Integration and language

The Commission on Integration and Cohesion has rightly identified lack of language as the single biggest barrier to integration. It is easy to see why this is the case- not being able to speak the language of your host country is an obvious disadvantage. Your career prospects are limited. In many cases, you become permanently locked into low paid jobs and you are less aware of your rights. Integration is further hampered because your colleagues are unlikely to speak English as well. You have minimum contact with the majority community.

So it is perfectly reasonable that migrants, whether here for work or to join a spouse, should be required to learn English. That means quality courses in English should be provided free of charge and at flexible times to cater for working patterns. Migrants should commit to learning the language. The government’s side of the bargain should be to provide quality learning and training.

To be frank, things have been a little too easy for migrants for too long. The easy availability of translation has removed any motivation to learn English. Yet the problem with translation is that although it gets you through a particular transaction, in the longer term it does not help your position in the host country. Many public sector organisations have been particularly over-zealous in their approach to translation, making available a large number of leaflets and documents in various languages. It is a concrete indicator of the duty to be ‘inclusive’. At the end of the year, when reporting on the performance indicators relating to inclusion, organisations can count the minority language leaflets and pat themselves on the back. This misguided approach to inclusion actually perpetuates exclusion.