adult-learners
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- PaperApplied Linguistics20 May 2026
Precarity in an adult refugee’s basic literacy learning
Guri Bordal Steien, Marte Monsen
An ethnographic case study of a Congolese refugee in Norway reveals a significant gap between her personal priorities shaped by her refugee trajectory and the content of basic literacy training. The authors argue that addressing the precarity of the refugee condition is crucial for understanding and meeting their language learning needs.
Original abstract
With this article, we respond to recent calls within research on language learning for a greater focus on societal impact by drawing attention to the needs of different learner groups. We are concerned with a group of learners who have received limited attention in the field: adult refugees with limited prior schooling who enter graphocentric spaces. Language learning is often an inevitability for this group. For instance, in Norway, where our research was carried out, Norwegian language training is juridically ‘a right and an obligation’ for refugees. This article is an ethnographic case study of the basic literacy learning of Nora, a resettlement refugee from the DR Congo via Uganda to Norway. Our main finding is that there was a large gap between Nora’s priorities and understandings—informed by her refugee trajectory—and the aims and content of the basic literacy training she attended during her first years in Norway. Based on Nora’s story, we argue that the precarity of the refugee condition should be addressed, to better understand refugees’ needs as language learners.
- PaperLanguage Testing27 Mar 2026
How test-taker level of schooling interacts with pass probability on high-stakes tests for citizenship
Marieke Vanbuel, Edit Bugge
This study analyzes test results from 79,794 migrants in Norway, revealing that learners with limited formal education in their L1 have significantly lower pass probabilities on citizenship tests, especially the knowledge of society (KoS) test, which functions as an implicit language test. The impact of L2 proficiency on passing KoS tests is stronger for less educated learners, highlighting barriers for adult L2 learners with limited schooling.
Original abstract
In most Western European countries, aspiring citizens must pass both a second language (L2) test and a knowledge of society (KoS) test, often administered in the L2. While several studies highlighted the social inequalities such tests may create, few have quantified these disparities. This study, anchored in the IMPECT project, analyses the test results of 79,794 migrants in Norway to explore the implications of these requirements, particularly for adult L2 learners with limited formal education in their first language (L1). Logistic regression analyses reveal that (1) learners with limited formal L1 education have significantly lower probabilities of passing the tests compared to those with higher education; (2) disparities are greater for KoS tests than for the oral A2 language test; (3) L2 scores strongly predict the likelihood of passing KoS tests, substantiating the assumption that KoS tests are implicit language tests; and (4) the impact of language skills on passing KoS tests varies by schooling level, with L2 scores being a stronger predictor for learners with limited education than for those with tertiary degrees. These findings highlight barriers faced by learners with limited L1 schooling in the citizenship acquisition process and underscore the need for targeted policy and support mechanisms.