, as in most European countries, great emphasis has been placed on the implementation of programmes for vulnerable groups, such as immigrant and refugee populations, programmes which aim to educate both children and adults. During the planning and the implementation of these programmes in our country it is taken into account the fact that immigrant populations are taken initially as temporary, due to the fact that Greece is the main axis for the passage and diffusion of refugees to Europe. As far as language education is concerned, this means that learning the Greek language is not their main educational need, while, on the contrary, learning a universally accepted language, such as English, it is considered more important.
At this point, it should be mentioned that learning English is an asset for the process of refugees' integration into the educational system, as well as for their inclusion in society. The fact that many of the immigrants/refugees often have basic knowledge of English, and not at all of Greek, elevates English to a “language bridge” to bring children closer to school and teachers, as English is a well known language across Greece (Gkaintartzi et al, 2015). A second element is the fact that a large number of foreigners may continue their journey to other countries, especially in Northern Europe, so knowledge of English is a particularly important asset that enables them to integrate in their new homelands (Gropas & Triandafyllidou, 2011).
For refugees, important obstacles that hamper their efforts to integrate into the host society are the lack of language skills, stereotypes, religious and cultural differences, lack of understanding and negative attitudes of the elderly population. In particular, they are subject to discrimination regarding working conditions, negative housing and living conditions, the suspicion and reticence of the local society and the refusal to participate in public life (Fakiolas, 2007).
The aim of this study is to investigate the teaching and learning framework of English language by refugee students attending primary schools in Athens. We will be concerned with both pedagogical issues and issues of Greek as a second and English as a third language teaching. Pedagogical issues are related to the pedagogical methods/techniques used by teachers, the content of the programme, as well as the support that teachers receive from the state, such as for example training programmes that may exist, interventions, actions etc.
As for the suggestions that are expected to be made, they will focus on improving teaching experience and content of the teaching material, and finally, how the English language teaching programme should be designed in this learning context (places, visual aids, assessment etc.). We believe that the findings of the research will provide educational material for teaching English as a third language to the foreign language learner population. It should be mentioned that the research is particularly important because it offers material for a new field, such as that of teaching English to refugee students. At the same time, the findings are also useful for teacher training. We observed the classroom during the teaching of English, the language of teacher-student communication, and the interaction of refugee students. The necessity of the research arises from the new data, as groups of people move en masse and create new conditions in education, as they seek permanent settlement, come from various nationalities, with different level of literacy, different mentality and language.
Keywords:
English language learning, refugee students, Primary Education, multilingual education, English Language, European policy on multilingualism, pedagogical methods, educational material, teacher training, inclusion of foreign language learners
