Performing the good (im)migrant: inclusion and expectations of linguistic assimilation

Valentina Migliarini*, Maria Cioè-Peña

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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    Abstract

    This paper analyzes how language is framed as a route to full inclusion, particularly for unaccompanied asylum-seeking students labelled as disabled. It is based on a qualitative study carried out in the Italian city of Rome, which, although cosmopolitan, is often characterised by nationalistic political landscapes. The manuscript reveals how institutional biases (re: race, ability, and migration) about unaccompanied forced migrant youth, often manifested in their construction as disabled and foreign by local professionals, hinder the likelihood that they successfully participate in the life of the host society. The paper also shows how the inclusion of migrant and refugee students living in foster care homes is conceptualised as a violent integration into monolingual and monocultural education settings. Drawing on Disability Critical Race Studies and Raciolinguistics, this contribution analyzes how unaccompanied forced migrant students respond to their linguistic urgency, learn power majority languages, and simultaneously devalue their home language to perform the ‘good (im)migrant.’ Lastly, the contribution shows how processes of racialization of disabled unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee students influence how western communities perceive their linguistic capacity and effort.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages20
    JournalInternational Journal of Inclusive Education
    Early online date23 Aug 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 23 Aug 2022

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

    Keywords

    • Unaccompanied forced migrant children
    • inclusion
    • discrit
    • raciolinguistics
    • Italy
    • critical disabilities raciolinguistic (CDR) perspective

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Education
    • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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