Abstract:

The proportion of people with low literacy has risen dramatically in Europe – there are still some 55 million adults in Europe with no basic reading and writing skills (UNESCO, 2017). Taking into account this state of affairs people who after attending school lose all or most of these skills (functional illiteracy) and people who have not acquired any writing or reading skills (primary illiteracy) can be identified. Specifically referring to the latter, reading and writing skills issues emerges as increasingly linked to the issues of multilingualism and migration through increased mobility in Europe: in some countries, such as Italy or Portugal, the proportion of young adults with migration background increased by a factor of five or four between 2000 and 2010 (European Commission, 2018).

For this reason, research in second language learning (L2) and in ICT for L2 learning can provide important information about which methods and applications are especially useful in the literacy of adults with a migration background.

The main purpose of the present paper is to outline the current state of the art in the field of ICT-based second language learning activities for illiterate/un-alphabetized adult migrants/refugees as well as to shed some light on prospects and possible methodological approaches and practice-oriented solutions.

Expert interviews were conducted with key literacy activists of adult migrants to identify the relevant structures, actors and tools in the context of the participating countries (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom) developing common criteria for collecting and interpreting data as well as identifying EU-relevant best practices, drawing conclusions and elaborating common proposals for possible further actions. In addition, an assessment of the tools and activities to improve second-language ICT-based learning for illiterate / non-literate adult migrants/refugees was conducted both from a technical and a methodological point of view and by comparing the critical feedback of regular users of these instruments. The results of this evaluation were used to implement new ICT-based learning scenarios for the target.

Acknowledgement:
This study was carried out within the European project D.I.S.I. - Digital Innovation for Social Inclusion - for people with a migration background or refugees, founded by the Erasmus+ Programme.

Keywords:

Second Language Learning, ICT-based learning, Social Inclusion, Writing Skills, Reading Skills.