Impact of Internet and Social Media Usage of Iraqi Asylum Seeker Students in Adaptation Process on Language Skills

Abstract

It is highly important for asylum seekers who leave their country because of social instability and conflict to hold on where they have been and to include in the local society. Because asylum seekers meet with the difficulty of adapting to a new environment about which they are not informed. One of the most basic reasons of these difficulties is the lack of language skills. This study aims to put forward the impact of internet and social media usage of asylum seeker students in adaptation process into Turkish language skills. The study has been carried out with a qualitative method. In the election process of the participants criterion sampling method has been used. As the data collection tool semi structured interview form has been used. Semi structured detailed interviews have been made with nine Iraqi asylum seeker students studying in various secondary education institutions, the data have been analysed with descriptive analysis method. At the end of the study it has been determined that internet and social media present new learning opportunities and contribute to Turkish students importantly such as Turkish vocabulary development, listening, reading comprehension, correspondance, amendment the pronunciation and increasing academic skills. These language competences have been determined to support students‘ cope with difficulties, participation in social life more actively and their adaptation process in a new society importantly.  Hence internet and social media are both a learning and an information acquire sources in both acquiring language skills and in adaptation processes. Contrary to researhes indicating social media’s avoiding to communicate with local media and unwilling by adaptation small, closed asylum seeker groups are made up of this research indicate asylum seekers establish these connections via both one to one and in-group interactions.  In recent years in social media settings there is an increasing interest on asylum seekers’ usage of dygital technology. Asylum seekers get benefit of medium such as internet and social media enabling themselves to set up a living area to be enough for themselves and enabling them to include in the society in target country where they begin a new life and help them to solve problems. Studies dealing asylum seekers victim of compulsory migration usage of internet and social media on their lives is limited. This study is thought to contribute to fill the gap in its field.