The Center on Global Migration in collaboration with the Department of Education and Special Education at the University of Gothenburg, invites you to a seminar on language education for migrants, with a focus on Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) and related educational contexts.
Language learning is not only an educational process but also a social and political practice that shapes participation, belonging, and access to citizenship. This seminar brings together researchers examining language education across institutional settings, including SFI, municipal adult education, and language introduction programmes for recently migrated adolescents.
Attention will be given to critical perspectives on language testing, assessment, and educational practices. The presentations explore how language requirements are framed in policy and enacted in practice, how assessment tools and feedback shape participation and learning, and how institutional arrangements influence educational trajectories. Together, they open up discussion on how language expectations relate to broader questions of belonging, recognition, and citizenship.
The seminar will feature three research presentations followed by a moderated panel discussion, creating space for dialogue between research, policy, and educational practice. Participants will be invited to reflect on the implications of current language education and assessment practices and to discuss future directions for research and practice in the field.
Coffee/tea and sandwiches will be served.
Contributions
The three presentations examine language education and assessment from different institutional perspectives. Jasmine Bylund and Clara Palm explore the growing use of Swedish language tests in municipal elder-care recruitment, asking how such tests are legitimized in policy and how questions of validity and fairness are addressed in practice.
Dimitrios Papadopoulos and Karin Lumsden Wass focus on Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) Study Track 1, examining how expectations, feedback, and classroom practices shape participation and learning among adult learners with limited prior exposure to formal education.
Anna Winlund investigates Language Introduction Programmes (IMS) for recently migrated adolescents, and the ways in which institutional arrangements and everyday educational practices enable or constrain students’ educational trajectories. Together, the presentations offer insights into how language requirements, assessment practices, and educational structures shape opportunities for participation, recognition, and future pathways.
