| dc.description.abstract | This study explores the relevance of mother tongue instruction for primary school children from a user-perspective, i.e. Kurdish refugee parents living in Oslo, Norway and Gothenburg, Sweden. The overarching purpose of the study is to provide a constructionist understanding of what constitutes the relevance of mother tongue instruction, understood as valued learning outcomes. In light of this, the study aims to elucidate what language functions and societal institutions Kurdish refugee parents value and associate the Kurdish language with. In so doing, the study also seeks to uncover factors that influence perceptions of relevance. These aims are to be addressed through a comparative case study design that consists of in-depth couples interviews. The aim of the study s comparative aspect is to provide an understanding of whether or not this relevance can be perceived differently in different contexts The findings suggest that the perception of MTI relevance is closely related to the value that the Kurdish language is perceived to have for the parents and the children s family and community domains in Oslo/Gothenburg and Iran/Iraq. That is, a value pertaining to social and emotional interaction, Kurdish social identity construction, Kurdish literacy and second language learning. In light of the theoretical frameworks of Joshua Fishman and Pierre Bourdieu s theories, the findings however suggest that the Kurdish language is perceived to be a threatened language as its functions and domains are restricted; and are believed to be even more restricted in the younger generation s lives in Norway and Sweden. The primary responsibility and most significant condition for the maintenance of these valued aspects of Kurdish language use are perceived to be reliant on the efforts of the family domain. Thus, MTI is believed to be a contributory support for the families efforts as long as the instruction is based on a maintenance bilingual model. Moreover, the findings suggest a call for a societal situation of bilingualism with diglossia, whereby there exists societal acceptance and arrangements for the protection and maintenance of the Kurdish language s usage in private domains. However, the predominantly monolingual discourses in the Norwegian and Swedish language policies suggest that the realization of these desired situations may be challenging as they foster minority language shift, rather than minority language maintenance and cultivation. | eng |