Puheenvuoroja kielen ja kulttuurin vuorovaikutuksesta

[Anna Idström ja Sachiko Sosa (toim.): Kielissä kulttuurien ääni

Multilingualism in Finnish schools: policies and practices

This article provides an overview of multilingualism in Finnish schools. The focus is on the experiences gathered from the teachers of plurilingual students, i.e. students from immigrant backgrounds. The data in our study were collected by administering a web questionnaire, and the topics covered, for example, the status of languages and the teaching arrangements tailored for plurilingual students. In addition to reacting to the questionnaire’s statements, the respondents could freely comment on any of the topics, which enriched the quantitative data by offering many useful perspectives. Several respondents reported that during their working careers, noticeable progress has been made accommodating plurilingual students. On the other hand, the results showed that several challenges still remain, such as assuring a more uniform provision of L1 and L2 instruction. In some regions of Finland, such programmes have been functioning well, but in others, administrators are only just awakening to the increasing multilingualism in their schools

Koulusta ja kaksikielisyydestä kahdella kielellä

Liisa Tainio & Heidi Harju-Luukkainen (toim.): Kaksikielinen koulu – tulevaisuuden monikielinen Suomi. Tvåspråkig skola – ett flerspråkigt Finland i framtiden. Kasvatusalan tutkimuksia 62. Jyväskylä: Suomen kasvatustieteellinen seura 2013. 371 s. ISBN 978-952-5401-64-6

Työelämän toimeksiannoista laatua oppimiseen ja opetukseen

publishedVersionNon peer reviewe

Vastasaapuneet ja osallisuuden rakentuminen yhteisissä ja erillisissä luokkahuoneissa

Peer reviewe

Suomi toisena ja vieraana kielenä - tutkittua ja keskusteltua

Finnish as a second and foreign language: a subject of research (englanti)4/1997 (101)Eija Aalto Sirkku Latomaa Minna SuniFINNISH AS A SECOND AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE: A SUBJECT OF RESEARCH As immigration and internationalization have increased in Finland, research concerning the Finnish language has taken on a new dimension: Finnish from the viewpoint of speakers of other languages. Finnish has long functioned as both a second and foreign language, but only during the last decade has research in this field developed to such an extent that it could be termed one of the most important areas of current Fennistic research.The article provides a general overview of the research that has been carried out on Finnish as a second and foreign language (hereafter referred to as FSL), focusing on the types of subjects and individuals studied, the methods used and data collected. The writers also outline the main research themes and findings. They begin by examining the research conducted on structural aspects of learning (phonology, morphology and syntax), and they also consider vocabulary acquisition. A language is not, however, acquired in a vacuum, and so the article looks at interactional research, which has increased in profile recently and has an important place in FSL research, too. After discussing these interactive approaches the article goes on to examine the research on teaching. Finally, the various views about FSL teaching expressed in journals are described. This is the channel through which FSL teaching has received new stimuli, particularly in times when there was little research on FSL. The research on FSL teaching has also had a great impact on developments in the field of FSL in general.From the overview presented it is clear that FSL research has developed significantly in just a short period of time. It is also clear that some areas have lagged behind others. Much of the FSL research carried out so far has relied more on Fennistic research traditions than current L2 acquisition theories, which may explain why there are fewer findings about the learning process than, for example, the various grammatical errors made by learners of Finnish. Furthermore, a large number of studies have focused on morphological and syntactic features of 'learner Finnish', whereas its phonological and lexical features have received less attention. The overview also demonstrates that more interactional studies, especially on classroom discourse, will be needed in the coming years

Valuing All Languages in Europe

The VALEUR project (2004-2007) took as its focus the 'additional' languages of Europe. These are defined as all languages in use in contexts where they are not 'national', 'official', or 'dominant' languages. They include 'migrant' languages, 'regional/minority' languages, sign languages and 'non-territorial' languages of diasporas such as Yiddish and Romani. The project team brought together a range of expertise in sociolinguistics and language pedagogy, planning and research from Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK. We took as our starting point Council of Europe policies on plurilingualism and the desirability of promoting linguistic diversity both for individual citizenship and for social cohesion in Europe. Our aim was to map provision for additional languages in Europe, in a more systematic and inclusive way than ever before. We looked at provision at school level for different languages in different contexts in order to identify good practices to be shared. In order to achieve our objectives we drew on the good will and enthusiasm of workshop participants, who provided a wealth of information and insights from 21 of the Council of Europe member states. Our work is not definitive: its purpose is awareness-raising and to stimulate further activity to support the learning of all Europe's languages