Relation between pronunciation skills and integration of immigrants and refugees, 2004

Many studies show that a number of immigrants in Norway are marginalized in society. This is partly due to difficulty in entering the labor market. Researchers agree that language skills are necessary to be integrated within society, but the results are not definitive when it comes to immigrants norwegian language skills and employers' recruitment decisions. The project looks at the relationship between second language skills and economic integration. Linguistic and sociolinguistic analysis of immigrants' language knowledge and language attitudes of employers form the stock for the conclusions. Immigrants Norwegian skills are analyzed in relation to different variables, for example. language, education, etc. The emphasis of the study deals with pronunciation skills, as we assume that this is the most important factor in language skills and integration. People are often judged by the way they talk rather than the content of what they say, and pronunciation can have a stigmatizing effect on different ethnic groups. In addition, inadequate pronunciation might lead to direct misunderstandings and communication failures. Attitudes to grammar errors are also examined. Employers are recruited from small and large, municipal, state and private companies. The project workers have drawn inspiration and knowledge of the field through long stay abroad at universities in the United States and Hong Kong. The results will be rated as basic research and will be useful for government and education sectors.