Beyond the gender gap: Masculinities in Austrian German as L2 education for refugees
This dissertation aims to bridge the gaps between second language education research, gender studies, and forced migration studies. Particular emphasis is placed on dimensions of temporality and spatiality and their various intersections with participants’ experience of border policies, “integration” regulations, language learning/use and masculinities. Throughout the dissertation, I seek to reflect on my role as a researcher in a series of intermezzos that feature creative writing. The study seeks to problematise the “gender gap” often found in additional language education research by highlighting two main issues. First, some of the methods and instruments used to study the gender gap may have a gender bias. Second, large parts of SLE research frame sex/gender as binary and static and portray women/men as separate and rather homogenous groups, often without acknowledging the large overlap between them. This complicates achieving an in-depth understanding of how gender is at play in language learning journeys. In my dissertation, I argue that framing boys/men as a homogenous group is an oversimplification that does not engage with the context-dependent constitution, experience and performance of different masculinities. In turn, if we better understand men’s diverse gendered experiences as language learners, including gender-specific challenges and opportunities, this might support us in making language education more accessible and enjoyable for many learners. This seems particularly relevant in forced migration contexts: forced migration often necessitates navigating masculinity ideals of multiple cultures and can both challenge and reinforce notions of masculinity. Currently, all this happens in a climate where refugee men and their masculinities are frequently discussed negatively in the political discourse, and where their language learning is heavily politicised. A specific understanding of men’s gendered experiences as language learners/users in this context is needed to document the workings (and failings) of the educational system and support structures as well as to design more inclusive alternatives. For the present qualitative study, I therefore worked with ten men who have learned German as an additional language in Vienna, Austria. Over a fieldwork period of six months, I spent time with them in various contexts that included, but were not limited to, formal, semi-formal and informal language learning settings. Conversations that took the form of ethnographic interviews form the heart of the data I analyse for this dissertation. In these conversations, participants shared their lived experiences of learning German as racialised men in Austria in the wider context of their lives before and since their forced migration. In writing up their narratives and our co-constructed knowledges, I discuss their L2 investment. Presenting a detailed account of four learners’ individual narratives serves to highlight both the complexity of negotiating L2 learning as a male refugee, demonstrating clearly how structural factors and individual agency shape L2 investment trajectories. For the cross-case analysis, I centre two analytical categories: time/temporality and space/spatiality. Both are understood as gendered and hold significant explanatory potential for making sense of how male refugee L2 learners negotiate their masculine learner identities, are able to employ their capital, and navigate complex and often contradictory ideologies of gender and language. The discussion of time centres issues of dominant temporalities and refugees’ often removed position from those as a potential challenge for L2 investment. Central to this argument are the theme of uncertain futures and notions of “productivity” and working time often seen as essential to masculine identity. L2 learning can be seen as a stepping stone to participating in dominant temporalities; however, it may also be regarded as a temporal barrier. This also links to the questions of who controls L2 learners’ time, and how such time control is navigated and, in certain cases, resisted. In the chapter on space/spatiality, we encounter barriers and opportunities for L2 investment at different levels: from the personal living context, via the local district- and city-level, to larger spatial entities such as “Austria”. L2 learners’ embodied existence in these spaces affords them different opportunities for L2 investment, which can be highly individual: while a quiet flat may be conducive for one participant’s studying, another might struggle to be alone with his thoughts. The chapter also touches upon virtual spaces as relevant for L2 investment. The dissertation concludes by highlighting the potential for better understanding L2 investment by adopting inter- and transdisciplinary approaches and lays out implications for L2 policymaking.
adult education, ethnographic interviews, forced migration, gender, gender studies, L2 education, language education, masculinities, qualitative research
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