Research Review

Name : Gea Carnando

NPM : 1761018
Research Title : Saving the Children: The Challenges of Educating Refugee Youth
Author(s) : Aram Ayalon and Michal Ayalon

Refugees are defined as a group of people who had to move from their origin lands as a result of
war, political force and famine that take place in their homeland. United Nation statistics showed 50 % of
the refugees are children under 18 and mostly unaccompanied. Sooner or later they have to prepare
themselves with the next journey if they are placed in a new environment or host country to live in. As a
host country it is a crucial to educate the new comers regarding the important aspects in order for them to
survive in the new and different environment. The researchers have learned about several difficulties of
the refugee to adapt later and tended to teach them English and assess their English literacy skills in order
to fully prepare themselves for their future host country. The population of this study is a group of 70
unaccompanied boys from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iran who stayed in a refugee camp of Lesvos
Island, Greece.
Since the number of minor unaccompanied migrants increased world-wide in 2014-2015, the
issue has become even more serious than before (Pierce, 2015). The refugee, especially the
unaccompanied children, encountered many challenges after leaving their homeland. They suffered from
poverty, trauma, limited formal education and lack of literacy skills in English (Pierce, 2015). Based on
Article 39 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, all children have a right to
receive proper education, medical treatment, psychological counselling, and legal support. However,
many of the children, especially the refugees, don’t receive these basic rights. Instead, many of them
sleep in the street, live in over-populated detention with poor sanitation. Those situation lead them into
becoming the subject of crime, abuse, bullying and even disease (Collins, 2017). Based on the current
world-wide survey, the major factor that blocks the refugee children from learning is language. These
children not only have to learn a new syllabus but also they have to learn the language of the hosting
country (Mendenhall, Russell, & Buckner, 2017). Prior to their immigration, most youth refugees leave
their country with limited formal schooling which result in their poor and limited L1 skills. If these
students have great academic language and learn literacy skills in their L1, it will be easier for them to
learn English (Menken, 2013). Similarly, several studies on bilingual education also showed how
supporting children’s literacy skills for their homeland can benefit their English-learning and influence
positively in students’ success in school-based literacy instruction (Gabriele, Troseth, Martohardjono, &
Otheguy, 2009; Hammer, Miccio, & Wagstaff, 2003). The second and yet superior challenge for the
refugee children in gaining proper education in the hosting country is their trauma. Trauma experienced
by these children could impact their learning aspects negatively such as their retention of memory, self-
confidence, attention, motivation to learn, language development, regulating emotions, self- regulation,
abstract and concrete thinking (Flannery, 2017; Kaplan, Stolk, Tucker, & Baker, 2016; Martinez et al.,
2015). Moreover, after they live in the hosting country, they also encountered discrimination by teachers,
their peers because of their lack of language proficiencies of the hosting country. Refugee children often
experience bullying and mistreatment by teacher (Dryden-Peterson, 2015). It is crucial that the school and
teachers offer them a warm reception, rather than treat these children and youth with a mind-set that they
are threatening, feared, or inconsequential.
 In conclusion, it is vital for the hosting country to prepare for possible difficulties or challenges in
welcoming the refugees. The diverse level of their language literacy skills and trauma could be
wholesome challenging. In order to overcome these issues, the researchers conducted a way to assess
their English literacy skills and teach them English as a way to deliberately. Therefore, the host country
need to assist or educate them in adapting the new environment despite their limited language literacy
skills of the host country and their past trauma that keep haunting them down.

References
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