Male Muslim Refugee Experiences of English Language Training Programmes and Links to Employment in Australia

Abstract

Since the modern Refugee and Humanitarian Programme began in 1977, around 14,000 refugees have been granted residency in Australia every year, with Muslim communities now representing more than 50 per cent of the intake. Most of these refugees entering Australia speak little, if any, English, have little or no education in their first language, and most do not possess employment skills or qualifications valued in the Australian workplace. The Federal Government thus offers them English language training within the Adult Migrant English Programme (AMEP) and the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) programme. These programmes aim to provide refugee migrants with enough English proficiency to gain employment in Australia, and to successfully participate socially and economically in Australian society. However, there has been only limited research specifically centred on these Federal English training programmes. In particular, there have been no in-depth studies centred on the opinions of the actual refugee clients attending these programmes. The research in this thesis thus investigates the perspectives of a group of eight male Muslim refugees on the effectiveness of the Federal English Language Training Programmes in facilitating their settlement and employment in Australia. Male Muslim refugees were chosen as participants as they represent a particularly disadvantaged, but under-researched, minority social group in Australian society. A qualitative research design and methodology was adopted for this research, framed within a socio-critical (transformative) research paradigm. Data was collected using in-depth, semi- structured interviews, and then analysed and described using the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual tools of field, capital and habitus. The findings from this research suggest that there may be a number of key problems with the language training programmes. Most of the refugees in the study failed to find consistent employment, and many entered a repetitive cycle of intermittent attendance at the English training programmes. Additionally, many of the participants reached only a basic proficiency in oral English communication, making little or no progress in their literacy acquisition, and thus they were generally unable to complete any vocational qualifications.