A fine balance: cultural and linguistic barriers shaping the lives of Somali refugee families in Manchester

Wide-ranging educational, political, economic, social, and cultural factors have an influence on the extent of marginalisation to integration experienced by newly-arrived refugee families to the UK This study focused on diverse Somali refugee families in Manchester, UK, many of whom had none or low levels of previous education in their first language of Somali (L1). An inter-disciplinary approach was utilised drawing primarily from the fields of applied linguistics, education, and refugee and migration studies to identify the specific needs of refugees. The study addressed the linguistic and cultural discourses and challenges which arise in the global context of acculturation. It considered how such factors could lead to conflict between diverse communities, focusing on the situational context of the UK primary education system. Conflict was shown to arise, to different extents, from a lack of understanding regarding legislation, school safeguarding laws, school attendance and punctuality procedures, and aspects of curriculum delivery. Practical suggestions were made to address these issues as well as the needs of parents with low literacy skills. Recommendations were also made regarding improving communication methods between schools and second language (L2) parents, and developing an inter-agency approach, particularly through family learning and ESOL provision.