Need for Tackling the Gap for Cultural Responsiveness in Language Teaching for Refugee Students in Turkey

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Multistakeholder Collaborations for Culturally Sustaining Community Schools

Abstract

Forced displacement is a global phenomenon and well-established language programs in the receiving countries are of great importance for refugee students to ensure a smooth transition to public schools and prevent high drop-outs and structural inequalities. An embedded case study was carried out in two schools in a densely in-migration district in İstanbul to explore the extent of the Turkish language education for refugee students to incorporate culturally responsive practices. Our findings obtained through classroom observations and interviews with purposefully selected refugee students (N=10), their parents (N=6), language teachers (N=4), school principals (N=2), and key informants (N=2) point out the structural gaps at policy level and inherent drawbacks in practice with urgent remedies to support culturally responsiveness in language programs.

Authors

• Abdullah Atmacasoy, Middle East Technical University

• Hanife Akar, Middle East Technical University