Stigmatisation and othering: the case of Syrian students in Turkish schools*

ABSTRACT

In the last four years, with the implementation of the policy of integration of the Syrian refugee students into the public schools in Turkey, there has been a significant rise in the number of Syrian students in mainstream classrooms. Based on the analysis of the discourses of Turkish teachers and students about Syrian students, this study examines the ways in which attitudes towards the Syrians in the Turkish community are reflected into the classroom context and also the ways that such attitudes shape intergroup communication as well as contribute to the construction of collective identities within the multilingual classrooms in Turkish schools. Using linguistic ethnography as a methodological approach, data were collected through classroom recordings of natural interactions, teacher interviews, informal conversations and ethnographic classroom observations. Analysis of teacher and student discourses reveals how negative portrayals of the Syrian students as guests, outsiders, deprived, incompetent, cheaters and liars are being constructed and how those adversely affect communication and teaching practices within the classrooms. The authors argue for the need of the development and implementation of holistic educational policies in the country taking multiculturalism and multilingualism as pivotal points and focusing not only on language instruction but social integration as well.

KEYWORDS:

• Syrian refugee students
• Turkish public schools
• stigmatisation
• othering
• linguistic ethnography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arzı Eren

Arzı Eren received her BA and MA degrees in Political Science at V.I. Vernadsky Tavrida National University, Crimea, Ukraine, where her research interest was in language policies towards minority languages in the Crimea region. She participated in ethnographic projects on Crimean history and culture and also in oral history projects on interethnic and intercultural contacts in Crimea. She completed her MA in English Language Teaching at the Near East University, Cyprus, where she is presently pursuing with her PhD studies. Her research interests include refugee children education policies, multilingualism and language learning, multiculturalism and also relationship between language and ethnic identity.

Çise Çavuşoğlu

Çise Çavuşoğlu Assoc. Prof Dr Çise Çavuşoğlu completed her BA degree in English Language Teaching and her MEd in Educational Sciences in 2004 at Eastern Mediterranean University. She received her PhD degree from King’s College London, where her thesis focused on language, identity and culture among young Turkish Cypriots in Turkish schools in London. She is currently an associate professor and the Vice Chair in the Department of English Language Teaching at Near East University, Cyprus. She has supervised various MA theses focusing on different aspects of English language teaching in different contexts. Her research interests include the relationship between ethnicity, culture, everyday language use and the way language is utilised for different sociological and educational purposes within multicultural and multilingual settings.