The Mother Tongue and the Stepmother’s Language"; The Reflection of the Refugee Migration Experience in the Mirror of the Language among Young Asylum Seekers from Africa in Youth Villages in Israel

Immigration is a universal phenomenon which holds a great change for those who go through it. At adolescents, immigration process is linked to a transition between worlds, between the world of childhood and maturity, it holds new possibilities to examine and design an identity, a central developmental mission at this age (Ericsson, 1968; Marcia, 1980). Language is a significant component of identity, memory and culture, it may reflect a significant emotional process relating to migration and symbolizes the dynamics of inner and outer relations (Glik-Schiller, 2013; Mirsky, 1991).

Furthermore, in Israel, research on migrants is broad, though focuses on those belonging to the majority culture, immigrants defined as "Olim". The chapter seeks to put a spotlight on a marginal population: African, non-Jewish immigrants, in the status of asylum seekers, young and lonely, living in youth villages in Israel.

These teenagers, their culture, language, and identity, have no place in the Israeli-cultural space, a multi-dimensional marginalization. Relying on sociological, socio-linguistic and psychological theories, this study seeks to challenge familiar models of immigration, and to examine a variety of intermediate spatial areas in which these youths are: between different cultures, identities, languages, between childhood and maturity, between refugees and belonging, and the connection between these aspects and linguistic processes (language preservation, loss, code switching). The interface between these areas binds topics that are unique to Israel, such as life in the youth villages, as well as global themes such as individual young emigration and language.