The Impact of Language Learning on Self-esteem in Adult Education. “I wanted a better me” – one refugee‘s narrative

Scholars have recognised language learning as important and in fact as part and parcel of the settling down process of migrants. In this paper, the author presents the narrative of a refugee who started with language classes and was attending university at the time of the research. This article emanated from empirical research the author carried out with asylum seekers and refugees in Italy. Drawing on Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition to provide an understanding of how one female asylum seeker achieved a more positive relationship to herself, he shows how participation in language learning was a search for recognition by the participant as well as how it contributed to her self-esteem. He also demonstrates how intersubjective recognition between the participant and her language teacher was important to her learning progress.