Programme de la conférence

This presentation delves into the intricate challenges of language integration in Malta, the smallest nation within the European Union, which has witnessed unparalleled migrant population growth over the last decade. The complexity arises from Malta's bilingual status, with Maltese and English serving as official languages, each differing markedly in their functions and domains of usage. In an attempt to address its rapidly changing socio-demographic landscape, Malta initiated the Migrant Integration Strategy & Action Plan in 2017 with the intention of setting up a stronger framework for the integration of migrants who were already working and living in Malta. As part of this initiative, the "I Belong" program was established, serving as a prerequisite for non-EU nationals aspiring to attain long-term residence status. Anyone wishing to follow the programme must present a formal request for integration that includes an itinerary consisting of two stages: Stage 1, or Pre-Integration, consisting of Maltese, English, and Cultural orientation classes, and Stage 2, Long-term Residence Status, consisting of a Cultural component and a Maltese language component. Despite its policy significance at the local level, this program remains an underexplored area within academic discourse.
This study presents a scholarly examination, drawing upon data collected from over 170 students who completed the "I Belong" Stage 2 Maltese language integration program. Through rigorous analysis, this contribution illuminates the efficacy and relevance of the program and its ramifications within the context of Malta's evolving social fabric. By offering empirical insights, this research contributes substantively to the academic understanding of language integration strategies and informs future policy frameworks not only in Malta but also in comparable sociolinguistic contexts.

Quebec francophone schools increasingly welcome migrant-background students who must learn French as an additional language to succeed academically. These students face many social and linguistic challenges that are conceptualized through their integration into the host society and schools (Allen, 2006), as evident in education policy objectives. Moreover, the deficit term Allophone, literally meaning ‘speaker of other languages than French or English,’ is used in education documents and on the field in relation to these students’ complex sociolinguistic needs. This is problematic because it invisibilizes their language practices and experiences—thereby affecting their ability to invest in their identities as plurilingual learners (Ahooja, 2019). Research is needed to critically examine how plurilingual, migrant-background students’ identities and their integration into Quebec schools are represented and conceptualized in education policy documents. To this end, this study explores these terms in 24 government-, school board-, and school- level documents (selected based on their relevance to the larger ethnographic study) to determine how they contribute to experiences of exclusion in Quebec schools. The documents were analyzed intertextually (Cassels Johnson, 2015) and thematically to reveal meaningful patterns across and within documents. Analysis is ongoing, but preliminary findings point to an inequitable share of responsibility placed on these learners for their sociolinguistic inclusion in majority culture schools.

Ahooja, A., & Ballinger, S. (2019). Invisible experiences, muted voices, and the language socialization of Québec, migrant-background students. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 0(0), 1–13.

Allen, D. (2006). Who’s in and who’s out? Language and the integration of new immigrant youth in Quebec. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10(2–3), 251–263.

Cassels Johnson, D. (2015). Intertextuality and language policy. In F. M. Hult & D. Cassels Johnson (Eds.), Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide (pp. 166–180). John Wiley & Sons.