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Language Dimensions of Social Cohesion: The Significance of Linguistic Inequalities in the Context of Refugee Settlement

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Title: Language Dimensions of Social Cohesion: The Significance of Linguistic Inequalities in the Context of Refugee Settlement
Language: English
Authors: Hanna Svensson (ORCID 0000-0003-2787-4026)
Source: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 2025 46(7):1784-1797.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Social Integration, Refugees, Land Settlement, Foreign Countries, Sociolinguistics, Native Language, Second Languages, Mutual Intelligibility, Intercultural Communication
Geographic Terms: New Zealand
DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2023.2251945
ISSN: 0143-4632
1747-7557
Abstract: Despite the commonly acknowledged role of language in the successful settlement of refugees, a more thorough understanding is required of how linguistic inequalities may impact on settlement, social inclusion and social cohesion. This article presents findings from a qualitative study on refugee settlement in New Zealand, a country with a strategic focus on improving social cohesion outcomes. The article takes a Bakhtinian dialogical approach and, informed by an ethical perspective of answerability, it conceptualises social cohesion as situated in the interactions that occur between the 'speaking subject' and the 'other'. Viewing social cohesion as intersubjective and enacted in various (linguistic) encounters yet shaped by, and shaping, broader contexts, it argues that social cohesion is significantly impacted by a range of linguistic inequalities, especially in the case of resettled refugees. As dialogical interactions require language and a shared understanding between participants, limited resources in the dominant linguistic code combined with a lack of linguistic and communicative accommodation from the interlocutor impact on the subject's ability to author themselves and to affect the outcomes of the interaction. This, in turn, has significant implications for settlement outcomes.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1501352
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Language Dimensions of Social Cohesion: The Significance of Linguistic Inequalities in the Context of Refugee Settlement
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hanna+Svensson%22">Hanna Svensson</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2787-4026">0000-0003-2787-4026</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Multilingual+and+Multicultural+Development%22"><i>Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development</i></searchLink>. 2025 46(7):1784-1797.
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  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Integration%22">Social Integration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Refugees%22">Refugees</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Land+Settlement%22">Land Settlement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sociolinguistics%22">Sociolinguistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Native+Language%22">Native Language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Second+Languages%22">Second Languages</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mutual+Intelligibility%22">Mutual Intelligibility</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intercultural+Communication%22">Intercultural Communication</searchLink>
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  Data: Despite the commonly acknowledged role of language in the successful settlement of refugees, a more thorough understanding is required of how linguistic inequalities may impact on settlement, social inclusion and social cohesion. This article presents findings from a qualitative study on refugee settlement in New Zealand, a country with a strategic focus on improving social cohesion outcomes. The article takes a Bakhtinian dialogical approach and, informed by an ethical perspective of answerability, it conceptualises social cohesion as situated in the interactions that occur between the 'speaking subject' and the 'other'. Viewing social cohesion as intersubjective and enacted in various (linguistic) encounters yet shaped by, and shaping, broader contexts, it argues that social cohesion is significantly impacted by a range of linguistic inequalities, especially in the case of resettled refugees. As dialogical interactions require language and a shared understanding between participants, limited resources in the dominant linguistic code combined with a lack of linguistic and communicative accommodation from the interlocutor impact on the subject's ability to author themselves and to affect the outcomes of the interaction. This, in turn, has significant implications for settlement outcomes.
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      – SubjectFull: Land Settlement
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