Education
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This article offers an analysis of how refugee youths from Africa used and shifted languages and discourses in the United States. Drawing on sociocultural theories of language and utilizing ethnographic discourse and classroom observation data, the author illustrates the varied ways in which three high school–aged refugee youths used languages to make sense of who and where they are; respond to social, religious, and linguistic marginalization in the United States; and challenge narrow perceptions of African Muslims. This article brings to fore a group that, although facing a unique set of challenges in the United States, is rarely included in research on youth language practices and im/migration. Attention to their multilingual practices and the multilayered nature of their identity is central to understanding how refugee youths experience school in their new land, and how they see themselves and others. This understanding can guide school personnel, educational researchers, and community-based youth workers in their respective work with refugee students.
Publication Title
SAGE Open
Publication Date
2017
Volume
7
Issue
1
ISSN
2158-2440
DOI
10.1177/2158244016684912
Keywords
African-born immigrants, discourse analysis, language practices, Muslim youth, refugee youth
Repository Citation
Park, Jie Y., "Responding to marginalization: Language practices of African-born Muslim refugee youths in an American urban high school" (2017). Education. 37.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_education/37
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Park, J. Y. (2017). Responding to marginalization: language practices of African-born Muslim refugee youths in an American urban high school. Sage Open, 7(1), 2158244016684912.
