AFinLA-teema

”Muutakin pitäisi olla kun sitä samaa hiuksenharmaata”: Opiskelijoiden kokemuksia ja toiveita vieraiden kielten opetuksesta lukiossa

Karoliina Inha, Outi Veivo, Katja Mäntylä, Jaana Toomar — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan lukion ensimmäisen ja toisen vuoden opiskelijoiden kokemuksia lukion kielten opetuksesta ja heidän toiveitaan sen kehittämisestä. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin yhteensä 22 lukiolaista neljällä eri paikkakunnalla kevään ja syksyn 2022 aikana. Lukiolaisille järjestettiin puolistrukturoituja yksilö- ja ryhmähaastatteluita. Aineisto analysoitiin sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että ympäristön tapa puhua kielten opiskelusta ja käytetyt opetusmenetelmät eivät välttämättä motivoi usean kielen opiskeluun. Opiskelijat mainitsivat myös etenemisvauhdin, yksilöllisen tuen puutteen sekä arviointikäytännöt opiskelua kuormittaviksi tekijöiksi. Lisäksi opetuksen tavoitteet ja sisällöt eivät tuntuneet opiskelijoista itselle merkityksellisiltä. Opiskelijat toivoivat lukion kielten opetukseen monipuolisempia opetusmenetelmiä, lisää suullisen kielitaidon harjoittelua ja tunnetta siitä, että hankitulla osaamisella selviäisi arjessa.

Oppimisen moninaiset kontekstit: Yhdeksäsluokkalaisten kokemuksia englannin kielen oppimisesta koulun ulkopuolella

Lea Meriläinen, Marita Härmälä — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines Finnish ninth graders’ views on their acquisition and use of English outside school. Out-of-school learning and use of English is a growing phenomenon, and we aim to shed light on how Finnish pupils describe their learning experiences and the meanings they attach to them. The data consist of written tasks completed as a part of the national assessment of learning outcomes in A syllabus of English in basic education conducted by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre in spring 2021. The written tasks are first analyzed with corpus methods (frequencies, key words) and then qualitatively. The results show that there are some differences between girls and boys in the out-of-school learning environments they describe. Out-of-school learning is also described as common and important by pupils of different proficiency levels. Overall, Finnish teenagers associate English with opportunities to participate in global youth cultures and engage in meaningful freetime activities.

”Mä tiiän et mä kuulun kielikurssille!” Osallisuuden kokemukset kielten etäopetuksessa monikielisyyden näkökulmasta

Minna Intke Hernández, Hanna Kosonen — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

In this paper, we explore students’ sense of belonging in online language education through thematic interviews and a small stories perspective (Georgakopoulou 2015). We address two research questions: 1) What senses of belonging emerge in online language education? 2) How is multilingualism related to this sense of belonging? The study aims to enhance understanding of belonging and multilingualism in the context of a university language center’s online programs. The findings reveal three interconnected types of belonging. The first pertains to belonging within the course, focusing on student responsibility and safety. The second concerns belonging in language learning environments beyond the course. The third involves expressing personal identity in shared learning spaces, integrating visual and auditory markers of individual identities and interdisciplinary interactions. The results show that the sense of belonging extends beyond the course into various external communities. The study highlights that embracing multilingualism significantly influences students’ sense of belonging.

Monikielisyyden ja yhdenvertaisen osallistumisen tukeminen varhaisessa englannin opetuksessa opettajien kokemana

Laura Lahti, Karita Mård-Miettinen, Anne Pitkänen-Huhta — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

One of the aims of early language learning is to guarantee equal access to language learning for all children and to develop their plurilingualism. Studies on multilingual practices in early foreign language learning and teaching are, however, scarce. This study fills this gap by examining Finnish teachers’ experiences of the possibilities and obstacles for the development of pupils’ plurilingual repertoire and equal participation in the teaching of English starting in the first grade. The data comprised 550 teacher responses to a questionnaire on the practices of early language learning. Qualitative thematic analysis of the data revealed that teachers saw as supportive factors positive attitude towards language learning, children’s courage to interaction, development of linguistic and cultural awareness, teacher’s bilingual practices, and peer support. Problems in the skills of one’s first language and the school language and in teaching arrangements were seen as challenges.

Kielten aineenopettajaopiskelijoiden eriyttämiskäsitysten kehittyminen pedagogisten opintojen aikana

Pilvi Heinonen, Anssi Roiha — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article focuses on pre-service language teachers’ (N=67) perceptions of differentiation at different stages of their pedagogical studies. The participants visualised an “ideal language learning situation” and completed several teaching-related metaphors at the start of their studies. The participants returned to reflect on these outputs in writing at the end of their studies. Moreover, seven participants collectively reflected on them in group discussions. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Although differentiation did not appear very strongly in the visualisations and metaphors, some elements of differentiation were evident in them. In the reflective texts and group discussions, the participants emphasised the importance of differentiation more clearly. The results suggest that the ideal of differentiation is already present at some level when pre-service teachers start their teacher education and that they are able to adopt it more accurately during their pedagogical studies, albeit still to a somewhat limited extent.

Opettajaopiskelijoiden näkökulmia moninaiseen ruotsinopettajuuteen eri opettajankoulutusyhteisöissä

Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty, Camilla Rosvall, Liisa Suomela, Maria Kautonen — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article focuses on themes related to language, learning and teaching that future Swedish language professionals visualize for their future work, and what kind of conditions these themes create for language teaching in a more multilingual and multicultural school. The article is based on a study of students at three different universities providing Swedish teacher education, thus focusing on the diverse educational contexts for Swedish language education. With this perspective, we can better understand the resources these educational contexts provide their students with to construct their professional identities. The study is based on a qualitive analysis of visual narratives and accompanying descriptions produced by 62 students. The results show the willingness of the participants to work for multifaceted language education, however, with different foci in the different teacher education contexts.

Kulttuurinen ja kielellinen moninaisuus varhaisen kielenopetuksen oppikirjoissa

Anssi Roiha, Hannele Dufva, Katja Mäntylä, Heini-Marja Pakula — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

We examined how cultural and linguistic diversity is manifested in early language teaching textbooks. Our data consist of a set of five textbooks for early language teaching in Finland. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse both the text and the illustrations in the textbooks. Our analysis was guided by the theoretical underpinnings of critical intercultural education and broad views of multilingualism/translanguaging. The results show that the textbooks do not provide a very diverse picture of cultures as they contain a lot of stereotypical cultural content. The textbooks also focus mainly on the target language and thus do little to promote multilingualism. We found only three activities in which different languages were compared and used in the learning of the target language. More attention should therefore be paid to the content of textbooks and how they are used, as they produce and maintain ideologies and perceptions of culture and language.

Sähköiset kertomukset – tiedonalan kielen risteymiä fysiikan oppitunnilla

Anne Tiermas — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This article focuses on disciplinary language construction in lower secondary school physic lesson and especially on teacher’s narratives. The language practices of physics are materialized in both textual products and face-to-face interactions. For the language learner, mastering both a new language and the content of the subject at the same time can be challenging. Thus, the paper seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) What does disciplinary language look like from the perspective of the multilingual learner and 2) How is disciplinary language constructed in the intersection of practices? This nexus of practice is examined from classroom observations and video recordings. This article suggests that from the point of language education and social justice, it is important to consider the intersection of mundane and disciplinary practices.

Mitä kirjoitusprosessi kertoo minusta kirjoittajana? Kielten yliopisto-opiskelijoiden monikielisen kirjoittajatietoisuuden tukeminen

Maarit Mutta, Päivi Laine — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

In this study, we present a pedagogical experiment familiarizing students with writing process methodologies and increasing their writer awareness. Process data were collected and examined through keystroke logging and visualization by using the GGXLog program. The pedagogical experiment was conducted in an 8-week Master level course with students (N=12) who wrote texts in their first language (L1) and foreign languages (L2). The findings show that the writer’s identity is often built on L1 perceptions. The process-oriented and multilingual analyses can either support the earlier self-knowledge as a writer or modify it. Consequently, they increase students’ writer awareness. Furthermore, visualization and verbalization of the writing process can help both learners and teachers to become aware of the problematic aspects of the writing process. The research focuses on the university level, but the same pedagogical methodology can also be applied to other educational contexts.

Näkökulmia moninaisuuteen kielen oppimisessa ja opettamisessa

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0200

This lead-in to the special issue Perspectives on diversity in language learning and teaching focuses on the diversity of learners, teachers and contexts in language learning and teaching research. We start by briefly summarizing the key concepts that have led to this widening perspective. Secondly, we give an overview of the ways in which this special issue adds to this understanding and what new perspectives it highlights. Finally, we take a look at the future and reflect on possible directions of study.