Children and adolescents with migratory experience at risk in language learning and psychosocial adaptation contexts.

Abstract

A compelling body of evidence shows a strong association between psychological, affective and learning variables, related also with the age and gender factors, which are involved in the language learning development process. Children and adolescents with migratory experience (direct/indirect) can develop behaviours at risk in their academic learning and psychosocial adaptation, according to several stressors as anxiety, low motivation, negative attitudes, within a stressed internal locus of control. In this work will be presented results regarding a study developed with a sample of 584 students, with ages between 7 and 21 years old, with migratory experience, immigrants in Portugal and in Spain. Will be discussed correlation between motivation/attitudes, gender and age, in the second-language learning. The condition of a migrant child or adolescent could compromise their mental health and their literacy skills acquisition (Snow et al., 1998) as well as promote interference between predisposition and competence.