From Displacement to Empowerment

After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, nearly 100,000 Afghans resettled in the United States, and learning English became one of the most important parts of building a new life. But refugee and newcomer learners have distinct, fast-changing needs that standard, survival-focused curricula rarely meet. My dissertation asked: what does a more flexible, learner-centered approach look like in practice?

The work centered on task-based language teaching (TBLT) — an approach that organizes learning around real-world tasks rather than abstract grammar drills — examined through a Participatory Action Research framework that treats learners as collaborators, not just subjects. That framing let the curriculum respond to learners’ actual, emergent goals as they surfaced.

The research looks closely at Afghan English learners’ linguistic, content, and socio-emotional experiences, and offers a model for designing host-language education that adapts to the people in the room. It also makes a methodological case for including refugees as genuine research collaborators in applied linguistics and education.

Completed at Georgetown University in 2024.