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Life below a `Language Threshold'?

Stories of Turkish Marriage Migrant Women in Denmark

SFI - THE DANISH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH, ani{at}sfi.dk

In many immigrant groups, women gain less command of the host country language than the men. Using life story interviews with marriage migrants from Turkey, now living in Denmark, this article investigates this limited language learning, linking it to these women's lives as they primarily unfold in three social locations: households, workplaces and language schools. During their first years in Denmark a gendered division of work may relegate the women to the Turkish- or Kurdish-speaking home environment. When they subsequently enter work, their poor Danish skills only allow them access into jobs with little host country interaction. The available language education becomes fragmented after childbirth and often remains inadequate to substantially raise the women's command of Danish. Furthermore, national legislation may unintentionally impede language learning. As a result, even women with expressed ambitions of acquiring Danish may continue living below a `language threshold' that precludes them from gaining broader access to host country resources.

Key Words: gender • Kurdish immigrants • language learning • life story research • marriage migration • Turkish immigrants

European Journal of Women's Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3, 229-247 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1350506809105307


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