Volume 3, Issue 1 May 2022, pp. 23–41 Download PDF

Regular Articles

Metalanguage for enabling immigrants and refugees: Relevance of Natural Semantic Metalanguage and Minimal English

Boudjemaa Dendenne https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0037-49881

1 Ècole Normale Supérieure - Messaoud Zeghar, Sétif, ALGERIA b.dendenne@ens-setif.dz

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29140/mle.v3n1.487


Abstract

We should seek every possible method for educating immigrants and refugees and facilitating communication for them – especially during the current difficult times due to the spread of a killer-pandemic (i.e., Covid-19). To this end, I discuss the role which “metalanguage” could play in this regard, with reference to Natural Semantic Metalanguage/NSM and Minimal English/ME (e.g., Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2007; Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2018). This mainly theoretical contribution will demonstrate how NSM and ME can be powerful pedagogical tools for ethnopragmatic instruction and a mitigator to cross-cultural misunderstanding in intercultural/ international communication. The main merit which I claim is raising awareness about the significance of this well-established project in applied linguistics and demonstrates how it can tie in with the immigrant-and-refugee situation.



Copyright

© Boudjemaa Dendenne

CC  4.0
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


Suggested citation

Dendenne, B. (2022). Metalanguage for enabling immigrants and refugees: Relevance of Natural Semantic Metalanguage and Minimal English. Migration and Language Education , 3(1), 23–41. https://doi.org/10.29140/mle.v3n1.487


Related Articles:

Promoting acts of kindness on campus: Views of Chinese international students in the UK
Ming Cheng, Olalekan Adekola
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 30 April, 2022, Volume 5(1), 17–32. Download PDF


Tasks, self-efficacy, and L2 motivational self system in an online emergency EFL speaking class: A mixed-methods study
Nguyễn Nhật Quang, Phạm Nhật Linh, Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 2 April, 2022, Volume 18(1), 1–33. Download PDF


Implementing backward design to foster intercultural communicative competence in textbook-based curricula: A proposed framework for English language practitioners
Hiba B. Ibrahim
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 30 April, 2022, Volume 5(1), 1–16. Download PDF


Challenges and responses: A Complex Dynamic Systems approach to exploring language teacher agency in a blended classroom
Grace Yue Qi, Yuping Wang
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 9 April, 2022, Volume 18(1), 54–82. Download PDF


The effects of corpus use on learning L2 collocations
Yoshiho Satake
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 9 April, 2022, Volume 18(1), 34–53. Download PDF


Captions and learnability factors in learning grammar from audio-visual input
Anastasia Pattemore, Carmen Muñoz
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 9 April, 2022, Volume 18(1), 83–109. Download PDF


Chinese language learners evaluating machine translation accuracy
Li-Ching Chang
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 9 April, 2022, Volume 18(1), 110–136. Download PDF


Statistical analysis of the impact of the e-learning platform Furago on French learners’ listening skills
Albéric Derible, Éric Wiel
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 9 April, 2022, Volume 18(1), 137–161. Download PDF


Work integrated language learning: Boundary crossing, connectivity, and L2 affordances
Linda Febring, Alastair Henry
Migration and Language Education Published: 29 April, 2022, Volume 3(1), 1–22. Download PDF


The role of literature in intercultural language education
Melina Porto, Michalinos Zembylas
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 10 December, 2022, Volume 5(3), 86–104. Download PDF