Language as an Impediment to Immigrants' welfares and Development: A Case Study

Language is a vector of development. “Considered like privileged vehicle of transfer of knowledge and ideas, the language plays an irreplaceable role (…) in all the process of scientific and technological development” (Diki-Kidiri, 2004: 27). It is the means of expressing or communicating ideas which provide the capacity to communicate, thus making it a tool crucial to social organization and technological development. Indeed, language and development are intimately and incontestably linked that no country in the world could develop under using a language other than that of the concerned population. On the other hand, migration is not a new phenomenon: humans are migratory species. For economic or security reasons, people migrate. They moved to new location and new language ecologies where they come in contact with speakers of a specific set of other languages. These changes in the linguistic environment are not without consequences. At this juncture, it is worth noting that to reach their own objectives, immigrants as well as the developers: partners, animators, sensitisers, NGOs agents are in need of language of communication as the development constitutes a process in the center of which the language is. This paper focuses on the utility of language in action in order to understand how can language blocs, impedes immigrants in their daily interaction as it is inconceivable for man to do almost any activity that he does without the use of language. The research utilizes qualitative research methodology by incorporating structured interviews. Another research instrument I use is obtrusive observation to find out which of the second language acquisition, code switching, code mixing or even translation can help immigrants overcome language barriers and experience successful economic and social integration in the host country