Discourses on encountering multilingual learners in Finnish schools

Abstract The study examines the narratives of Finnish lower secondary school teachers working in linguistically diverse schools by analysing their narratives’ discourses on encountering multilingual learners. The study reflects the current period when the Finnish education system is experiencing growth in linguistic diversity and a change in educational policies that require language awareness from all teachers. In the study, 16 teachers participated in semi-structured group interviews. The teachers’ narratives were analysed by applying a framework for linguistically responsive teaching (Lucas & Villegas, 2013) in combination with discourse analytical methods. The analysis resulted in six d…

Multilingualism in Finnish Teacher Education

“We thought about it together and the solution came to our minds”: languaging linguistic problem-solving in multilingual Finnish classrooms

Abstract This study examines a learning experiment in which linguistic problem-solving tasks designed to increase students’ (aged 9–13) language awareness through collaborative dialogue were introduced in multilingual primary school classrooms in Finland. The aim was to analyse how the students (N = 126) reported what was happening during the linguistic problem-solving tasks, drawing on the method of languaging. Additionally, the study investigates how meaningful, relevant and novel the students with diverse backgrounds found the tasks. The data were collected via a survey. Students’ problem-solving reports were analysed via content analysis, with the Taxonomy of Cognitive Process applied. …