“My brain doesn’t run”: language learning for refugee adults

Refugees are resettled to the US with the advantage of temporary state assistance and the burden of governmental expectations of immediate self-sufficiency. Gaining English proficiency is considered integral for refugee adaptation, in terms of obtaining employment and eventual citizenship. How do refugees, particularly those resettled later in life with limited formal education and familial dependents, perceive and experience the process of learning English? Using qualitative data of language learners in Western New York, I situate their learning frustrations, concerns, and aspirations within a structural context where institutional expectations for employment and societal notions of belonging become intertwined with English-language proficiency. Despite how English is narrowly framed by refugee policies as a step towards employment, learners also valued learning English for its own sake, related to notions of equal personhood and cultural maintenance.