A number of studies have suggested that extensive reading can lead to gains in different language skills. Few studies on extensive reading have been conducted outside the East Asia classroom setting. This study investigated the impact of an extensive reading programme conducted over 12 weeks with 90minutes group sessions 3 times a week involving 10 Jordanian Arabic first language English foreign language learners with low-intermediate proficiency. The participants were situated in a print-rich environment, and given access to a library of graded readers, and did various extensive reading activities in and out of class. The participants were assessed for reading fluency and vocabulary knowledge before during and after the programme. In addition, the participants' perceptions of extensive reading were explored. A mixed-methods action research design was employed over an extensive reading programme. Data were collected from multiple sources (e.g., tests, interviews and diaries), and the results were both statistically and thematically analysed. The findings of the study indicate that the impact of the extensive reading approach was positive on the learners' reading fluency and vocabulary knowledge. The results also revealed a positive correlation between the amount of reading and reading fluency and vocabulary knowledge. The learners' perceptions of the extensive reading approach and its implications are also discussed.

This paper investigates the linguistic and semiotic resources that NGO coaches draw on to create safe spaces in their English language lessons for psycho-social support in refugee settings. We do so by applying the rapidly developing concept of translanguaging, using data from a multisite linguistic ethnography study in an NGO in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Interviews and classroom observations of six coaches were conducted in four different centres of the NGO across Erbil city. Detailed fieldnotes were recorded during the field visits and intensive observations of the translanguaging practices were made with followup interviews to ask about these practices. We analyse four discourse topics which are discussed through examples from the interviews and the video-recordings from the lessons. We argue that translanguaging spaces do not only create safe spaces but also generate new practices, while also providing opportunities to ensure positive identity and meaningful interaction within the English language classrooms we observed. The new practices in our data are the translanguaging practices which emerge every time the coaches and beneficiaries draw from their semiotic and linguistic repertoires. However, these were the outcome of unplanned translanguaging practices which were more often controlled by the coaches rather than the beneficiaries.

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Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study explores the linguistic resources used on Facebook (FB) by six resettled Syrian refugees in the United Kingdom. It investigates the multilingual varieties and scripts employed, their discursive functions and their role in the construction of identity/ies. Design/methodology/approach: The study employs descriptive linguistic and discourse-centred online ethnographic approaches. These are complemented with insights from interviews with the informants. Data and analysis: The data set consists of 2,036 FB posts. Multilingual posts were subjected to a two-stage analysis: the first identified the affordances of new technologies for Arabic/English bilinguals – describing the function of different languages and scripts. The second stage employed a thematic analysis to frame a subsequent investigation of the stances taken by posters to construct identities and boundaries between themselves and others. Findings/conclusions: The study reveals how FB supports the construction and negotiation of multidimensional, complex personae, particularly in countering mainstream/media representations. It is a platform on which posters are able to display bilingual creativity. Originality: This article demonstrates the affordances of social media (SM) for newly settled Syrian refugees engaging in transnational networks. It identifies, as yet, unreported bilingual creativity in varieties of Arabic and English, particularly the use of a previously unidentified script, Englarabic. It ties this analysis to the study of identity performance and negotiation, and reveals the contested status of those now living in a new nation. Significance/implications: The study reveals how Syrian refugees employ complex linguistic repertoires in computer-mediated communication (CMC). We argue that SM platforms afford a creative, ideological space for bilingual refugees, as they negotiate their multiple identities online following resettlement. The study identifies linguistic innovation, particularly in the use of code-switching and Englarabic. It has implications for all those researching multilingual CMC creativity and identity, as well as those involved in understanding, planning for, and experiencing refugee (re)settlement.

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