I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest article, titled The social and linguistic integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees through community and urban education courses in Iceland in Social Sciences & Humanities Open.

This article was written in collaboration with my colleague and friend, Dr. Vander Tavares. In it, we explore Ukrainian refugees’ perspectives on and experiences with courses aimed at developing L2 skills and facilitating social integration in Iceland. The data originates from two group interviews with seven Ukrainian refugees and individual interviews with two teachers of the courses.  The guiding research questions for this study are:

• How can community and urban education courses, designed through experiential education, support the cultural and social integration of Ukrainian refugees into Icelandic society?
• What role does experiential education play in L2 skills development for Ukrainian refugees in Iceland?

The findings illustrate a positive interplay between experiential learning, L2 development, and social integration. The refugee students experienced the courses as meaningful, engaging, and creative forms of learning, which contributed significantly to their development of cultural, social, and linguistic knowledge.

The article is published open access.

Foxik: I signed up for it again! The same course, to consolidate. 

Researcher: What did you especially like?

Foxik: The information was very interesting. It was awesome!

Iryna: They took us on tours and gave us important information about salaries, how to calculate the salaries, about medical care, about childcare and education, and everything needed to integrate into the society.

The names are pseudonyms.

Benediktsson, A. I., & Tavares, V. (2024). The social and linguistic integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees through community and urban education courses in Iceland. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 10, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.101210