Und wir sind weggelaufen: Borders and Walls in Narratives of Forced Displacement– A Study with Middle Eastern Refugees’ Visual Narratives in the German as a Second Language (DaZ) Classroom
Silvia Melo-Pfeifer The study of the integration of young refugees has gained increasing attention, especially with regard to the role of educational institutions and the related acquisition of the host country’s language. In Europe the growing number of refugees, as well as the different national responses, justify this rising interest since the migration phenomenon induces demographic changes, in general, and linguistic and educational changes, in particular. In Germany, the significant rise in the number of refugees in 2015 and 2016 led to diverse responses from the government. In relation to so-called refugee students, it must be recognized, as Hek states, that they ‘are not a homogenous group, and have a range of different needs, experiences and expectations’ (2005: 158) . In this sense, as Taylor and Sidhu point out, migrants should not simply be merged with other migrants ‘because of the forced departure from their home land’ (2012: 42) ....