ABSTRACT

To identify the emerging trends and patterns across language policies that are in place in different host countries, this chapter examines the statuses and scopes of immigrant language policies and programs in several countries in Europe, Australia, and North America. A cross-country analysis shows that the political discourses of these countries are often contradicting on-the-ground realities. Despite increasingly pluralistic immigrant and refugee populations, contemporary language policies are found to enforce an assimilationist, monolingual linguistic citizenship. Further, despite recent policy shifts to attract highly skilled workforce, language programs still focus on basic skills training for rapid employment in the low-paid labor market and fail to cater to the newcomers’ population that are heterogeneous in educational levels, employment experiences, and personal needs. Finally, language instruction in the current programs often focuses on teaching a set of apolitical skills with little relevance to the racial, gender, and other forms of inequalities associated with language outside the classroom. These contradictory discourses suggest an urgent need to address the ideological and implementational disconnections in immigrant and refugee language policies and practices around the world. Recognizing these gaps offers possibilities to transform the power structure within these spaces for the successful and equitable integration of immigrants and refugees.