The Impact of Language Barriers in a Multicultural Community: an Analysis of the North Hill Listening Project

THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE BARRIERS IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NORTH HILL LISTENING PROJECT

A thesis submitted to the Kent State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for University Honors

Amanda Schwaben

May, 2019

Thesis written by

Amanda Schwaben

Approved by

______, Advisor

______, Director, School of Peace and Conflict Studies

Accepted by

______, Dean, Honors College

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES...…..………………………………………………………………….vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....…………..….……………………………………………..vii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION..……………………………………………….………1

II. REVIEW OF PRIOR LITERATURE...... ……….…….….……3

Refugee Resettlement in the United States.....………..…………..……….3

Factors of Successful Integration………………………………………….5

The Impact of Language Barriers……...…………………………….…….6

The Impact of Language Barriers on Working Adults………………….…8

The Impact of Language Barriers on Older Adults…………………….….9

The Impact of Language Barriers on Youth…………………………….….9

The Use of Outside Organization to Overcome Language Barriers………10

III. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………….13

Case Study………………………………………………………………..13

The Listening Project…………………………………………………….13

Listener Recruitment and Training………………………………….……14

Interview Participant Recruitment and Completion……………………...15

Analysis Methodology…………………………………………………...17

Sample……………………………………………………………………20

iii Study Limitations………………………………………………………...21

IV. ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………22

Difficulty Forming Social Connections…………………………………..22

Challenges Forming Social Connections Faced by Youth………………..23

Challenges Forming Social Connections Faced by Working Adults……..25

Challenges Forming Social Connections Faced by Older Adults………...28

Language Barriers Impacting Mental Health……………………………..29

Language Barriers and Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings………………31

Language Barriers and Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings Expressed by Foreign-Born Participants………………………………………...……...32

Language Barriers and Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings Expressed by Host Community Participants……………………………………………33

Language Barriers to Institutional Accessibility………………………….36

Language Barriers Interfering with Access to Services Expressed by Foreign-Born Participants………………………………………………..36

Language Barriers Interfering with Access to Services Expressed by Host Community Participants………………………………………………….38

Overcoming Language Barriers………………………………………….39

Previous Education of Foreign-Born Participants Helped Overcome Language Barriers………………………………………………………..40

Institutions Used as a Method for Overcoming Language Barriers………41

Host Community Members Help Foreign-Born Neighbors Access Institutions when Language Barriers are Present…………………………42

iv Host Community and Foreign-Born Community Actively Working to Communicate with Each Other…………………………………………...44

V. DISCUSSION..…………………………………………………………..46

VI. CONCLUSION.………………………………………………………….49

Future Research…………………………………………………………..50

Moving Forward………………………………………………………….50

REFERENCES…………………...……………………………………………...…...... 52

APPENDIX

1. Interview Questions….…………………………………..………………56

v LIST OF TABLES

Table

1. Citizenship/Immigration Status..…………………………….…………………20

2. Religion..……………………………………………………………………….20

3. Gender………………………………………………………………………….20

4. Age.…………………………………………………………………………….20

5. Race…………………………………………………………………………….21

6. Affiliation with North Hill……………………………………………………..21

vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis would not exist without the guidance and direction of Dr. Johanna

Solomon. I thank Dr. Solomon for all the time that she has dedicated to this research and the many hours spent answering questions and offering support. Additional thanks to Dr.

Patrick G. Coy, Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett, and Dr. Ashley Nickels for your instruction and assistance in this process.

Thank you to Jacquelyn Bleak, Joseph Bocchicchio, and Patricia Wyatt for your instrumental roles in this project. Thank you to the staff of The International Institute of

Akron for your endless support. Thank you to Susan Berg-Herman for your guidance, support, and belief in the North Hill Community. Many thanks to the faculty of Kent

State University’s School of Peace and Conflict Studies for your assistance throughout this project.

Thank you to Dr. Coy for introducing me to this project and providing me with an incredible experience. Thank you to Liz Schmidt and Jenna Lada for your continued support and the countless hours you have poured into this project. Additionally, I would like to thank my family and friends for your support and understanding throughout this process.

Many, many thanks to our Listeners. This project would simply not exist without you. Thank you to the North Hill Community. You are the heart of this project.

vii 1

Introduction

The ability to communicate is an essential skill needed to thrive economically, socially, and physically within a community. Without the ability to communicate it can be extremely difficult to gain employment and housing, form social connections, and access services. Language barriers can greatly impede communication. While there are many benefits that come along with a multi-cultural community, there are challenges associated with this. Foreign-born individuals entering a new community face the reality that they may not be fluent in the language spoken by the host community. Host community members are also impacted by the growing diversity within their community.

Long-standing and well-established community members may find themselves in a position where they are no longer able to communicate with their neighbors and build relationships. The distance created between these two groups because of language barriers can lead to miscommunication, misconceptions, and tension. These tensions only heighten when multiple languages are spoken in a single community. The divisions felt by both foreign-born and host community members can lead to mistrust and conflict.

When looking at the impacts of language barriers within a community both the foreign- born and host community must be included in order to gain a more holistic perspective.

This paper will begin with a review of prior literature of public policy concerning refugee resettlement as well as successful refugee resettlement practices. In addition, the literature review will focus on the importance of language acquisition during the resettlement process and the services this skill provides. The methodology of the North

Hill Listening Project will then be discussed, elaborating on the case study and sample used in this project. The data analysis will focus on how the community-derived concerns about language in North Hill compares to the prior literature. The analysis will focus specifically on the impacts of language barriers in regard to forming social connections, mental health, access to services, and how these challenges were overcome.

This paper offers a deeper understanding of how different challenges to communication impact the community as a whole, examining both grounded data analysis and existing theory, which can provide insight on how community members perceive these challenges and, ultimately, overcome them. This research provides a holistic view of how language barriers impact both foreign-born and host community members within a multi-cultural community. Looking at how these groups are impacted together allows for a better understanding of how conflict arises between and within these groups.

Review of Prior Literature

Refugee Resettlement in the United States

The topic of refugee resettlement has recently sparked public discourse as the conflict in Syria has intensified. In 2014, just three years after the conflict began, over one million Syrians fleeing the violence were registered as refugees in neighboring countries (Ostrand, 2015). Thus, began a debate amongst countries around the world, including the United States, as to how this refugee crisis should be managed. Despite the recent emergence of dialogue surrounding refugees within the United States, the country has a rich and lengthy history of immigration and refugee resettlement. The United States has historically led the world in refugee resettlement receiving more refugees every year than any other country that accepts refugees combined (Eby, Iverson, Smyers & Kekic,

2011). However, in 2017 the United States experienced a steep decline in the number of refugees admitted into the country (Connor & Krogstad, 2018). The United States resettled approximately 33,000 refugees while the rest of the world collectively resettled

69,000 (Connor & Krogstad, 2018).

Despite this recent decline, the United States has accepted many immigrant and refugee groups for centuries. An estimated 4.1 million Irish immigrants entered the

United States between the years 1820 and 1920 (Hout & Goldstein, 1994). In the 1880s nearly 1.5 million Germans immigrated to the United States (Library, 2014). By the end of WWII, there were around 130,000 German and Austrian refugees residing in the

United States (Library, 2014). However, public policy and legislation concerning refugee

resettlement within the United States did not evolve until after WWII despite the centuries of immigration to the country (Zucker, 1983). The United States has experienced several changes in policy to address the various challenges of refugee resettlement. The first significant legislation concerning refugee resettlement in the

United States was The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 which allocated the responsibility of resettlement to voluntary agencies and state commissions (Zucker, 1983).

The first major group of refugees to make their way to the United States after The

Displaced Persons Act of 1948 passed were Hungarians fleeing the terrors of the

Hungarian Uprising of 1956 (Zucker, 1983). The United States proved they had the ability and capacity to resettle refugees successfully during the Hungarian refugee crisis.

The reason the Hungarian resettlement process was so successful was because Hungarian refugees came in relatively small numbers and there was already a well-established

Hungarian-American community (Zucker, 1983). Hungarian refugees also had high work participation levels and were well received by the host community because they were viewed as anti-communists (Zucker, 1983). These factors proved integral in the success of their resettlement process.

Ultimately, public policy concerning the admittance of refugees into the county adapted based on the different populations entering the United States. Not every group would have a well-knit community already established in the country to rely on like the

Hungarian refugees had. Refugees are typically forced to leave behind most of their assets as they flee from violence or natural disaster. Therefore, some refugee groups require more support while transitioning into the United States. Early legislation, such as,

the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, addressed primarily the admission process into the country. While this aspect is important, it only covers half of the process. The challenges of the resettlement process in communities across the country and to what extent the

Federal government should assist in the transition of refugees into U.S. communities was left unaddressed (Zucker, 1983). Policy makers often focus on either immediate issues for refugees, such as housing and employment, or long-term needs, such as language acquisition and health care, in writing refugee resettlement policies (Zucker, 1983).

Literature on the refugee resettlement process delves deeper into the challenges faced by resettling refugees to determine what needs of a refugee population must be addressed to create a healthy transition into a host community.

Factors of Successful Integration

Resettling refugees into a community in the United States involves many challenges. They face economic hardship as they arrive to their new homes already in debt. Many refugees have spent a significant amount of time in refugee camps and have endured extreme violence or disaster. The trauma incurred from these experiences often is not sufficiently addressed, leading to difficulties in the transition process for incoming refugees(Ager & Strang, 2008). There can also be difficulties faced by the host communities. Residents in the communities may not be well informed of the resettlement process in their area, which can lead to the formation of misconceptions about the incoming refugees. However, literature covering the process suggests there are key factors that are integral to a successful transition process. These include employment, secure and safe housing, access to physical and mental health care, building social

connections, and language acquisition(Ager & Strang, 2008). For an incoming refugee, gaining employment in their new community is crucial. This step allows refugees to plan for the future, return to a sense of normalcy, and meet members of the host community

(Ager & Strang, 2008). The resettlement process can be challenging but gaining employment can help refugees adjust with the safety net of some financial security.

Social connections and relationships with other members of the community play a vital role in the resettlement process as well. Ager and Strang (2008) consider different groups within a community tolerating each other to be a positive step towards integration.

However, building relationships and having the ability to trust neighbors goes beyond the notion of simply tolerating different groups. Many refugees and host community members hope to live in a community where there is a greater sense of belonging (Ager

& Strang, 2008). Social connections are important because they help lessen the stress on the refugee population and the host community during the adjustment stage.

The Impact of Language Barriers

Learning the language spoken by the host community is one of many adjustments refugees have to make during the resettlement process. For refugees arriving in the

United States, this host community language is English. Without learning English, it can be difficult for refugees to adjust within their new community. Ager and Strang (2008) suggest that acquisition of the host community language is a tool incoming populations need to acquire in order to gain employment, housing, and form social connections.

However, in the especially stressful and hectic resettlement process, it may be difficult to learn an entirely new language. Refugees often come to a new country with little to no

background in the language spoken by the host community, and many had little opportunity to learn new language skills in their country of origin or refugee camp due to limited resources (Watkins, Razee & Richters, 2012). With limited access to language learning pre-resettlement, refugees struggle with language barriers post-resettlement which can have negative impacts on their mental and physical health.

Interpretation and translation services play an important role in the beginning stages of resettlement because it takes time to become proficient in a new language (Ager

& Strang, 2008). However, sufficient language learning services, including classes, interpretation, and translation, are not always available to incoming refugees, The lack of language skills can mean unemployment and difficulty accessing resources which can have a negative impact on mental and physical health (Green, 2016; Hauck, Lo, Maxwell

& Reynolds, 2014; Watkins et al., 2012). One example of the difficulties that can be caused by lack of access to interpreters and translators during refugees’ transitions can be seen in refugees’ interactions with the health care system, where barriers to communication between refugees and healthcare professionals can negatively impact the care received (Segal & Mayadas, 2005).

The challenges created by language barriers do not only exist in the United States; studies from Australia (Watkins et al., 2012), New Zealand (Deng and Marlowe, 2013),

Germany (Green, 2016), and Canada (Beiser and Hou, 2001) also conclude that language barriers are a significant source of stress in the resettlement process. Adapting to a new language and facing the consequences of language barriers is a reality refugees face in

communities all over the world. These challenges incurred by language barriers can have different impacts on refugees based on factors such as age and gender.

The Impact of Language barriers on Working Adults

Navigating the job market and securing employment that can ensure economic stability can be difficult for someone who is fluent in a local native language let alone recently resettled refugees. Working age refugees have the tremendous task of securing employment and navigating new education and healthcare systems for themselves and their families. Accomplishing this task is monumental to successful resettlement but can be arduous due to language barriers. Beiser and Hou (2001) and Green (2016) argue that language barriers can lead to detrimental mental health because of factors such as difficulty finding employment, accessing services, and making social connections with members of the host community.

While these challenges can be felt by all resettled refugees, due to differential role socialization in the U.S. and in refugees’ countries of origin, there are gendered differences in what challenges are more impactful. Watkins et al. (2012) and Beiser and

Hou (2001) state that women have more difficulty accessing education for themselves as they are more focused on raising children and taking care of elderly family members.

This can make it especially difficult for women to create the time to learn the language themselves. Additionally, mens’ mental health may suffer if they are unable to secure employment to provide for their families (McCleary 2017). Some families have reported that the need for both parents to work has caused distance in communication within the

family dynamic and between partners (Deng & Marlowe, 2013). These changes in family dynamics add additional stress to the transition process.

The Impact of Language Barriers on Older Adults

Older adults face a unique set of challenges when trying to overcome barriers created by the language of a host community. It is difficult in general to learn a new language but can be even more demanding for refugees who are older. However, according to Grognet (1997) there is no evidence that suggests that older adults cannot successfully learn a new language. There are, nonetheless, cultural and social factors that can impede the language learning process. Both Grognet (1997) and Kirmayer et al.

(2011) imply that the shift from living in a country where elders were respected to a community that is heavily youth focused can be disastrous for mental health and in turn cause difficulties in language learning. This extensive cultural shift can lead to both physical and mental isolation of older adults which impacts their ability to surmount language barriers.

The Impact of Language Barriers on Youth

Those who are younger are typically perceived to learn new languages at a faster rate than those who are older. While refugees between five and twenty-two years old may have more opportunities to learn the new language through school, they are still impacted by many of the challenges created by language barriers. Many younger refugees are under excessive stress because they learn the host community language the fastest among their family members and have the burden of interpreting for the family placed upon

them (Kirmayer et al., 2011). This added responsibility for younger refugees only adds to the stress they are already enduring from the resettlement process.

Additionally, while younger refugees may be able to speak the new language at proficient levels, it does not mean that they can read and write in the new language at the same level meaning that they may still struggle in school (Deng & Marlowe, 2013). This can be challenging for younger refugees as there is a good chance that they cannot use their parents as a resource for help as they may not even speak the host language.

There is concern that the high levels of stress younger refugees are exposed to may make them more susceptible to risky behaviors, such as, drug and alcohol abuse.

Kirmayer et al. (2011) suggests that younger refugees are at a higher risk to turn to substance abuse to cope with the stress of language barriers and acculturation. The more often younger refugees have to take on adult roles, such as, translating and interpreting medical, legal, and financial information, can increase their level of stress making them more likely to turn to maladaptive coping mechanisms (McCleary, 2017).

The Use of Outside Organizations to Overcome Language Barriers

Although transitioning to a new country has many challenges, there are various organizations that support refugees during this process. These organizations provide many services including classes and resources to learn the local language, legal support, accessing resources. Organizations providing these types of support may specifically work with refugees, such as refugee resettlement centers, or they may work across the larger community, such as religious institutions and community-based groups. Refugee resettlement agencies resettle refuges within the United States on behalf of the United

States government (United, n.d.). Many refugees are appreciative of the assistance provided by resettlement centers but feel as though they need a longer period of support in order to become accustomed to the new community (McCleary, 2017). Community- based organizations may help fill this need.

Refugees have often been able to turn to religious institutions to overcome language barriers (Eby et al., 2011; McCleary, 2017). Religious institutions can help newcomers navigate different social services as well as provide emotional support and social connections. Through religious institutions refugees and members of the host community were able to find common ground and interact with one another (Eby et al.,

2011). While many felt as though they could rely on their religious institution for support, they are sometimes limited in the assistance they can provide. According to McCleary

(2017), refugee families felt as though their religious leaders were willing to help them, but they lacked detailed knowledge of health care services and if church members were refugees as well, they might not always have enough local language proficiency to help.

Therefore, despite a desire to help, religious institutions did not always have enough resources to help refugees navigate host-community systems.

However, resettlement agencies and religious institutions are not the only places refugees can turn to. Benson (2017) and McCleary (2017) express that refugee formed community groups can also be a valuable place to acquire assistance in the acculturation process. These groups are often equipped to help new families adjust and navigate different resources as they are formed by community members that are from the same culture and speak the same language. McCleary (2017) suggests that families that are

well connected with other families of the same cultural background have more support systems and an easier time accessing resources. Benson (2017) states that these groups are led by those within a certain immigrant group who have higher levels of education and language proficiency. Since these groups are created and led by those who have lived through the resettlement process, they have a good understanding of what challenges need to be addressed and how to overcome them. Unfortunately, refugee formed groups are not always recognized in the same way that resettlement centers and religious institutions are (Benson, 2017). With little recognition on both the federal and community level it is difficult for these organizations to gain prevalence within a community despite the good work that they do.

Methodology

Case Study

The community of North Hill of Akron, Ohio is a relatively small neighborhood with a population of just under 15,000 residents (Demographic, 2018). Despite its geographical size, North Hill is an ethnically diverse community where residents come from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. Over twenty-five languages are spoken and residents hail from over fourteen different countries (Demographic, 2018). While there is an international presence within North Hill there is also a long-standing United

States-born host community. In fact, 79.2% of the residents living in North Hill were born in the United States (Demographic, 2018). The most prominent countries of origin of foreign-born residents of North Hill include Nepal (15.1%), Mexico (10.0%), Vietnam

(8.9%), and Burma (8.3%) (Demographic, 2018). While these foreign-born residents largely come from countries in the Americas and South Asia, North Hill also has a long history of immigration from European countries. Many residents reported ancestry of the following European countries: Germany (13.0%), Ireland (9.9%), Italy (8.0%), and

Poland (2.3%) (Demographic, 2018). As far as race, the majority of residents in North

Hill are White/Caucasian (53.9%) followed by Black/African American (21.6%), then

Asian (16.0%) and Hispanic (5.4%) (Demographic, 2018).

The Listening Project

The Listening Project is an interview based, community led, conflict management model designed to address these inter-group tensions. The Listening Project was

pioneered in the United States by a civil rights group, Rural Southern Voice for Peace

(RSVP) (Listening, 2019). This organization decided to conduct interviews in a North

Carolina community with heavy Ku Klux Klan (KKK) support. By having this opportunity to be heard, RSVP saw several participants critically analyze their beliefs. In some cases, participants went from supporting the KKK to working on civil rights related projects. While this was not the result of the majority of the interviews, it shows the power of bottom-up, community-led interventions.

Listener Recruitment and Training

The first stage of this project was interviewer recruitment and training. According to the RSVP model, interviews are designed as an inter-group contact based interface between different segments of a community. The interview interaction, based on the active listening displayed by interviewers, is specifically designed as an intervention in and of itself; by feeling heard by interviewers different from themselves, participants in the interviews may de-escalate conflictive ethos, engage in their community, lower prejudices about the other, and display other positive intergroup effects seen when a group or individual feels heard and empowered (Pettigrew &Tropp, 2006).

As interviewers played a dual role, both acting as community members themselves, and gathering interview data, they are called Listeners. Listeners were recruited as stakeholders from the community, or as referrals from stakeholders, and their work was on a volunteer basis. Listeners were specifically recruited to broadly represent all community, language, and ethnic groups in North Hill.

On January 20, 2018, the IIA and its partners held a full-day training for 24 listeners, preparing these community members and stakeholders to go out into the community to interview residents of North Hill, including their peers and neighbors, about their experiences in the neighborhood. The training involved active listening and cross-cultural communication skills, how to de-escalate difficult conversations, interviewer ethics, and hospitality norms and customs among the ethnic groups in North

Hill.

An open-ended interview protocol was employed to standardize interviews, ensuring that each participant was asked the same questions. That protocol is attached at the end of this report. Questions broadly focused on participants’ past experiences of the neighborhood. Training and review of this protocol was also accomplished during the

Listener training. An informed consent script was used to ensure that participants were aware that the interviews were voluntary and confidential, and that data from the interviews might be used in a community report or subsequent published works. An audio recording was made of all interviews, with permission of participants. These steps were also include in the Listener training.

Interview Participant Recruitment and Completion

Listeners and the residents they interviewed were from multiple national, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Purposeful sampling of the community, with an aim to include voices from as many community, ethnic, racial, religious and language groups as possible was undertaken (Palinkas et al., 2015). This broad knowledge is not designed to be a representative sample and therefore cannot speak definitively for what the

majority of residents feel. Instead, it was designed to ensure the needs and interests of minority communities were heard, as well as those from larger groups.

To recruit interview participants the NHLP team reached out to community partners for recommendations on who to interview. The NHLP team reached out to individuals recommended by stakeholders by phone, E-mail, and/or in person. In addition, flyers advertising the project were also dispersed in the North Hill community, so that individuals could fully self-select into the project if interested. The NHLP team continued to receive recommendations from community leaders and responses to fliers throughout the term of the project. Snowball sampling, whereby one participant might recommend another, was used whenever possible to increase the voice of under- represented community (Oregon State University, 2012).

Those that consented to the interview process were assigned to a pair of Listeners.

Listeners conducted interviews in teams of two. Whenever possible, one person on each

Listener team was culturally matched to the participant(s) and the other was from another cultural group. This facilitated consideration of cultural norms and the safety of both

Listeners and participants. Moreover, it allowed translation and interpretation as necessary during interviews, so that the widest group could participate. Interviewees were given options for the location of interviews, as well as if they would prefer to be interviewed alone or with other family members. Again, this variation was offered to prioritize the openness and comfort of participants.

By June 2018, Listeners conducted 37 interviews, with a total of 48 community members interviewed. Out of the 37 interviews, 7 were conducted in a language other

than English, including: Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, and Nepali. The interviews took place between 20 minutes to, at most, 2 hours in a public or private space that was comfortable and convenient for the Listeners and the participants.

Analysis Methodology

Interview data was collected primarily in order to give back data to the community, showing broad themes of community concern, strengths, and interests that exist across the community, in order to formulate community-wide goals and processes.

Secondarily, data may be used later in published works. For this community report, guided by faculty at Kent State University, NHLP leaders used a grounded theory approach to analyze data in Dedoose. This approach looks at data ground-up, determining what categories and themes exist separate from outside or academic theory (McKinney,

2018). This means that the theories are derived after the data is collected as opposed to outside theories driving the data collection process.

The process began with the collection of qualitative data focused on gaining a better understanding of ethnic based tension within the North Hill community. The data was collected through interviews with North Hill community members that were recorded with the consent of the participant. The interviews were then professionally transcribed. The NHLP leaders then read through the transcriptions and used an open coding method to conceptualize the data. Open coding requires a careful reading of transcriptions in order to uncover “as many ideas or concepts as possible without concern for how they relate” (Given, 2008, pg. 115). This allowed NHLP leaders to make sense of the data as well as recognize themes that emerged from the interviews. These emergent

themes then served as the foundation for the initial report that was given back to the community.

One of the emergent themes produced from the initial coding process was the impact of language barriers. Emergent themes serve as “the basic elements in the process of theory creation” (Given, 2008). Language barriers and their impacts on the community serve as the basis for theory creation in this paper. In order to analyze the impact of language barriers a more focalized coding process took place specifically looking at language barriers and how this theme aligns with other themes discovered during the initial coding of the data. This method of coding, commonly referred to as axial coding, works to create “a more refined and focused analysis” (Given, 2008).

This specialized coding used to gain a better understanding of the impact of language barriers was driven by several research questions. These questions included the following: How do barriers impact both the host community and foreign-born community? How do host community and foreign-born community members perceive language barriers? How do host community and foreign-born community members work to overcome language barriers?

Codes were then developed to explore these questions. These codes included difficulty forming social connections due to language barriers, difficulty accessing services due to language barriers, negative impact on mental health due to language barriers, tension due to language barriers, and overcoming language barriers. Overcoming language barriers was further analyzed through the codes: use of institutions to overcome language barriers, host community helps foreign-born community access services, prior

education in previous country, and both communities work together to communicate despite language barriers. Through axial coding, the data could then be analyzed by considering where it converges as well as diverges with outside academic theory. This process required the analysis to be grounded in the data allowing for theory creation.

Quotes taken from the interviews are used throughout the analysis in order to strengthen this grounded theory approach.

These steps were taken to ensure that the voices of the residents of North Hill were the primary focus of the study. As a white, U.S. born, native English speaking, academic working in a community that I am not from it was imperative to make sure the project was continued to be driven by the community members. I understand that my lived experiences cannot be imposed on the community of North Hill. Using a grounded theory approach allowed for the interview data to inspire questions leading to deeper analysis in which outside academic theory could be applied. This paper provides a deeper insight to the lived experiences of those living in North Hill as opposed to outside academic theory dictating the analysis process and making preconceived conclusions without considering the narratives of the community members. NHLP leaders implored other methods to ensure our identities as noncommunity members would have as little interference with the project and data collection as possible. The interview questions (See

Appendix) were created in collaboration with several community members. NHLP leaders also actively sought and received feedback from the Listeners conducting the interviews. This way modifications could be made to make the process as effective and comfortable for both Listeners and participants as possible.

Sample

The goal of the North Hill Listening Project was to interview as many community members from the major demographics in North Hill. The graphs below outline the demographics of those interviewed throughout the project based on citizenship/immigration status, religion, gender, age, race, and affiliation with North Hill.

Participant Demographics

Citizenship/Immigration Status Religion Jewish 2% 5% US Born Christian 7% 22% Hindu Refugee Budhist 38% Muslim 2% Naturalized US Other 6% 32% Citizen Catholic Visa/Green 2% None 56% Card Holder 8% Pagan (non Refugee) Unknown 8% 4% 8%

Gender Age 18-25

27% 56% 32% 44% 26-40 Male Female 41-60

14% 61+ 27%

Race Latino/a/x Affiliation with North Hill 8% 2% Black/ African- Resident 26% American 21% 18% Middle Eastern/ Arab Works and Multiple Represented Lives in North Hill 13% South Asian 77% Business 24% Owner White/ Caucasian 11%

Study Limitations

Because this study is not a precisely representative sample to the population of

North Hill, there was a lack of representation of some demographics amongst study participants. There was only one U.S. born youth participant interviewed for this study.

There were also no foreign-born community members over the age of sixty interviewed.

Another limitation to this study, is that a total of six interviews were conducted as group interviews. The answers given by individuals who were interviewed in groups have the potential of being influenced by the responses given by other participants present, more so than the answers provided by those in single interviews. The Listeners were also not trained professional interviewers, therefore, the depth of the interviews varied based on the proficiency of the Listener. Lastly, a limitation of this study is the interview questions did not specifically focus on language barriers, but rather on relationships with neighbors and perceived tensions within the community. While the dataset provided valuable insight on the impacts of language barriers, trends seen within the literature, such as, difficulty gaining employment due to language acquisition was not present within this study as participants were not directly asked about employment related issues.

Analysis

Overall, language barriers were mentioned ninety times by the participants of the

North Hill Listening Project. Language barriers were an obstacle faced by participants across age, race, ethnicity, and immigration status. The challenges participants expressed they faced due to language barriers included difficulty forming social bonds, impacts on mental health, cross-cultural issues and misconceptions, and difficulty accessing services.

While participants discussed the impacts caused by language barriers, they also shared how they had found ways to overcome them. These included the use of institutions, previous education in a different country, and host community members assisting foreign-born community members.

The data also reveals attitudes concerning language barriers held by both host community members and foreign-born community members. Participants discussed their expectations for English language proficiency, their desire to learn a new language, and empathy expressed from both host and foreign-born community members towards the difficulty of language acquisition. The data collected from the North Hill Listening

Project provides a holistic view of the impact of language barriers within a multicultural community.

Difficulty Forming Social Connections

Twenty-seven participants mentioned a total of seventy-six times that language barriers made it difficult to form social connections. Approximately 75% of participants who expressed difficulty forming social bonds were foreign-born community members,

while 25% were host community members. Language barriers leading to difficulty forming social bonds was mentioned by participants of every age group sampled in the study.

Challenges Forming Social Connections Faced by Youth

32.8% of the participants who cited language barriers as a challenge to social connection were youth. Approximately 95% of these youth participants were foreign- born community members while 5% were host community members. Foreign-born participants stated that it was difficult to form relationships with neighbors and feel a sense of belonging in North Hill due to language barriers.

However, some participants expressed that once they began to learn English, they started to feel a greater sense of belonging. One foreign-born participant, Cho, stated,

“We don't feel we know anybody. We don't really feel welcome here. Later, when we start to know the language…we feel very welcome here by our neighbor.” Another foreign-born participant, Rania, shared the experiences of her friends and their challenge to form relationships, “So the first problem was the language, because of the language, they couldn’t find friends in the neighborhood because English is their second language and they needed to learn.” This sentiment was echoed by several youth participants that were also foreign-born community members.

Even when foreign-born participants gained proficiency in the English language, a lack of fluency made communication difficult. Foreign-born participant, Amir, explained, “…I try to do as my best, there's still some gap. That's all you'll get because the language that I'm speaking here is second language. My native language is not

English.” Trying to form relationships using a second language proved difficult for several youth, foreign-born participants.

Prior literature suggests that the youth often learn new languages at a faster rate than older adults (Deng & Marlowe, 2013). This trend was also echoed by study participants. Several working-age adults felt as though younger foreign-born community members had an easier time forming friendships and connections. Several younger, foreign-born participants shared their experiences learning English faster than their family members. Youth participant, Sona, shared, “My mom doesn’t speak English, it’s easier for her to just go to ask help from a Nepali person than someone from another race.” While Sona has become proficient in English, her parents have struggled with language acquisition. This dictates who they can turn to in times of need. Another youth participant, Cho, echoed similar concerns for the elderly population and expressed desire to help them learn English.

Prior research has shown that the youth may have to take on extra responsibilities to translate and interpret for family members that are not fluent in the host community’s language (Kirmayer et al., 2011; McCleary, 2017). Taking on these new roles can be stressful for younger community members. Youth participant, Amir, shared his experience as being the spokesperson for members of the community that cannot speak

English: I'm talking on behalf of... my people who cannot… speak languages. It is not that difficult for me to be able to communicate with you guys, but for my people, those who are not educated in the previous countries… they… wanted to communicate with other background people, but they cannot.”

Overall younger, foreign-born participants felt as though it was necessary to learn the language of the host community in order to form social connections. The challenges of communicating in a second language were also clearly mentioned as a barrier to building relationships. Participants also expressed empathy towards others who had not yet learned English, especially foreign-born participants.

The one U.S. born youth study participant also mentioned difficulty forming social connections with neighbors due to language barriers. One young participant, Sarah, stated,

“Well, some people don’t really want to be your friend that’s always challenging.

Some neighbors I’ve invited to things, gone out of my way to really say ‘Oh we

value your opinion we’re having this meeting we want you to be there if you can,’

and they just don’t ever come, or they ignore you.”

This quote shows the challenges faced by a host community member that desires to include her foreign-born neighbors but is unable to communicate in a way that overcomes the language barrier.

Challenges Forming Social Connections Faced by Working Adults

Difficulty forming social connections due to language barriers was cited 28 times by 11 working-age adult participants. Of those eleven participants, four were U.S. born and seven were foreign-born. Foreign-born participants expressed that it was difficult to move from a country where they had well-established connections to a new country where they did not know the host community language. For example, Raoul stated,

“They… feel alone when we come because in Africa, we got a lot of people. …But when

we get here, it was like we are alone.” Prior literature states that language acquisition can be a tool to ease the resettlement process because it can help foreign-born participants connect with their new community members (Ager & Strang, 2008). Raoul’s statement shows that in the early stages of the resettlement process, it is difficult to form relationships without the ability to speak the language.

Some working-adult, foreign-born participants have also mentioned that it is easier to connect with those in the community who share the same ethnic background.

Mohammad, a foreign-born, working-adult participant, expressed,

“…Now whoever is from Afghanistan living in Akron I know them all. I have

visited their house, and they have visited mine. We have celebrated birthdays

together. But it has not happened that I meet someone that’s is not from

Afghanistan. It’s very different so I have to learn … the ways to introduce

myself.”

This quote shows the apprehension foreign-born community members expressed in regard to reaching out and making connections with those of different backgrounds.

Another foreign-born participant, Juliana, comments on the general isolation she feels in the community, “I think it's everywhere in the United States, people don't know their neighbors. Even though you look at them, it's like a stranger, you just pass by. It is really weird. It's few people you really get in touch with. Then there is the barrier language.” Valeria, also foreign-born, agrees. She commented on the lack of communication between neighbors in North Hill, but also indicates that she feels as

though her neighbors are friendly despite the limited interaction. Valeria states, “They only say hi to me. I don't visit them in their houses, and they don't visit me either.”

U.S. born working adults also experienced challenges forming social connections due to language barriers. Prior literature lacks representation of host community members within the context of a community receiving refugees, so there is little prior data of how language barriers between refugee, immigrant, and U.S. born community members impact the U.S. born segment of the community. The data collected by this study, however, includes working-age adult members of the host community. Language barriers were mentioned as a barrier to forming social connections fourteen times by four different U.S. born working-age adult participants. Overall, these participants spoke positively about their neighbors but expressed frustration due to the inability to form more genuine relationships with them.

Several participants stated that the majority of their communication with foreign- born residents was nonverbal rather than verbal. Working-age participant, Jennifer, expressed, “It's more a lot of hand-waving and head-nodding than it is the actual idea of being able to walk up and say hi to somebody.” While working-age, host community participants expressed frustration towards their inability to communicate with neighbors, they still held positive opinions about their neighbors and a desire to communicate on a deeper level. However, when U.S. born participants discussed the community as a whole, there were clear concerns about the inability to overcome language barriers. When talking about the high school in North Hill, study participant, James shared, “English is a second language at the school. All the non-English speakers are in the same room almost

the whole day. They travel together with friends. They're making friends, but their closest friends are now refugees from another country …. They're not making friends with everybody else who is originally here in Akron.”

Challenges Forming Social Connections Faced by Older Adults

The challenges faced by foreign-born older adults due to language barriers has been addressed in prior studies (Grognet, 1997; Kirmayer et al., 2011). However, the impact of language barriers on older host community members is less represented among prior research. In this study, however, six host community members over the age of sixty mentioned challenges forming social connections due to language barriers a total of fourteen times. One U.S. born older adult participant, Carol, stated, “With the different cultures and the different language barriers, it's a little hard to communicate with our refugee friends and our refugee neighbors.” Another U.S. born participant, Janet, shared her desire to be able to interact with all of her neighbors without the interference of language barriers: “To me, my ideal community, because we have the Congolese, the

Nepalese and the Hispanics, we have so many people, I would love to go out and say hi to my neighbor, how are you doing, have a conversation. I would love to do that.”

While several of the participants in this category expressed a want for closer relationships, some were understanding to how the language barriers impact the foreign- born population as well. For example, one participant, Barbara, empathized with the apprehension foreign-born community members may face communicating in English:

“We can sit on the porch and some of the refugees who don't know us they'll just walk.

They see us on the porch, but they are afraid to speak.” Another participant, Anthony,

recognized that it may take time for foreign-born residents to feel comfortable initiating conversation: “The guy across the street he's speaking more now. When I come out of my van this morning, he says, ‘Good morning, sir!’ I said, ‘Oh, he spoke first!’”

Language Barriers Impacting Mental Health

Prior literature places a strong emphasis on the impacts language barriers can have on mental health (Green, 2016; Hauck et al., 2014; Watkins et al., 2012) The participants sampled in these studies were foreign-born. While this provides insight on how the mental health of the foreign-born population is impacted by language barriers, it fails to show the impact on host-community member’s mental health. These prior studies also tend to focus on one specific immigrant or refugee group within a host-community.

While this can be insightful, information on the impact of language barriers on the mental health of community members living in a multi-ethnic community, and if that impact varies by community, may also help us understand best practices for refugee resettlement.

Within this study, language barriers impacting mental health was cited twenty-nine times by nine different participants. Among these participants, seven were foreign-born community members while two were host community members.

Many foreign-born participants described the isolating impact of language barriers when they moved to North Hill. Residents feel lonely because they cannot communicate with their fellow community members. Youth, foreign-born participant,

Sona, shared her families struggle with mental health caused by language barriers,

“… In the beginning, when we first came here, my mom always used to stare out

the window and start crying and she was like, ‘I miss it, I want to go back

home.’... That kind of made me sad too … seeing her like that. It was only me,

my mom, and my brother, it was only three of us. So, it was depressing. There’s

like nobody to talk to. The only person that I could talk to was only my mom and

my mom could only talk to me ...”

While Sona and her family could communicate with each other, it was still isolating to be shut off from communication with the rest of the community.

According to prior literature, it is very possible that refugees have experienced trauma that they carry with them to the new community (Ager & Strang, 2008). It is possible that foreign-born participant’s previous traumatic experiences and the trauma of moving to a foreign community could play a part in negatively impacting mental health.

Some foreign-born participants also expressed empathy towards other foreign- born facing similar language barriers. Rania shared an experience she had with one of her colleagues: “…She came to me, and she said, ‘I’m really stupid! I don’t know anything! I don’t know language!’ … she was so nervous, she was so worried, she doesn’t know any

English. It’s hard for her to go around the community and talk to people.”

A prior study suggests that while the youth in the foreign-born community often learn the host community’s language at a faster rate, they still have difficulty forming relationships at the beginning of the transition period (Deng & Marlowe, 2013). This can have a negative impact on their mental health. One foreign-born participant, Anong, shared her concern for her children that grew up in a refugee camp, “For the older kids, they remember being in the camp is better than here because in the country they have their friends. Here, we have to stay in a very private home.” This shows the impact

language barriers can have even for younger generations. Some of the participants did state, however, that their feelings of loneliness and isolation lessened as they began to learn the language spoken by the host community.

None of the host community member participants noted a direct impact of language barriers on their own mental health. It is important to note that while several host community members mentioned difficulty forming social connections due to language barriers this did not have the same impact on their mental health as it did for foreign-born participants. This could be explained by the fact that host community members already speak the language, so they are not isolated in the same way foreign- born community members are. However, host community member participants did notice a direct impact on the mental health of their foreign-born counterparts. For example, host community participant, James, shared, “Which is more of the depression that these guys talk about, that the men who used to be something in their household are now relying on a fourteen-year-old to go to the doctor to do paperwork.” He continued to say, “… Some of the Nepalese guys have told me that one of the things that they're most concerned about is that the older people, especially the men who have now realize that they can't contribute...they don't feel like they can contribute anything to their family are killing themselves. Prior literature suggests that male foreign-born community members’ mental health can suffer when they are no longer able to provide for their families in the same way they did in their home country (McCleary, 2017). The above quote highlights this struggle experienced by male foreign-born community members.

Language Barriers and Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings

Prior literature lacks insight on how cultural differences and language barriers coincide to impact community members, especially within a community where multiple cultural groups are present. However, as North Hill is a diverse community with multiple cultural groups present and languages spoken, cross-cultural differences and misunderstandings were mentioned several times. Language barriers heightened some of these instances of cross-cultural misconceptions. Cross-cultural conflict exacerbated by language barriers was mentioned forty-four times by eighteen different participants. Of these participants, eleven were host community members while seven were foreign-born community members. Many of the concerns included different groups holding expectations for other groups in the community, misunderstanding of cultural expectations, and conflicts between members of different ethnicities.

Language Barriers and Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings Expressed by Foreign-Born

Participants

Several foreign-born participants expressed difficulty communicating with other community members that were not of the same cultural background as them. Lack of familiarity with different cultural expectations was cited as a challenge in communication between residents of different backgrounds. One foreign-born participant, Mohammad, shared that he is uncertain of how to introduce himself to neighbors of different backgrounds because he did not want to violate any cultural norms.

When cross-cultural differences are layered on top of existing language barriers, interactions between community members can be even more challenging. Foreign-born participant, Sona, expressed,

“But when you are making friends with [a] different culture, different race, you

have to get to know everything about them. You have to know about their race, …

their culture, their religion, …and stuff like that. So, I think it is a little difficult

because you don’t always know how to approach them or what to say.”

In this statement, Sona shared how difficult it can be to overcome language barriers when cross-cultural differences are present. Another foreign-born participant, Sajit, also mentioned that it is difficult to interact with community members of different cultural backgrounds on a regular basis because he must always be aware of different cultural norms and expectations.

Language Barriers and Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings Expressed by Host

Community Participants

Host community members also struggled with cross-cultural differences when trying to communicate with their neighbors. Sometimes host community members attempted to understand other cultures but also expressed bias or misunderstanding regarding cultural norms, assuming U.S. norms should be followed. For example, Mary expressed, “I have to say most of the time my Nepali neighbors are not very friendly. I always try to remember to ‘Namaste’, and I think I spent like a whole two years trying to do that until someone finally started trying to talk to me.” While Mary was attempting to be aware of different cultural differences between herself and her neighbors, she still held expectations that her neighbors should be returning the communication.

Another participant, James, recognizes that misunderstandings may be present in interactions with foreign-born neighbors but also holds similar expectations as Mary:

“My wife has said hello to them, and they don't say hello, only their son. It may be that they don't understand, but everybody understands hello, and you can always wave when you've been addressed. That's kind of been weird.” James recognizes that there is the possibility of misunderstanding but holds U.S. norm-based expectations for how often foreign-born community members should be interacting with host community members.

Another host community member, Deborah, felt as though younger foreign-born members of the community should be giving her the same respect that they show elders in their culture while also adhering to U.S. cultural norms for the frequency of communication:

“I know there was a group of boys that used to walk by every day, and one day I

just stopped them, and I said, ‘I know from your culture that you respect the

elderly.’ I said, ‘Every day, you guys walk by me and you never say hello.’ I say,

‘What if a group of black boys decided that they were going to attack you? You

expect me to throw down my rake or run into the house and call 911 when you

haven't shown me, as an elder, any respect?’ They heard me...he might be Nepali.

They don't just walk by like I'm invisible anymore.”

Some host community participants expressed a desire to communicate with their foreign-born neighbors but recognized that there could be cultural differences that limit the conversation. Janet expressed, “I just wish it was a little friendlier, that we could just communicate more. Then maybe that's part of their culture, too, because a lot of them will not look at you. They walk with their heads down.” Janet recognizes that different cultures may have different expectations for communication that may be different from

the host community. However, the desire to communicate is still present though the perception of cultural differences adds an additional barrier to communication.

Another host community participant, Anthony, noted that physical divisions within the local high school could be inhibiting communication between youth foreign- born and host community members: “The top three floors belong to the immigrants and the American students are not allowed to go up there. The immigrants are allowed to have different celebrations, and the other kids are not allowed to have celebrations.” This statement shows that the schools are trying to honor different cultural customs and celebrations of foreign-born students, but at the same time this limits understanding and interaction between foreign-born and U.S. born students.

Several host-community participants also shared concerns for instances of cross- cultural differences between neighbors of different backgrounds that they had witnessed.

Several of these participants noticed that these instances were heightened by language barriers. One participant, William, stated,

“Oftentimes, there's conflict between my Afghani neighbors and African

American kids at the park. I think it all has to do with the language barrier. The

Afghani kids start saying the only words they know in English and they are just

bad words and then the African American kids start yelling things back and it just

escalates. Things like that happen a lot at the park across the street from us. I

think you see things like that begin because of language, but then I've seen

families and some of our neighbors be targeted then after that because they look a

certain way and because they belong to that group.”

Another participant, Carol, echoed this sentiment. She felt as though she had to inform foreign-born community members of what language was acceptable to use when talking about people of different races or ethnicities: “They don't get it. They don't get in line with some of it. When I hear them talk about one another or other ethnicities, I particularly said, ‘That's not true. You cannot say that about African Americans.’” Both of these statements show that a source of tension between community members has been cross-cultural misconceptions that were heightened by language barriers.

Language Barriers to Institutional Accessibility

According to prior research, language barriers can interfere with the access to services and institutions (Ager & Strang, 2008; Beiser & Hou, 2001; Green, 2016). Study participants also mentioned such barriers during their interviews. Seventeen participants expressed that language barriers blocked access to services; remarks about this were made a total of thirty-five times. Of these participants, seven were host community members while ten were foreign-born community members. Participants mentioned difficultly accessing the school system, health care system, local stores, and the police due to language barriers. Foreign-born participants spoke mainly about their concerns with not being able to communicate their situation to an authority figure, such as police officer, politician, or doctor. Host community members expressed concerns about institutions working to accommodate the language ability of foreign-born residents in a way that pushed out U.S. born residents.

Language Barriers Interfering with Access to Services Expressed by Foreign-Born

Participants

As stated above several foreign-born participants felt as though they would not be able to articulate their needs in an emergency or even non-emergency situation in order to access services due to language barriers. One foreign-born participant, Rania, shared her experience accessing services through the education system:

“When I was enrolling my brother to the high school, I didn’t know that ‘Did that

make sense?’ meant ‘Did you understand?’ I didn’t know it was the same, so I

enrolled my brother, then the counselor was explaining everything, the principal

was also there, so he asked me at the end, ‘Does that make sense?’ and I thought

that he was asking if there was [a] problem, …and I said ‘No’, I kept saying ‘No!’

Until he said, ‘Do you understand?’, then I said, ‘Oh, yes!’ Then everything was

good after that. I’ve had those kinds of experiences, some of them were so

funny.”

This quote is a concrete example of how communicating in a second language can be stressful and limiting. In this situation, fortunately, Rania and the high school’s administrative staff were able to overcome the language barrier in order to enroll her brother in school. Another foreign-born participant, Sona, stated more generally,

“I think [the] first thing is the language. That’s the most concerning. I think it’s

the language because you’re trying to explain something, but you don’t know how

to explain it to them .... It’s just overwhelming for people.”

In this statement, Sona expresses how difficult it can be for foreign-born residents to explain themselves and their situation. This can be problematic when foreign-born residents attempt to access services, especially in emergency situations.

In general, both foreign-born and host community participants felt as though they could contact the police in an emergency situation. However, some foreign-born participants expressed concern at their ability to explain themselves well enough to the police. These participants felt as though this meant they would not be believed by police officers. Anong described her family member’s experience with local police:

“One time, my sister, she has a car accident. She hit the other white people car,

and then the police come. Then they said that they cannot decide this, whether

who is right, who is wrong. Is there the camera is in use or not? I would like to

make sure about that, what they said. Every time we are talking about the camera,

they say that there is not something like this. We feel that that's kind of something

… weird to us. Where they have the car accident, there is on the traffic lights, so

there is, might be some evidence of that, but they said they cannot resolve it.”

In this situation, because of the language barrier, Anong’s family member had difficulty asking questions leading to confusion as to whether it was possible to prove who was at fault for the accident.

Language Barriers Interfering with Access to Services Expressed by Host Community

Participants

As previously stated, several U.S. born participants noted that as institutions make attempts to be more inclusive of foreign-born community members, they have simultaneously pushed out host community members. Prior literature has not addressed this issue, although amongst host community study participants it was a core issue of contention between communities. One of the key findings of this study is that the host

community has also found difficulty navigating institutions and accessing services due to language barriers. One participant, Janet, expressed her frustrations accessing local grocery stores, “There are stores now some of us won't even shop at, like Save A Lot….

Now, I can't read the labels on food. I don't get it. This is America. This is an English- speaking country.” This quote shows that retail stores represent one type of institution the

U.S. born community feels recently excluded from in North Hill.

Two other participants expressed concerns about the school system pushing out

U.S. born residents while trying to be more accommodating to foreign-born students.

Host community participant, Anthony, said, “The schools are flunking. It's due to them trying to get the immigrants up to the [same] level of education.” Anthony is concerned that schools have become overwhelmed trying to implement specialized education services.

Another host community participant, James, shared, “It's created an animosity.

That North Hill, the school system, has had to switch things in order to attempt to facilitate helping all these people learn English.” This quote shows a host community members perception of how the school system is handling the need for specialized education. Both of these participants ultimately expressed fear that U.S. born students would be held behind due to foreign-born students who have not yet become fluent in

English.

Overcoming Language Barriers

While many participants cited language barriers as a significant challenge that they face within their community, twenty-three participants shared how they had

managed to overcome these challenges. Participants’ methods for overcoming language barriers included education from a previous country, the use of institutions, host community members helping foreign-born community members navigate the system, and individuals consistently working together to communicate. The most commonly cited way participants overcame language barriers was by working together to communicate with their neighbors on a regular basis. Both foreign-born and host community members found that if they were persistent and patient with each other they could overcome the barriers to communication. Many participants shared that consistently being warm and friendly allowed for more positive relationships. While participants also shared that at times the lack of communication in these early interactions was frustrating, remaining persistent in their attempts to communicate eventually led to more positive experiences.

Prior literature places a strong emphasis the institutions role in overcoming language barriers. While institutions were commonly cited as tools to overcome language barriers in this study as well, there were also significant findings on the roles the host and refugee communities play.

Previous Education of Foreign-Born Residents Helped Overcome Language Barriers

Prior literature suggests one of the best ways for foreign-born members of a community to overcome language barriers is to learn the language spoken by the host community before arriving (Green, 2016). Two participants within this study had the opportunity to do so. One foreign-born participant, Rania, stated, “When I was in

Afghanistan, I went to an international high school, so that helped me to learn English, as well as Turkish, so that [was] helpful for me to become an interpreter.” Rania also

mentioned that while she was exposed to these languages before moving to the United

States, she still was not entirely fluent. Having the previous education, however, gave her an advantage over others during her transition. Amir, another foreign-born participant, also expressed that he could speak four different languages, including English, due to previous education in his home country. Both of these participants’ experiences match data from prior studies; they demonstrated that previous education was helpful in language acquisition and transition to life in the United States.

Institutions Used as a Method for Overcoming Language Barriers

Eleven participants mentioned using institutional resources to overcome language barriers seventeen times. Of these participants, five were foreign-born community members while six were host community members. When foreign-born participants mentioned an institution, they were referencing a time where they had used the institution or someone close to them had. When host community members referenced institutions that helped overcome language barriers it was usually because they had been affiliated with that institution at some point.

Prior literature suggests that religious institutions and Resettlement Agencies were two of the most common institutions that helped foreign-born participants overcome language barriers (Eby et al., 2011; McCleary, 2017; United, n.d.). However, within this study only one foreign-born participant, Anong, mentioned a religious institution as a resource to those who did not speak English. She stated, “For us, at Sunday, in our language, we have our own church. Every Sunday we go to church.”

Other institutions foreign-born participants mentioned they sought out for help included the city and school system. Adnan expressed that he was attending English classes: “I think people in charge in the city are doing a good job since they provided us with English courses and buses to pick up from our homes to the school. I think they do a good job for us.” Notably, foreign-born individuals were often at both sides of these institutional transactions. Two foreign-born participants, Mohammad and Rania, learned

English then later worked alongside different institutions to help other foreign-born residents overcome language barriers.

Host Community Members Help Foreign-Born Neighbors Access Institutions when

Language Barriers are Present

A total of five participants mentioned host community members helping foreign- born community members access services. Two of these participants were foreign-born community members while the other three were host community members. Host community members recounted times where they had personally helped foreign-born neighbors access services. One U.S. born participant, Barbara, shared her experience helping her neighbors access health care services. Barbara stated:

“I went with them because this was their first doctor's appointment …. They were

getting the kids for the first visit. What happened was they disrespected their

culture. They didn't even bother to explain. She asked the daughter-in-law what

was going on because they saw her going into her ear, looking with the light. She

didn't know what was going on. They was asking me. The little girl needed her

ears cleaned so they took one of the water picks. It was frightening the child and

the grandmother. I said, ‘Look, wait a minute. Hold it. You need to explain to

them what you're doing.’”

Barbara understood both the language barrier and cultural differences that made it difficult for this family to access the medical services, and, therefore, she accompanied them to their doctor’s visits to help them communicate with the medical staff.

Several host community members also expressed that they worked with institutions to help foreign-born participants learn English, either directly or by ensuring access to those who did not speak English. For example, host community member, Sarah, stated, “…I teach English as a second language for international students.” Host community participant, William, used interpreters to give others access to an institution:

“I used to work at World Relief so I know a few interpreters and so I'll call Pashtun interpreters to talk to my Afghani neighbors and to have discussions about this.”

The two foreign-born participants who cited the host community as a resource to accessing services discussed specific instances early in the transition phase. One participant, Maiah, expressed, “Since we moved here, when we first got here, well I didn’t know any English or anything, so our neighbor, they took us…even though IIA helped us a lot, but there are some little things that we needed help with, so our neighbor step in and helped us with that, like going to the grocery store.” Maiah references the

International Institute of Akron, the local resettlement agency, as a resource in this statement as well. However, for more of the everyday necessities, like grocery shopping, her family was initially assisted by their neighbor. Another foreign-born community

member, Valeria, shared an experience when her neighbors helped her in an emergency situation:

“My legs went numb, and I fell down. I had the baby in the stroller, and I fell

down. Some neighbors came out running and helped me…. They asked me if I

was okay. ‘No, I'm not okay. My legs are not responding,’ I said. One of the

women put some warm towels over my feet. She said, ‘Everything's going to be

okay. Do you want me to call the ambulance?’ I said, ‘No, I'll wait for my feet to

come back to life,’ …. With the warm water they gave me, my feet started to feel

better. I was able to walk again. The women took me and my baby home. That

was a good experience.”

Despite the language barrier, Valeria’s neighbors were able to assist her when she suffered a medical emergency.

Host Community and Foreign-Born Community Actively Working to Communicate with

Each Other

A total of thirteen community members stated that they had actively worked together with their neighbors to overcome language barriers. Eight of these participants were foreign-born community members while five were host community members.

Several participants expressed that even though the language barriers were still present they were able to establish meaningful relationships with their neighbors. One host community member, Sarah, who is bilingual shared her experience communicating with her foreign-born neighbors, “I really like that I have neighbors that speak Spanish.

Because I speak Spanish too, but I never get to use it. So, we have neighbors from El

Salvador and Mexico in that house and that house. So, I get to speak Spanish with them.”

Other participants shared that the language barrier was challenging, but it did not stop them from connecting with their neighbors. One host community participant, Carol, stated, “You learn, and they learn, and we learn to communicate however we can to get it done.”

Several foreign-born participants also mentioned that they were able to form relationships with their neighbors despite the language barriers. One participant, Amir, stated, “For example, if there is a group of people who's been talking their own things and then they just call me over there to join with them and they're been talking with each other, I would be able to understand nothing, but they welcome me.” While Amir was not able to communicate on a deeper level he was still accepted in a social situation by his peers. Another participant, Sangay, mentioned that they were able to connect with those who did not speak the same language through food. Sangay stated, “In my community, we'd really have a good relationship with the people who speak a different language than us. Especially when we cook food, we easily share our food whether it is cooked food or whether it is food from the market or so on. We do have really good relationships with our community.”

Discussion

The analysis above connects back to the previous literature in several different ways. Previous studies found that language barriers can have monumental impacts on foreign-born residents as they transition to a new community. One of the impacts suggested was difficulty forming social connections. Within this study, this finding was also present. Difficulty forming social bonds was mentioned by foreign-born community members of all ages. These concerns were also strongly connected to impacts on mental health.

Prior literature, however, does not provide many insights on the impacts to host- community members living in neighborhoods into which refugees are resettled. This study shows that host community members struggle to form relationships with neighbors due to language barriers, and this can have an impact on their mental health as well.

Prior literature also places a strong emphasis on the difficulty of gaining employment due to language barriers. While this may be a reality for many foreign-born community members during their transition phase, this was not mentioned by the participants of this study. This could be a limitation to this study as the questions posed to the participants were concentrated around relationships with other community members; participants were not directly asked about economic stability. It could also be that within this community specifically that the challenge forming relationships due to language barriers is paramount to concerns regarding employment. There is room for further research to analyze the impact of language barriers on employment for foreign-born and

host community members.

Prior studies also state that language barriers can make it difficult for foreign-born participants to access resources. This study provided a deeper analysis into this topic.

Several foreign-born participants mentioned that they felt as though they were comfortable contacting the police in an emergency situation but felt as though they would not be able to explain the situation to the police officer once they arrived. Other foreign- born participants expressed that in other situations when trying to access services they had difficulty explaining themselves which made the process more difficult.

Host community members also expressed that they had difficulty accessing certain services as well, specifically due to institutions accommodating non-English speaking residents. Within this study, several participants stated that as services such as grocery stores or schools tried to be more active in using other languages, English- speaking host community members felt forced out. This is an important finding not previously addressed in refugee-resentment literature, particularly as it illustrates one potential cause for U.S. born community members to develop hostile feelings toward refugees.

The prior literature suggests that many foreign-born participants rely heavily on religious institutions and refugee resettlement agencies during the early stages of the transition phase to overcome the challenges imposed by the language barriers. While several participants noted that religious institutions and the local resettlement center had been helpful, they also cited several other ways in which languages barriers were overcome. This too adds to the existing literature, specifically demonstrating ways in

which refugees aid each other’s and ways in which U.S. born residents individually aid their non-U.S. born neighbors. For example, many foreign-born participants expressed that a host community member helped them access services. The study also found that many times host community members and foreign-born community members actively worked together to communicate on a basic level despite the language barrier.

Conclusion

Analysis of the impact of language barriers on the participants in The North Hill

Listening Project shows that there are clear, distinct challenges faced by both the foreign- born and host community. Both groups struggle to engage with each other in meaningful ways and find it difficult to create trusting and caring relationships due to language barriers. By looking at the impact on both communities together, the data shows that language barriers can lead to mistrust and tension between these two groups. On several occasions, when participants of both communities mentioned interpersonal conflict between community members it was attributed, in part, to language barriers. This shows that both the foreign-born and host community perceive language barriers as a source of conflict between members of the community.

Several participants shared that despite the challenges brought on by language barriers, they found ways to overcome them. Participants showed that they were able to build reciprocal relationships with their neighbors meaning that when individuals worked together on a regular basis to communicate, they were able to do so despite the presence of the language barrier. This sentiment was shared by both the foreign-born and host community, therefore, both communities have the capacity to overcome language barriers on an individual level. This analysis showed that not only did foreign-born participants feel as though they could turn to institutions to overcome language barriers, but, in some cases, they could also turn to their neighbors for assistance. The willingness of host community members to help their foreign-born neighbors during the adjustment period is

not extensively explored in prior research but is clearly present throughout this dataset.

While there were clear frustrations expressed by both communities due to language barriers, participants from both communities exhibited empathy and understanding concerning the challenges to communication members from each community faced.

Future Research

There is ample room for future research to be conducted on the impacts of language barriers within a multi-cultural community. The relationship between language barriers and gaining employment could be further explored, as this was not a concern mentioned by the participants in this study but is frequently cited as a concern in prior research. Further research would also need to be conducted to evaluate the depth of impact language barriers have on youth that are trying to develop social connections.

Looking at the impacts of language barriers on foreign-born older adults could also be explored more extensively. This study included concern for the mental well-being of foreign-born older adults expressed by younger participants but lacked direct insight from this specific demographic. In general, looking at how language barriers impact both the host community and foreign-born community together, and how this influences how each group perceives each other can be further explored.

Moving Forward

The North Hill Listening Project has shown that the use of a more holistic, community-driven method when interviewing community members provides greater insight on both foreign-born and host community members’ experiences living in a multicultural environment. Using a bottom-up, community-based, interviewing method

allowed community members opportunity to have their voice heard as well as critically think about their beliefs. The analysis of this project showed that the refugee resettlement process is dynamic, and language barriers have varying impacts across all groups within the community. While members of all backgrounds within the community are challenged by language barriers, there is also a strong desire present to overcome them and build stronger relationships with each other.

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Appendix

Interview Questions

1. How did you come to live and/or work in North Hill?

a. Are you involved in the community in other ways?

b. How long have lived or worked here?

c. How do you think that has impacted your experience?

2. Tell me about your relationships with your neighbors.

a. How many times a week do you interact with a community member of a

different background from you?

b. Is that relationship the same with neighbors of different backgrounds form

you?

c. Why do you think that is?

3. How do you feel about people of other cultures being in this neighborhood?

a. How do you think your neighbors feel about you?

4. If you had an emergency, which community members could you call for help?

a. How many of those people are from your ethnic community?

b. How many of those people are from a different ethnic background?

c. Why do you think that is?

5. Do you feel welcomed in North Hill?

a. What was something that made you feel that way?

b. What do you enjoy most about the community?

6. Have you or someone close to you ever felt isolated or targeted for your

background in North Hill (access to services or socially)? What was the outcome?

a. Have you discussed or would you discuss this with a neighbor of a

different background?

b. What do you feel you could do if you were isolated or targeted because of

your background?

c. Do you feel represented by your local government?

7. What is your vision for North Hill?

a. What would make this a more welcoming community?

b. Are you interested in being part of projects to address some of your

concerns?

Demographic Questions (at the end of the interview, ask for brief answer to the following questions. Keep recording until they are finished)

• Preferred Pseudonym:

• Age:

• Gender:

• Affiliation with North Hill and how many years living in the area:

• National Origin (If foreign-born, how long have they lived in US?):

• Ethnicity:

• Religion, if any: