Language functions as a powerful vessel for migration—bridging distant worlds, preserving cultural memory, and enabling cross-cultural communication. In the context of forced and voluntary migration, language becomes central to the process of integration, identity reconstruction, and community participation. With nearly 120 million people displaced globally, countries such as South Africa are under increasing pressure to accommodate and integrate large numbers of immigrants and refugees. Migration—particularly for women—entails profound challenges, including language barriers, xenophobia, sexual violence, and social isolation. Drawing on feminist scholarship that emphasizes the gendered dimensions of war and displacement, this study explores how refugee women navigate their social spaces and engage with host communities through language and literacy practices. It challenges dominant discourses that depict refugee women as either passive victims or deceptive outsiders. This interpretive study involved 35 purposively selected participants, with two narratives analyzed in depth for this paper. Using narrative inquiry as the primary method, the research reveals how women's lived experiences and funds of knowledge inform their journeys of adaptation and resilience. Despite the multiple burdens they face, the women exhibit agency and determination, that language and literacy practices are not only tools for survival, but also for empowerment and social belonging. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the sociocultural processes that shape immigrant women’s transitions and highlights the potential for their meaningful participation in host societies.

Keywords: Immigrant women, language practices, dominant discourses, feminist scholarship.