Learning English through Community: Relational Language Learning and Newcomer Settlement in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Drawing on qualitative data from focus groups with adult newcomers and one-to-one interviews with English as an Additional Language (EAL) instructors and coordinators in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, we explore the interplay between adult newcomer integration and language acquisition in a region traditionally characterized by rurality, economic peripherality, and low levels of immigration. We argue that while formal EAL instruction is critical for adult newcomers, language learning in smaller immigrant settlement contexts also takes place through everyday social encounters supported by community relationships and informal learning. We make the case that relational and community-based approaches to language learning are effective in supporting the settlement needs of adult newcomers.