In Search of the New Swedish-speaking Finnish Identity

Author(s):

Camilla Kovero(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments

Format:

Paper

Session Information

20 SES 11 A, Young Learners’ Language Acquisition in Multicultural Contexts

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-12

17:15-18:45

Room:

D-404

Chair:

Raimonda Bruneviciute

Contribution

The rights and the status of the Swedish-speaking minority have always been contentious issues in Finland and during the last years the language climate has become more strained. It seems as the multicultural European belonging has diminished the understanding of the Nordic dimension in our culture and its importance for a creation of a European identity. For instance media debates have often demonstrated lack of understanding about the linguistic and intellectual needs of pupils in Swedish-speaking schools. Nevertheless the popularity of the monolingual Swedish-speaking schools has increased and many children from bilingual, monolingual Finnish speaking homes and from immigrant homes are attending Swedish-speaking schools.

In order to form an understanding of the future of the Swedish language in Finland and its social position it is important to analyze how pupils attending Swedish-speaking schools in different parts of the country look at the Swedish language and at their own linguistic and cultural belonging- both today and in the future.

Method

The target group for the large study behind this paper was young people in three different age groups; in year five and six in primary school, year nine in secondary school and year two in upper secondary school (ages 11- 18). The sample consisted of 1780 pupils in 26 different schools. The extensive questionnaire consisted of 86 questions, most of which had fixed answering categories. The questionnaire was handed out by hand during lesson time and its completion overseen by the researcher, thus the attrition rate was minimal. The issues focus particularly on self-reported cultural and linguistic identity in young people living in different linguistic areas of Finland. The different areas include the bilingual Helsinki region, four Finnish speaking cities (so called “language islands”), and three strongly Swedish speaking cities in Ostrobothnia. The students participating from all these areas attend monolingual schools, where Swedish is the language of instruction.

Expected Outcomes

In the two earlier part of the project (published 2009, 2011) the linguistic background and the language patterns within the families have been presented. In this paper new findings from the rich material make it possible to determine which language or languages the young people think on, how they view their own competence in Swedish and in Finnish as well as their attitudes towards the concept of Swedish-speaking Finns. The changes in linguistic identities in different age groups and the idea of language choices in the future give a picture of young people’s potential language priorities in the future. The picture is complicated. The language situation is quite different for young people growing up in regions where Swedish language is in a minority position, compared with regions where Swedish is in a stronger or even in majority position. The interesting results demonstrate how young people’s everyday language use and language belonging seems to change with greater linguistic maturity, in different ways in the different linguistic areas. The findings will also be presented do to; linguistic background, gender and urban/ rural area.

References

Blackledge, Adrian & Pavalenko, Aneta, 2001. Negotiation of identities in multilingual context. International Journal of Bilingualism 5 nr 3, 243-257. Council of Europe, 2007. From Linguistic Diversity to Plurilingual Education. Guide for the Development of language Education Policies in Europe. Kovero, Camilla & Londen, Monica, 2009. Language, Identity and School. A study in Swedish Schools in Helsinki region. Nordica Helsingiensia, nr 15. Helsingfors. Universitetstryckeriet. Kovero, Camilla, 2011. Language, Identity and School II. Yuong people in Swedish Schools in different linquistic areas. Utbildningsstyrelsen. Rapporter och utredningar 2011: 6. Tammerfors:Juvenes Print. Norusis, Marija. J, 2002. SPSS 11.0 Guide to Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Vygotsky, Lev, 1962. Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Author Information

Camilla Kovero (presenting / submitting)

University of Helsinki

Helsinki

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