Bio:

Mohammed Ateek is an assistant professor of communication at University of Leicester, United Kingdom and University of Doha, College of Education, Qatar. Mohammed's main areas of interest are language and migration, language learning and
theories and practice of TESOL. He also researches the role of language in refugee/migrant education and how it facilitates social cohesion in hostile environments. He recently won a British Council bid on a project about refugee language education equity in Germany. He worked as a consultant for the UK Home Office Refugee Employability Programme and the British Council ‘Language for Resilience’ project.

Abstract:

This study investigates an emerging area of inquiry: refugee family language policy (FLP), through examining the practices, management and ideologies of FLP among Syrian refugee families in Turkey. It also examines the multilingualism of the children and their parents’ attitudes towards languages, focusing on heritage language maintenance (HLM). The study aims to understand how Syrian refugee families in Türkiye construct, negotiate and implement their FLP. Applying a qualitative approach, the study employed semi-structured interviews with ten families and language portraits colored by seven children. Language portraits were used as a tool to make children’s multilingualism visible by using colors to present their linguistic repertoire. Thematic analysis using a coding scheme was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed different views by parents and children about language practices, management and ideologies. The study will conclude with some ethical considerations related to researching vulnerable groups.