You can hear they are a Russian speaker
Keywords:
Russian speakers, Finnish learners, oral proficiency, language assessmentAbstract
The study focuses on Russian adult speakers’ (n=8412) oral proficiency in Finnish and the changes in it during 2012-2021 using longitudinal data from a national high-stakes language test (National Certificates of Language Proficiency). The longitudinal data show that the oral proficiency has declined over the years, and we reflect upon the possible reasons for the decline using different background factors. In addition, we analysed the ratings of 10 speakers more thoroughly in one task. The samples were rated by 44 trained Finnish raters. The results show that the decline in oral proficiency was linked with the background factors of the Russian speakers. Male speakers were slightly weaker than female speakers and older ones weaker than younger ones. Furthermore, age, educational background and the length of Finnish studies play a role in oral proficiency: especially using Finnish in running every day errands was linked with good oral proficiency. In the more thorough analysis of the 10 Russian speakers learning Finnish, we found that the strengths were pronunciation/phonological control and fluency whereas the weaknesses were propositional precision/range/idiomaticity and grammatical accuracy. However, especially pronunciation and grammatical accuracy were subskills that were also mentioned as problem in the raters’ verbal descriptions of the speakers.
