Evidence Summary
Norwegian
Public Library Language Cafés Facilitate Discourse Between
Immigrants and Norwegian-Born Citizens
A Review of:
Johnston,
J., & Audunson, R. (2017). Supporting immigrants’ political integration through discussion and
debate in public libraries. Journal
of Librarianship and Information Science, 29 May, 1-15. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961000617709056
Reviewed by:
Stephanie Krueger
Head, Office of Specialized Academic Services
Czech National Library of Technology
Prague, Czech Republic
Email: stephanie.krueger@techlib.cz
Received: 12
Sept. 2017 Accepted: 5 Dec. 2017
2018 Krueger.
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Abstract
Objective – To investigate if conversation-based language cafés in Norway provide
a platform for improving communication between immigrants and Norwegian-born
citizens, potentially setting the stage for better participation by immigrants
in civic dialogues.
Design – Multi-site
case study.
Setting – Public
libraries in Oslo, Moss, and Horten, Norway.
Subjects – Language
café participants (immigrants and Norwegian-born volunteers).
Methods – Participant
observation and questionnaires for immigrants (Norwegian, English, Somali, and
Arabic language versions) and volunteers (Norwegian language only) who took
part in café activities.
Main Results – 64
immigrants (21 in Oslo, 30 in Moss, 13 in Horten) and
31 volunteers (7 in Oslo, 14 in Moss, 10 in Horton) completed questionnaires.
Language cafés at all three sites led to informal, respectful discursive
interaction between participants. Though each café had a unique set of
participants and conversational topics, all cafés enabled immigrants to improve
their Norwegian language skills while providing all participants with a place
to meet new people, exchange information, and discuss political issues.
Conclusion – Having
attended the cafés and improved their knowledge of Norwegian language and
culture, immigrants at all three sites were
potentially better equipped for future participation in the Norwegian public
sphere.
Commentary
While public libraries in many countries still
debate the extent to which they should participate in the political process
(Jaeger, Bertot, & Gorham, 2013), Norway’s 2014
Library Act provides a mandate for public libraries to actively foster public
discussion and debate. Conversation-based programs in public libraries, including
language cafés, support this mandate by providing neutral fora for
participation in the so-called Habermasian public
sphere. This study contributes qualitative richness to prior examinations of
the public sphere and public libraries summarized by Widdersheim
& Masanori (2016). Tangentially, the study also adds to the broader corpus
of social scientific investigations about immigration and multicultural
societies. For example, the study describes specific aspects of Norway’s
approach to social integration of immigrants that may be useful to researchers
who study how national integration policies differ (Alba & Foner, 2014).
The study achieves the three primary aims of
case study research—generality, accuracy, and complexity/coverage (Woodside,
2010, pp. 19-20)—but only in relation to the specific question Do language cafés facilitate discourse in
settings where immigrants must learn a new language? The study is not
longitudinal in scope and does not investigate whether or not immigrants, armed
with new language and cultural skills, actually do participate in the political
process following participation in a language café. Future researchers may wish
to pursue this question.
At the theoretical level, generality is
strengthened with the universally applicable, in-depth discussion of the
concept of the public sphere applied to multicultural settings, including
descriptions of so-called weak/strong publics and social capital (Putnam,
2005). This supranational “theoretical anchoring” provides any public library,
anywhere, with a conceptual roadmap for advocating conversation-based
programming.
In terms of the case study itself, conducting
research at multiple sites and gathering data with three mechanisms were
strategies employed for ensuring adequate accuracy and complexity/coverage. In
future presentations of this research, it would be helpful to include the
questionnaire for volunteers as an appendix (even in the original Norwegian),
which was missing in this study. Additionally, while the discussion of findings
includes highly relevant questionnaire responses and field note excerpts,
numeric data about questionnaire responses would enable readers to understand
the study more completely. As an illustration, the authors note “the vast
majority of participants reported they think attending the language café has
improved their language skills somewhat or a lot” (p. 7), but the phrase “vast
majority” is open to interpretation by different readers. Summarizing this
statement with a specific percentage would clarify meaning.
Overall, this study provides public libraries
with examples of how conversation-based programs can enrich civic dialogues.
Rich in theory, the study also provides conceptual ammunition for public
libraries wishing to engage more actively in political discourse for use in
defending democratic discussion in hostile environments.
References
Alba, R., & Foner, N. (2014). Comparing immigrant integration in North America and
Western Europe: How much do the grand narratives tell us? International Migration Review, 48(S1).
S262–S290. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/imre.12134
Jaeger, P.T., Bertot, J.C., & Gorham, J. (2013). Wake up the nation: Public libraries, policy
making, and political discourse. The Library Quarterly, 83(1), 61–72. https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/668582
Putnam, R. D. (2007). E pluribus unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first century
the 2006 Johan Skytte prize lecture. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30(2),
137–174. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2007.00176.x
Widdersheim, M. M., & Masanori, K. (2016). Conceptual modelling of the public sphere in
public libraries. Journal of Documentation, 72(3),
591-610. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2015-0079
Woodside, A.G. (2010). Case study research: Theory, methods and practice. Bingley, UK:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.