Presentation by George Androulakis, Roula Kitsiou and Sofia Tsioli at the Education and Migration: Language Foregrounded conference at Durham University 21-23 October 2016, part of the AHRC funded Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State project.

1. “Giving space” and “taking place”:
Adult immigrant students’ and their teachers’ experiences
and attitudes
through their participation in courses of Greek as an L2
Sofia Tsioli, Roula Kitsiou, George Androulakis
Greek Language and Multilingualism Laboratory
University of Thessaly
EDUCATION AND MIGRATION: LANGUAGE FOREGROUNDED
Durham
21-23 October 2016

2. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Projects’ Identity – MATHEME
 MATHEME  Lessons in Greek Language, History and Culture for immigrants from non-EU countries
who are unemployed, mothers, with disabilities (PWD), and illiterate immigrants
 Project Coordinator: Greek Language & Multilingualism Laboratory (University of Thessaly)
 Funding Institution: Greek Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction
 Lessons in 7 cities (Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Patras, Ioannina, Larisa, Iraklion) in three levels of
Greek language competency beginners, intermediate, advanced)
 410 students in sum, 80 taught hours offered to each student
 Main Objective: to empower immigrants during their integration process in Greece by giving voice to
their narratives and by designing specialised Greek courses
 Classes in Athens were realized in Kypseli - in the facilities of an institution that aims to support
immigrants through various actions – Kypseli = a region of low socioeconomic status, where many
immigrants live due to cheap living costs
 120 students, 9 teachers, 3 mediators in Athens and Piraeus

3. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Stages of MATHEME
 Recording the target groups and preliminary contacts
 Needs analysis: investigation and analysis of their social expectations, communication and linguistic needs
 Course design: designing the learning goals to be achieved and compilation of a syllabus for each target
group
 Design, development and adjustment of teaching material in print or multimedia format; organising
educational activities
 Course implementation: free lessons in Greek language, history and culture in appropriate learning spaces in
the 7 cities
 Project evaluation: assessment of and reflections on the implemented lessons. Compilation of a resource pack
to be used by future similar projects
 Dissemination: exploitation of the results, events for the public and the press, scientific meetings, web portal
and publications
After the completion of MATHEME a second round of classes was organized only in Athens and was
implemented on a voluntary basis as an extension of MATHEME

4. “Giving space” and “taking place”
 Lessons in Greek Language for immigrants from non-EU countries including refugees (that were excluded in
MATHEME due to bureaucratic restrictions – legal status)
 The voluntary academic context [Greek Language and Multilingualism Laboratory] allowed for inclusion of refugee
students in MATHEME 2
 21 students in sum, 40 hours, three levels of Greek language competency (beginners, intermediate, advanced)
 3 teachers, 2 mediators, 1 facilitator (=1/3 of the teachers who participated in MATHEME classes of Athens)
 motivated to participate in this bottom-up initiative for an extension of MATHEME based on the expressed needs of
their students to continue the Greek courses
 Classes were realized in Plaka= an old historical neighborhood of Athens of high socioeconomic status, clustered
around the Acropolis, at the facilities of the Greek Children’s Museum
 Task-based educational material developed on the context of MATHEME - lessons in culture through museums
visits
Projects’ Identity – MATHEME 2

5. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Research Objectives and Questions -
Focus of the research
General research questions:
 How does the context of the project (governmental or academic-voluntary) affect the choices, practices
and experiences of the participants (students, teachers, mediators, institutions, etc.)?
 What are the experiences and attitudes of teachers and adult immigrant students who participated in the
projects MATHEME and MATHEME 2?
Specific research sub-questions that are addressed in the present paper:
 What are the senses of places that have been experienced by participants of the courses?
 Are there person-place bonds that have been developed throughout the projects? If yes, how are they
reflected on the participants answers? (place dimension)

6. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Analytic – conceptual tools
 Qualitative approach - thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
 Sense of place is a concept which is changing a typical space to place with special behavior and sensory
characteristics for certain people (Hashemnezhad, Heidari & Hoseini, 2013).
 In order to answer our sub-question we adopted the tripartite model of place attachment (Scannell & Gifford,
2010) - variables of place attachment – the three P’s:
 Person
 Process (a. affect, b. cognition, c. behavior)
 Place (a. physical, b. social)
 Focus of the presentation: the “Place Dimension” of place attachment concerning students

7. “Giving space” and “taking place”
The research outline
 Research Tools  semi-structured interviews, written reports and arts-informed methods 
 Self-reports through interview processes and reflexive designs (Molinié, 2009; Auger, 2010) (schemas):
 STUDENTS: 10 semi-structured interviews with ΜΑΤΗΕΜΕ and MATHEME 2 students, 8 reflexive designs,
students’ portfolios, photographs
 TEACHERS: 2 semi-structured interviews with MATHEME and MATHEME 2, 4 teacher’s reports
 RESEARCHERS (2 sociolinguists): Roles a. main interviewer, b. mediator & observer (field notes)
 Working languages: Greek (10), English (1), French (1), Greek-French (1),Greek-English-French (1)
 Nationalities: Senegal (4), Syria (1), Algeria (1), Albania (1), Guatemala (1), Iraq (1), Afghanistan (1)
 Mother tongues and other languages: Albanian, Dari, Pashto, Farsi, Wolof, Arabic, Turkish, Berber, Spanish,
Kurdish

8. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Methodological notes – Data collection
 Interview guide axes:
a. geospatial trajectories
b. learning trajectories
c. attitudes towards their participation in the courses [ 1. motivation, 2. expectations, 3. space memories-
senses of places, 4. learning experiences, 5. learning outcomes, 6. relationships to others (classmates,
teachers, mediators)].
 Interview procedure:
 Using different maps as stimuli – ice breaking and breaking hierarchies
 Using photos as memory facilitators from the different courses and asking them to comment on them
 At the end of the interview we asked them to make a reflexive design illustrating the way they had their
learning experiences in their minds with the use of symbols, words, drawings.

9. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Findings: Sense of place
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
Sense of place subsets (Different scales of sense of Place,
Shamai,1991) [Sense of place = a general feeling to that place]
Place attachment
(positive emotions which participants had about the place)
 Person
 Process
 Place
Lack of sense of place
(negative emotions which participants had about the place)
 Claustrophobia
 The place of the others
 Constraints of the physical place

10. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Findings: Place < Place attachment
Place attachment
(positive emotions which participants had about the place)
Place
 Social (Subjective experience of people – associations with the place)
 Comparing with previous experiences
 Memories
 Traditions-Culture- Learning trajectories
 Personal connections with classmates
 Physical (Objective & external influences of the environment -landscape,
smell, sound- that lead to various association of a place)
 Affordances of the physical place
 Access to the place
 Smells

11. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Place
 Social (Subjective experience of people – associations with the place)
 Comparing with previous experiences
SM_A_IN: φυσικά ειλικρινά ήταν αγαπημένο μου μέρος που είχα πάει για να μάθω [...] δεν υπήρχε τίποτα στη αίθουσα δηλαδή
μουσείο έβλεπες ότι [21:00] είχε μια ψυχή ήταν αλλιώς σε σχέση με τα άλλα που είχα πάει [soul metaphor]
 Memories
MD_AB_IN: όχι τίποτα ένας @@@ που ήτανε παιδικό μουσείο θυμηθήκαμε έτσι τα παιδικά χρόνια [nostalgia - childhood
 Traditions-Culture-Learning trajectories
MD_AB_IN: αυτό ήτανε πιο σχολείο, λέμε τώρα αυτό και το άλλο [...] σχολείο κανονικό με θρανία κανονικά [...] μπαίνεις λες είμαι
αυτή τη δουλειά έρχομαι [schooling habits]
 Personal connections with classmates
JE_AB_IN: ναι και μέχρι τώρα έχω μια φίλη είναι από το Μαρόκο μέχρι τώρα έχω το τηλέφωνό της και μιλάμε στο τηλέφωνο
τηλέφωνο τη γνώρισα εκεί και έχουμε κάνουμε τώρα είμαστε φίλοι [From community of practice to friends (friendship)
of friendship through telephone]
JE_AB_IN: ναι το μάθημα ήταν πιο εύκολα και κάναμε παρέα γιατί είμαστε φίλοι στο facebook τώρα ξέρεις και μιλάμε::: συχνά
[30:00] [Forming digital communities through social media - Facebook friends]
Findings: Social < Place < Place attachment
Data in Greek

12. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Place
 Social (Subjective experience of people – associations with the place)
 Comparing with previous experiences
SM_A_IN: of course honestly it was my favorite place where I had come to learn […] there was nothing in the classroom I mean here in
children's museum, you saw that [21:00] it had a soul, it was different compared with other [schools] I had attended [soul metaphor]
 Memories
MD_AB_IN: no nothing a @@@ that was a children’s museum, we remembered our childhood this way [nostalgia - childhood
 Traditions-Culture- Learning trajectories
MD_AB_IN: this was more schooly, let’s say now this one and the other one […] [it was a] an ordinary school with ordinary desks […] you
walk into [the building] and you say I’m at school and that’s why I come [schooling habits] [schooling habits]
 Personal connections with classmates
JE_AB_IN: yes, and up to now I have a friend she is from Morocco, up to now I have her telephone number and we talk on the phone
but we talk on the phone, I met her there [at the courses] and now we do, we are friends [From community of practice to friends
(friendship) perseverance of friendship through telephone]
JE_AB_IN: yes the course was easier and we were hanging around with each other because we are friends on facebook now, you know,
and we talk::: often, it is better [Forming digital communities through social media - Facebook friends]
Data translated
Findings: Social < Place < Place attachment

13. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Findings: Physical < Place < Place attachment
 Physical (objective & external influences of the environment -landscape, smell, sound- that lead to various association of a place)
 Affordances of the physical place
JE_AB_IN: και από εδώ μια φορά φτιάξαμε πώς το λένε::: […] ((γελάει)) το παστίτσιο το παστίτσιο ((γελάει)) […] το κάναμε στην
μουσείου εκεί το κάναμε […] [building’s architecture]
MD_AB_IN: χώρος πολύ καλό δροσερό δροσιά ήτανε [...] ναι αυτό ήταν δροσερό που άρχιζε ζέστη και ήταν ωραίο [building’s
JE_AB_IN: ναι εδώ είναι πώς να πω είναι πιο ασφαλής εδώ αλλά πλατεία Αμερικής ξέρετε δε θέλω να πηγαίνω εκεί είναι
πάρα πολλούς ξένους εκεί και κάνουνε (.) δεν προτιμώ (.) καλύτερα εδώ [safety of the region- safe place]
 Access to the place
JE_AB_IN: όχι δεν δυσκολεύομαι γιατί εγώ από εκεί που μένω είναι κοντά στο μετρό ((επιφώνημα από IRK)) Ανθούπολη είναι 2
δικό μου σπίτι και αν έχει λεωφορείο παίρνω το λεωφορείο αν δεν έχει μπορώ να περπατάω μέχρι το μετρό είναι 2 στάσεις
το μετρό μέχρι Αττική και μετά παίρνω το λεωφορείο ναι [accessibility]
 Smells
ΟT_A_IN: πολύ ωραίο κτήριο καθαρό απλά ήτανε επειδή είχανε περάσει καινούριο βερνίκι πάνω στο πέτρα είχε κάποιο
ήμουν συνηθισμένος επειδή δούλευα οικοδομή οπότε δε με ενδιαφέρα για τους άλλους μπορεί να είχανε κάποιο πρόβλημα
μπορεί να είχανε κάποιο πρόβλημα όμως εγώ δεν είχα πρόβλημα (_) [smell associated to work environment]
Data in Greek

14. “Giving space” and “taking place”
 Physical (objective & external influences of the environment -landscape, smell, sound- that lead to various association of a place)
 Affordances of the physical place
JE_AB_IN: and from here, once, we made how is it called::: […] ((laughs)) the pastitsio the pastitsio ((laughs)) […] we cooked it in the
museums’ kitchen, we made it there […] [building’s architecture]
MD_AB_IN: space very good, cool coolness it was […] yes that was cool that hot weather was expected and it was nice [building’s
architecture]
JE_AB_IN: yes, here it is, how can I say that it’s safer here but in Amerikis square (Plateia Amerikis), you know, I don’t want to go there, it
dangerous because there are too many foreigners there and they do (.) I don’t prefer [this place] (.) it’s better here [safety of the region-
safe place]
 Access to the place
JE_AB_IN: no I have no difficulty because I from where I live [my home] is close to the subway ((exclamation from IRK)) Anthoupoli is
stations away from my own home and if there is a bus, I take the bus, if not, I can walk to the subway, it’s only two stations and then I
the metro to Attiki and then I take the bus yes [accessibility]
 Smells
ΟT_A_IN: very nice building clean it just had some smell because they had recently applied fresh varnish on the stone […] not for me, I
used to it because I worked as a builder so I didn’t care, as far as the others [students] are concerned, they may had a problem, for the
others OK maybe they had a problem but I didn’t have any problem (_) [smell associated to work environment]
Findings: Physical < Place < Place attachment
Data translated

15. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Examples - reflexive designs (1/2)
“το σχεδιάζω το παιδικό μουσείο σαν
ένα φως κάτι που δίνει χρώμα στη
ζωή σου πριν από αυτό έρχεσαι από
δυσκολίες στα σύνορα και ό.τι είναι
θα έχουν περάσει και από δω και
πέρα μαθαίνεις και βλέπεις τη ζωή
που έχει χρώματα και πριν να
περάσεις από δω δε ξέρεις πού πας
μόνο πας σε ένα δρόμο από δω και
πέρα ο δρόμος το ξέρεις πού πάει”
SD_RD
“I am drawing the children’s museum like a light, something that gives colour to your life [pointing at the sun – up right],
before this you come from difficulties in the borders and whatever it is [pointing at the black and white part of the drawing –
down left], it will have gone by and from now on you learn and see the life that has colours and before you pass through
here [pointing at the “door”] you don’t know where you are heading to, you just follow a road from now on [pointing at the
river of letters] and you know where the road leads [pointing at the word “Αγάπη” Love]” (Data translated)

16. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Examples - reflexive designs (2/2)
JE_AB_IN: […] εδώ στο μουσείο […] ναι
εδώ είναι πώς να πω είναι πιο
ασφαλής εδώ αλλά πλατεία Αμερικής
ξέρετε δε θέλω να πηγαίνω εκεί είναι
επικίνδυνα γιατί έχει πάρα πολλούς
ξένους εκεί και κάνουνε (.) δεν προτιμώ
(.) καλύτερα εδώ
JE_AB_IN: “[…] here at the museum […] yes here it is, how shall I call it, it is more safe here but in
Ameriki Square you know I don’t want to go there it is dangerous because there are too many
foreigners there and they do (.) I don’t prefer (.) it is better here” (Data translated)

17. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Concluding – “Giving space and taking place” (1/3)
 People experience strong attachments to places that they can identify with or feel proud to be a part
of.
 Examined individually  places often gain meaning because of personal experiences, life milestones,
and occurrences of personal growth.
 Community behaviors contribute not only to place attachment experienced by students of that
community as a group but also to those students individually.
 Architectural characteristics of a place have a direct impact on the strength of place attachment felt by
students
 Students associate knowledge, memories, and meanings with the classroom learning space (places of
attachment)
 These elements lead to the development of people-place bonding.

18. “Giving space” and “taking place”
 Students have already developed preferences for certain types of learning spaces (e.g. “this is more
schooly”) and redefine those preferences integrating new learning experiences in the context of
culturally different learning environments.
 Using art-based forms of research such as reflexive designs can reflect the way that people organize
their beliefs and knowledge in regards to places in a multimodal not exclusively verbal way.
Concluding – “Giving space and taking place” (2/3)

19. “Giving space” and “taking place”
 The dependence relation between individual and place is not one-directional  consistent with
Scannell and Gifford’s (2010) process dimension of place attachment
 The influence of an individual over a place is related to perception of the place as:
 an extension of the self (a dimension of place identity; Droseltis & Vignoles, 2010),
 a sense of ownership of the place (identity-related symbolic meaning), or
 investment in place (functional meaning).
(Mihaylov, & Perkins, in press, Main 2007).
Concluding – “Giving space and taking place” (3/3)
“[…] before you pass through here
[pointing at the “door”] you don’t
know where you are heading to,
you just follow a road from now on
[pointing at the river of letters] and
you know where the road leads
[pointing at the word “Αγάπη”
Love]” SM_B_RD

20. “Giving space” and “taking place”

21. “Giving space” and “taking place”
References
 Auger, N. (2010). Élèves nouvellement arrivés en France. Réalités et perspectives pratiques en classe. Paris: Éditions des archives contemporaines.
 Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
 Droseltis, O., & Vignoles, V. L. (2010). Towards an integrative model of place identification: Dimensionality and predictors of intrapersonal level place
preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(1), 23-34.
 Hashemnezhad, H., Heidari, A. A., & Hoseini, P. M. (2013). “Sense of Place” and “Place Attachment”. International Journal of Architecture and Urban
Development, 3(1), 5-12.
 Main, K. D. (2008). Place Attachment and MacArthur Park: A Case Study of the Importance of Public Space in an Immigrant Neighborhood and Implications
for Local Planning Practice(Published PhD Dissertation). Los Angeles, USA: ProQuest LLC.
 Mihaylov, N., & Perkins, D. D. (2014). Community place attachment and its role in social capital development in response to environmental disruption. In L.
Manzo & P. Devine-Wright (Eds.), Place attachment: Advances in theory, methods and research (pp. 61-74). Routledge.
 Molinié, (2009). Le dessin réflexif - Elément pour une herméneutique du sujet plurilingue. Amiens, France: Encrage.
 Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010). Defining place attachment: A tripartite organizing framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 1-10.
 Shamai, S. (1991). Sense of place: An empirical measurement. Geoforum, 22, 347-358.

22. “Giving space” and “taking place”
Thank you for your attention!