Language Requirements and Their Impact on LESLLA Teachers and Learners: Insights from Greece and Italy

The aim of the paper is to investigate the impact of language requirements for residence and citizenship on learning and teaching environments in Greece and in Italy, in relation to adult migrants and with particular regard to LESLLA learners. These last constitute a discrete group, as LESLLA stands for Literacy and Second Language Learning for Adults and refers to learners with no or low literacy profile. The two countries face a similar influx of migrants; they present both similar yet distinct approaches regarding language requirements and, more in general, to the language policies they adopt. According to the aim, three dimensions of impact are considered: on teaching, on the role of teachers and in terms of different emotions in the learning environment. These are addressed from the teachers’ perspective, analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data: a survey and interviews help the collection of relevant thoughts in the interpretation of the results. Moreover, the complementarity of the data permits to consider the implications of the multidimensional impact on the educational settings per se, as well as on the people involved. The emotional state of the players in the field can be significantly affected by challenges inherent in their diverse beings: on the one hand teachers, raters and examiners; on the other hand, students and test-takers.