Adult multilingual refugees

Even though refugees are a growing population, their experiences in higher educational contexts have been little explored. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study is to explore the experiences of three multilingual refugees navigating a U.S. community college. More specifically, the goal is to examine what they perceived as challenges and supports while they navigated this institution of higher education in pursuit of degrees. The data revealed the participants experienced challenges related to English language proficiency, particularly in academic contexts. In addition, the participants perceived interactions with classmates as a challenge for them to pursue their academic goals. Participants’ narrative accounts revealed the importance of interactions with instructors, which they identified as a support for navigating college. The findings suggest that higher education institutions should extend their language support to multilingual students, particularly refugees, through their entire college trajectory. Further, this study demonstrates the need for more robust support for multilingual refugees to feel safe to express their cultural values and beliefs. A starting place is promoting awareness that multilingualism is present on campus and framing it as an asset. This study also emphasizes the impact of relationships with instructors as an often-overlooked source of support that should be recognized and maximized as an important part of multilingual refugees’ experience in U.S. higher education.