Migrant Crisis and Language Education. The Case of Serbia

The migrant crisis that has shaken Europe for years has also been reflected in the field of education and language policies through numerous challenges for which adequate solutions are continually sought. Language issues in this field are defined, inter alia, through problems related to the teaching of the recipient country's national language for personal, social and labor needs, integration into the recipient country and training migrants for equal and active civic participation in life, for the transfer of the baggage of origin as part of the new cultural capital and the advantage of the entire society. The paper reviews the responses of educational institutions and relevant governmental and nongovernmental organizations in the Republic of Serbia to the linguistic needs of migrant children. The ways of possible realizations are seen in the affirmation of the educational, cultural and linguistic luggage of migrants, raising the awareness of all participants about linguistic needs and the tendency towards integration into life flows. Respecting the context of European values of multilingual education and intercultural dialogue, a critical overview of the proposal for the framework of the language support of Serbian as a foreign for migrant children is given.