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Migration Discourse SUSANA MARTINEZ GUILLEM The concept of “migration” can be defined as the movement of people from one place to another. These “ people ” are generally defined as “ migrant ”. We can also distinguish other types of migrant:
- Voluntary : include people studying abroad and immigrants who tend to stay in their host countries for longer periods of time;
- Involuntary : include long or short term refugees who are forced to leave their places of origin due to ideology-based persecution; **_3) Short term
- Long term_** Nowadays, the number of migrations have increased dramatically. For this reason, the area of migrations has become a crucial areas of study across the social sciences.
Unlike disciplines such as political science which focuses on for example
inclusion/exclusion dynamics, within communication, especially in Language and
Social Interaction research ( LSI ), there is more emphasis on “Migration Discourse”,
a specific and distinct communicative practices that accompany the migration phenomenon. The study of Migration Discourse includes: Everyday discourses generated among migrant and host communities Elite discourses about migration for ex. In institutional contexts This kind of study has offered lots of description of western-based, voluntary short term migrant , such as college students that gave us informations about their fight to adapt to their new environment but also about the difficoluties faced by long-term migrants , because they make an effort to construct meaningful identities away from home, and they have to cope with discourses of host country that perceive immigration as a threat. Based on ethnographic methods , different studies have documented the existence of particular moments:
- Anticipation
- Culture shock
- adjustement
Such rigid and often stereotypical perceptions of the host countries, such as nationality, racial and class, degree and familiarity with different cultural norms, often pose additional challenges for those trying to adapt to different ways of communicating, sometimes posing problems of power imbalances. Althought it is possible to identify the overall positive effect of the studying or working abroad experience, for example: more self-awareness of migrants’ cultural identities, development of a greater understanding of different cultural practices, …. different authors have recently established that sometimes the structure of study abroad programs may reinforce rigid cultural identities and the only way to have an overall satisfactory experience for students is the motivation maintenance. A particular LSI research area focuses on " building diasporic identities " away from home. The role recognized in the Narratives was crucial in this study, from which explanations of " What it means to be a migrant " can emerge. Often the credibility of migrant stories, especially in the case of asylum seekers , is questioned due to " lack of consistency ". In fact, stories are often misleading due to linguistic limitations. Migrants navigate between many identity positions, often contradictory. It often occurs that migrants are in the balance between the need and desire for " acculturation " and the maintenance of the linguistic heritage. Practices such as " code change " can be especially useful for younger immigrants, who through the practice of " bilingualism " learn to fight against the dominant language.
A continuous back-and-forth movement between cultures is nowaday emphasized
by the role that new technologies have, promoting strong contacts with the place of origin. Often, in everyday language, or when we express an opinion about something, we unconsciously insert prejudices. Some members of the host communities, in expressing their judgment on immigrants, build
their identity as " others ".
Words are not the only tool that contributes to the construction of the " other-different-from- you ". Extralinguistic factors must also be considered through a technique that we call
" visual racism ". This technique focuses on the use of images, colors and music
that build meaningful messages for often unaware recipients, also with a particular use of layout, type of font and design especially for political campaigns
2. Education Schools play a crucial role in the integration of " new arrivals ", as they produce and spread
" particular values "
Nowadays we live in the era of " superdiversity ", a mainly western characteristic
in which different " cultures " come into contact generating a series of "challenges" especially for young people. In class, therefore, all students are offered the same way of learning. This can be a problem for students who will find it difficult to achieve the " minimum goals " required by educators. The methods used by schools to reduce inequalities have instead increased diversity
based on school performance. It is therefore necessary to provide more space for
immigrant students to use their type of knowledge.
3. Political Instituitions Practices such as parliamentary debates are built on the basis of the considerations expressed by the various participants, who can justify their opinion on migrants:
by using words like " security "
by creating a relationship between " problem-migration "
by the use of face-saving strategies such as vagueness to imply an opinion
without expressing it clearly. The analysis of the discourse on migration in the institutional context focuses on the rhetorical strategies used to promote a specific policy. Therefore, the use of common place like “security” or “fundamental rights” aims to build a common ground with the odiens.
It is important to understand how in the current era , the use of words such as
" multiculturalism ", " tolerance " and " diversity " are no longer used to promote
equality , but to << gather consensus >> Thus, speaking the official language is seen as a necessary condition for full integration.
