States and Refugee Integration: a Comparative Analysis of France, Germany, and Switzerland

The Syrian civil war led to mass migration and Europe becoming a potential site of refuge. How have Syrians experienced refuge in Europe? Drawing on 58 interviews with Syrian refugees in Germany, France, and Switzerland, we find that refugees continue to experience exclusion in all integration domains including those found as markers and means, social connections, facilitators, and foundations of integration . While our cases demonstrate that Syrian refugees in Europe experience discrimination across all domains, not all conditions are equal. Using narrative analysis, differences were observed within three integration domains. Accessing language programs was more challenging in France, finding housing was more challenging in Germany, and F type residence permits limited refugees’ rights in Switzerland more than in other countries. Discrimination across domains is deepening the socio-cultural-economic divide between autochthonous communities and Syrian refugees, but not all domains are equally divisive across countries. The findings outline that where these states outsourced refugee services, refugees experienced increased barriers to integration.

Enhancing Inclusive Teaching and Learning via University Courses Built on Needs Analysis

This study examines the added beneficial value of needs analysis prior to designing ESP university courses to guarantee inclusive teaching and learning at English language programs in Albania. The study is conducted by combining both research methods of textual analysis with the survey questionnaire delivered to 150 students of English major at Tirana State University, EPOKA University, and Catholic University “Our Lady of Good Counsel” in Albania. It analyzes the feedback and perceptions of students on the content and inclusivity of the courses to better match their linguistic needs. The findings from this study reveal the need to systematically consider learners' needs prior to deciding the content materials and assessment methods aiming at a fair and transparent teaching, learning, and knowledge evaluation process. The last criteria comprise essential contributors to realizing inclusive teaching at university courses of English for Specific Purposes in Albania.

Language Assessment Literacy in Second Signed Language Assessment Contexts

There are growing numbers of students who enroll sign language programs. Most of them are hearing students whose first language is in the aural-oral modality. Learning signed language challenges them to communicate via the visual-manual modality; a process that is known to be demanding (Kemp, 1998). Therefore, in instruction it is essential to monitor this process by means of effective and efficient assessment (Miller et al., 2008). Rather remarkably, there are only a few tests developed to assess students’ proficiency in sign language. This implies that most instructors, who are involved in sign language teaching, have to develop tests and assessments themselves. Complicating factor, however, is that most instructors are not specifically trained on this topic, i.e. their knowledge and skills to evaluate or design language tests is limited. In this chapter, we will bring issues to view that are involved with the design of sign language assessments. Sign language proficiency can be broken down into two components: the visual receptive and manual expressive component. The assessment of these components will be discussed in the context of validity, reliability, authenticity, impact and practicality. We aim to provide a comprehensive matrix of issues in test design, with special focus on the pitfalls one may encounter in using or developing sign language tests for production as well as receptive skills. The matrix is a first attempt to provide a knowledge base on sign language assessment that might be helpful for instructors to become more literate on the subject matter.

A Textual Analysis of Community College Internationalization Plans in the U.S. and Canada

Internationalization in the community college sector serves many purposes that align with the local and national contexts in which an institution is situated. One method of assessing how international efforts have become institutionalized is through the analysis of internationalization plans. Prior research examining internationalization plans and agendas is centered on the four-year sector, and studies on the two-year sector and comparative studies are scarce. This article addresses that gap by analyzing four community college internationalization plans in the U.S. and Canada. We use the textual analysis tool, Voyant, to examine how internationalization is operationalized in these two national contexts. Our findings indicate that there is little emphasis on mobility and language programs, despite the presence of these internationalization strategies in institutional or national policies. The documents also show greater quantification of goals related to internationalization and lesser specificity regarding intercultural activities. Implications and recommendations for future research are offered.

Marketing Strategy for Education Services in Integrated Islamic-Based Junior High Schools

The study aims to describe the strategy and marketing mix of education services in Integrated Islamic Junior High School (SMP-IT). The researcher used qualitative research to describe the data descriptively. Data collection techniques were observation, interviews, and documentation. The results of this study indicated that: 1) the marketing strategy in SMP-IT is to strengthen the IT and Public Relations (Humas) team in the school. 2) The marketing strategy of education services in SMP-IT is by implementing a marketing mix of products, prices, places, promotions, human resources, physical evidence and processes. The superior marketed products are tahfiz programs, language programs, Birrul Walidain and academic extracurriculars, as well as providing scholarship for excellent students. Promotion strategies are carried out through Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, websites, and newspapers..

An analysis of note-taking strategies: The effect of translanguaging on content comprehension and knowledge retention

Purpose This study investigates the effectiveness of using translanguaging for note-taking on students’ lecture comprehension and retention by measuring their scores on two tests administered two weeks apart. Methods The participants were English L2 Chinese graduate students (n = 101) studying in English-language programs in various English-speaking countries at the time of the study. The study used a quasi-experimental three-arm parallel groups design to compare the relative effects of three alternative approaches to note-taking (Chinese, English, and translanguaging). All participants watched a five-minute English-language video without subtitles and took notes using their assigned strategies. Then participants immediately took a comprehension test. After two weeks, participants took a retention test. Results The results showed that those taking notes in English only outperformed those taking notes using Chinese only on low-level, fact-based questions in the comprehension test. There was no significant difference found among the three language groups (Chinese, English, and translanguaging) in other types of questions (main topic questions and numerical questions) and the overall score. In the retention test, those taking notes in English outperformed those taking notes in Chinese in the overall score and all question types except for number-based questions, with the translanguaging groups also outperforming the Chinese group in fact-based questions. In addition, students’ previous study abroad experience was not found to impact students’ comprehension and retention of the video lecture content. Conclusion It seems that translanguaging does not aid advanced L2 learners in immersion contexts; instead, translanguaging may be more helpful for lower proficiency L2 learners.

Interview with Gordon Henry

Gordon Henry is an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinaabe Nation in Minnesota and professor of American Indian Literature, Creative Writing and the Creative Process in Integrative Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University. He is the author and co-editor of many books and collections, including The Failure of Certain Charms: And Other Disparate Signs of Life (2008). His novel The Light People (1994) won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. Following some of the stages in his career and personal story, which he kindly accepted to share with me, this interview highlights some of the crucial key issues concerning Native American people and cultures, questions that still need a wider transnational space both inside and outside academia. Discrimination based on language has influenced the history of Native American people for centuries, starting from the forced education of the young in the 19th century and continuing in the 20th, in the context of Hollywood film productions. Linguicism, language-based racism (Phillipson 1992), is a topic that needs to be addressed in the light of the recent flourishing of extremist thought worldwide, which carries the abused rhetoric of ‘us vs them’ (van Dijk 2015) and, at the same time, spurs protest movements. This reflection goes hand-in-hand with the controversial topic of the appropriation of Native American cultural practices by old and new wannabes (non-people who are so much fascinated by Native American cultures that end up imitating them by, for example, choosing a Native name or emphasising certain aspects of the culture which they admire, often basing their beliefs on stereotypes), whilst people living in the Reservations are still neglected and the Native American and Alaskan Native population register extremely high suicide, homicide and alcoholism rates compared to the U.S. all races population (especially women). But, the efforts and educational programs aimed to preserve languages and cultures (like the Lakota Language Consortium or the Rosetta Stone Endangered Language programs), the vibrancy of the artistic scene in the visual, literary and music fields, the various forms of activism and community engagement projects (such as, for example, the MMIWG movement – Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls – the water protectors protest at Standing Rock, known as #NoDapl, or the prayerful journey called Run4Salmon in California) are also to be acknowledged as milestones in the process of regaining self-sovereignty by Native people. Against the background of these considerations, I am pleased and honoured to share thoughts, feelings and emotions with Gordon Henry.

The Strategic Goals of -Using Service Oriented Architecture Principles

Organizations use heterogonous systems and legacy systems, they are implemented at different platforms, different databases, and different language programs. These systems need to exchange information and reuse the same functionality to achieve integration between these systems. Many Software companies failed to achieve information follow and reuse the same functionality. This paper introduces guidelines introduces Service-Oriented Architecture Principles guidelines and rules to help Applications developers to achieve information integrations and reuse the same functionality, SOA principles providing rules and guidelines that specify exactly how solution logic should be decomposed and molded into technology solutions

Innovative Way to Improve Learning Languange and Cultural Understanding Through Film Background Minangkabau Culture

This article discusses how films set in Minangkabau culture can be used as an effective platform to enable students to understand Minangkabau culture and the target language. Through films, students broaden their understanding of culture, language, geography, sociolinguistics, socioeconomic, socio-political and educational in Minang society. This article describes how a small number of films set in Minangkabau culture have been used at different skill levels in language programs in schools as one of the local content subjects, especially schools located in West Sumatra with the majority of the Minang community. It also examines the role of films in the teaching and learning process, and how watching films strengthens classroom activities such as discussions, and debates and activities outside the classroom such as interviews and research on topics related to the films. To explore student feedback on this process, there was a discussion about responses to watching the film. It is proposed that three main issues need to be considered: film choice; development of lesson plans; and possible efficiency is obtained by asking students to watch movies. In conclusion, it is argued that the combination of these strategies demonstrates how films set in Minangkabau culture can be used in innovative ways to teach Minang language and culture in West Sumatra. Development of lesson plans; and possible efficiency is obtained by asking students to watch movies.