engleski

Language use and opportunities for economic migrants in Europe: policy and practice

The recent Communication on multilingualism published by the Commission of the European Communities contends that mastering the national language of a given country is fundamental for the integration of migrants, but diverse mother tongues “should be valued more highly” (CoEC 2008: 6). Indeed, the Commission points out that “linguistic and intercultural skills increase the chances of obtaining a better job. In particular command of several foreign languages gives a competitive advantage: companies are increasingly looking for skills in a number of languages to conduct business in the EU and abroad. Those mastering more languages can choose among a wider range of job offers, including jobs abroad: lack of language skills is reported as the primary barrier to working abroad” (8). Yet in practice, there exist constraints on the mastery and use of languages other than the national in employment and business within the EU. Those which affect the employability particularly of migrants result from the specific policy issues of the receptor countries, such as issues of residence and rights of ownership, membership or nonmembership of the EU, migrants’ levels of education and the perceived status of their languages, and influence of the historical context of migratory flows. Moreover, such policies may be discussed in the public arena or embedded in tacit political ideologies. This paper discusses such overt and covert policy issues from the perspective of migrants’ access to employment and advancement, taking into consideration the relevance and impact of their language skills and general levels of education.

anthropology; migration; language policy; employment

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