The Concept

Activities under the Project begin at the University of Reading (UoR) where refugees and students map the language ecologies of their communities to provide evidence of how linguistic resources are drawn on during refugee trajectories from the Middle East to Europe. Illustrating the ‘problem and solution focused’ approach this evidence will feed into participatory mapping activities where refugee action researchers are guided through action research methodologies after which they then carry out their own community-led action research projects in their neighbourhoods, schools and universities. Through this the problem of language as a barrier to enhancing resilience is to be met by solutions which are refugee-driven, participatory and multidisciplinary.

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Duration

18 months

• Phase 1: January - April 2020

• Phase 2: May - August 2020

• Phase 3: June 2020

• Phase 4: September – December 2020

• Phase 5: January – March 2021

• Phase 6: March 2021

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Objectives

1. Find ways to ensure that refugees’ voices are not lost when charities ‘speak’ on refugees’ behalf

2. Enhance skills within refugee communities to enable them carry out their own research, in their own languages, and to tell their own story

• Project aligns these two interests (1&2) through its methodology which is based on the adaptation of ‘Our Languages’ [King’s College London’s Centre for Language, Discourse and Communication & English for Action] & REFLECT for ESOL [ActionAid]

3. Address constraints that traditional research methodologies pose through collaboration between UoR learners (Researchers) and the refugee community (Researched).

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Methodology and Domains/Themes

Project’s methodology adapted from King's College, London (Cooke, Bryers and Winstanley, 2018) and ActionAid
Methodology provides various participatory tools and techniques for analysis of issues
These include timelines, photographs, body mapping, trees, matrices, maps, visioning maps, river, flow diagrams, venn diagrams, calendars, daily charts, etc
Adapted methodology to be further adapted by Researchers at other 2 locations
3 Domains/Themes selected for the Project - Education, Employment, and Well-being/Health

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Mapping Exercises

Begin at the University of Reading (UoR) where learners and refugees map relevant language ecologies within the local community
Seeks to provide evidence of how linguistic resources are drawn on during refugee trajectories
Illustrates ‘problem and solution focused’ approach
Evidence obtained to feed into participatory mapping activities; to be compiled into a ‘Mini Manual’ for Researchers
CRAs to be trained on Action Research Methodologies
Using these, CRAs in all 3 locations to later carry out their own communityled action research projects in their neighbourhoods, schools and universities
Project outcomes - refugee-driven, participatory and multidisciplinary solutions to address problem of language being a barrier to enhancing resilience