The IMPECT project: Consequences of migration tests on LESLLA learners 

Professor Cecilie Hamnes Carlsen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences 

Since the turn of the millennium, more and more European countries have introduced language and knowledge of society (KoS) requirements for entry, residency, and citizenship. The relative severity of these requirements varies considerably from one country to the next, the Nordic countries representing the extreme ends of the scale. Policy makers typically legitimise the introduction of such requirement referring to an assumed positive effect on migrants’ motivation for language and KoS learning in the short run and for integration in the long run, but these assumptions have little support in research. The Council of Europe expresses concern that instead of helping integration, such requirements hinder integration since they represent very real barriers on migrants’ path to integration. When residency and citizenship is made dependent upon migrants’ ability to learn the majority language and pass formal tests, there is reason to assume that these obstacles are even more difficult for LESLLA learners than for migrants with high levels of literacy and good school background.

The ongoing IMPECT-project (2021-2025), anchored at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and financed by the Norwegian research council, investigates the consequences of formal language and KoS requirements on LESLLA learners in 20 European countries, including the Nordic countries. In this paper, I will present the aims, methods, and preliminary results of the project, with particular focus on the international work-package where requirements and their consequences are compared across Europe.

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