Refugee foreign language learning: trauma and the use of translanguaging space as a vehicle for psycho-social support

Refugee language learners have traumatic experiences that could hinder their language learning and negatively impact on their academic achievement. Literature on the effects of trauma on refugee foreign language learning is still modest even with unprecedented numbers of refugees. This article investigates the effects of trauma on refugee education in English-as-a-foreign-language settings and draws on the translanguaging practices of refugees, internally displaced and host community learners. I do so by reviewing the relevant literature and applying the concept of translanguaging using an ethnographic study in a non-profit organisation in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Interviews, observations and fieldnotes were used to record translanguaging practices employed by coaches and beneficiaries of the non-profit organisation, not only to maximise communication and learning, but also to create safe spaces for learning. The article concludes with a set of pedagogical implications and recommendations for English language teachers regarding how to implement translanguaging as a vehicle for psycho-social support in refugee settings.