Linguistic Integration of Asylum Applicants: Policies and Practice in Luxembourg

This contribution aims at investigating the language policies that are in place in Luxembourg to support the linguistic integration of adult migrants from refugee backgrounds. A rather abrupt and recent change in the country’s refugee intake patterns -reflected in the increased number and shifted geographic origin of international protection applicants- is presenting new challenges for the process of integration and the actors involved. Language is a crucial aspect for inclusion and participation in working and social life, especially in highly diverse, mobile and multilingual contexts such as Luxembourg. It has been demonstrated that in multilingual environments people are more likely to establish effective ways of communication without sharing a common language code, principally through the productive-creative combination of all available language and other communication resources. Against this background, the present contribution examines the presence (or absence) of multilingual approaches in local policies for linguistic integration and language learning. In this connection, I am going to explore whether the inclusion of multilingualism entails the acknowledgment of the asylum applicants’ full linguistic repertoires, or whether it remains limited to the appreciation of those languages that are generally recognized in our context such as French, English, German or Luxembourgish. Similarly, the purposes and forms of available linguistic training are going to be discussed, with particular focus on the organization of formal language education, language training for low educated and illiterate asylum applicants, policy measures for the support of informal/non-formal language learning activities, and potential integration of language learning with professional development and social participation. Main policies at national and organizational level are going to be reviewed and commented on using interview data from key actors involved in the process. The aim is to offer different perspectives on the linguistic integration of adult migrants from refugee backgrounds in Luxembourg.