This book explores the language and literacy practices which sustain transnational migration across generations and across traditional boundaries such as school and home. The author has conducted extensive fieldwork in Pakistan and the UK to study migration between the two countries. Individuals' access to the dominant literacies of migration are contrasted with the vernacular practices which migrants take up at home as part of their digital literacies. The study explores the blurring of boundaries between home and school as well as the blurring of boundaries between language varieties. Tracing access to literacy in this way also shines a light on the literacy mediators migrants turn to for help with English language learning and when trying to access the bureaucratic literacies of migration. The study ends by exploring how migrants use all of their language resources, not just English, to fit into their new homes once they have arrived in the UK.

Language and Migration provides a lively introduction to the relationship between language and migration. Drawing on real-world case studies from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and New Zealand, this book investigates the language and literacy practices which sustain, extend, or curb different forms of migration. Individual trajectories, family networks, and societal level policy are examined through an interdisciplinary perspective on empires and colonialism, transnationalism, and globalization. Exploring the linguistic diversity which has resulted from voluntary and forced migration, this book covers theories from migration studies, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, sociology, and education studies, and offers broad coverage of different contexts of migration across the globe. It provides students and teachers with: Migration theories to interrogate current thinking on human mobility. Concepts from applied linguistics combined with other disciplines to explore complex migration experiences in countries of origin and destination. A critical understanding of language and power in economic migration and forced migration. An introduction to the role of language in broader debates about the impact of migration on national and international policies such as international development, global security, and education. Practical guidance on using discourse analysis to identify how migrant identities are constructed in the media and how this affects our understandings of asylum, immigration, and social cohesion. Featuring a range of activities and case studies in each chapter, Language and Migration is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying this topic.

Language and Migration provides a lively introduction to the relationship between language and migration. Drawing on real-world case studies from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and New Zealand, this book investigates the language and literacy practices which sustain, extend, or curb different forms of migration. Individual trajectories, family networks, and societal level policy are examined through an interdisciplinary perspective on empires and colonialism, transnationalism, and globalization. Exploring the linguistic diversity which has resulted from voluntary and forced migration, this book covers theories from migration studies, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, sociology, and education studies, and offers broad coverage of different contexts of migration across the globe. It provides students and teachers with: Migration theories to interrogate current thinking on human mobility. Concepts from applied linguistics combined with other disciplines to explore complex migration experiences in countries of origin and destination. A critical understanding of language and power in economic migration and forced migration. An introduction to the role of language in broader debates about the impact of migration on national and international policies such as international development, global security, and education. Practical guidance on using discourse analysis to identify how migrant identities are constructed in the media and how this affects our understandings of asylum, immigration, and social cohesion. Featuring a range of activities and case studies in each chapter, Language and Migration is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying this topic.