Search results for "Finno-Ugric"
showing 10 items of 37 documents
Constructions of bilingualism in Finnish Government programmes and a newspaper discussion site debate
2014
The concept of bilingualism in Finnish political discourse is predominantly used in the meaning of official or state bilingualism, focussing on the two constitutionally defined ‘national languages’; i.e. Finnish and Swedish. Legally, both Finnish and Swedish speakers have a right for public services, such as schooling or health care, in their first language. On the other hand, several language ideological debates have taken place in recent years, challenging especially the status of Swedish in administration and education. These debates have reshaped the discourses on what counts as bilingualism. This paper analyses on one hand the historical discursive development of the “official will” pr…
Characteristics of Weak and Strong Readers in a Foreign Language
2016
This study investigated the cognitive (first language [L1] and foreign language [FL]), linguistic (L1 and FL), and motivational characteristics of weak FL readers in contrast to strong readers in 3 groups of L1 Finnish-speaking learners of English, aged 10, 14, and 17 years. This cross-sectional study covered a wide range of potential correlates, and therefore predictors, of FL reading based on previous research on reading in first, second (L2), and foreign languages. The weakest and strongest FL readers (1 standard deviation below or above the mean reading score) in each age group were selected for the comparisons reported in this article. The FL (English) skills other than reading were fo…
Frozen actions in the Arctic linguistic landscape: a nexus analysis of language processes in visual space
2011
Abstract This article examines the linguistic landscape (LL) of seven villages above the Arctic Circle, in the region called North Calotte. The area forms a complex nexus of contested and changing multilingualism, particularly as regards to endangered indigenous Sami languages and Kven and Meankieli minority languages. Viewing LL as a discursively constructed space and consequently signs as ‘frozed actions’ by various actors, and by adopting a Nexus analytical approach we examine three interrelated aspects of Arctic LLs: (1) the synchronic aspect by addressing the question of how languages are used in the landscapes of northern villages in the year 2008; (2) the historical aspect through id…
Two languages in the air : a cross-cultural comparison of preschool teachers’ reflections on their flexible bilingual practices
2016
Bilingual preschool education is under researched compared with bilingual school education. There is also a lack of research on bilingual preschool teachers’ agency and how they negotiate between two languages in the classroom. We examined the language practices of five bilingual preschool teachers working within three different socio-linguistic settings, in Finland (Finnish–Swedish and Russian–Finnish contexts) and Israel (an Arabic–Hebrew context) and interviewed the teachers about their use of languages in the classroom. We found that in each context the teachers reported modifications to an initial bilingual education model over time: from a strict separation of languages, to flexible b…
Thinking and Content Learning of Mathematics and Science as Cognitional Development in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): Teaching Thro…
2005
This paper presents a study on thinking and learning processes of mathematics and science in teaching through a foreign language, in Finland. The entity of thinking and content learning processes is, in this study, considered as cognitional development. Teaching through a foreign language is here called Content and Language Integrated Learning or CLIL. CLIL refers to all those diverse programmes, including some forms of immersion and bilingual education, where a foreign language is a medium of instruction, affecting the entire learning process of the learner. Thinking and content learning in CLIL manifests itself as analogical CLIL reasoning systems, based on two languages, and is assumed t…
Predictors of developmental dyslexia in European orthographies with varying complexity
2012
Background: The relationship between phoneme awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term/working memory (ST/WM) and diagnostic category is investigated in control and dyslexic children, and the extent to which this depends on orthographic complexity. Methods: General cognitive, phonological and literacy skills were tested in 1,138 control and 1,114 dyslexic children speaking six different languages spanning a large range of orthographic complexity (Finnish, Hungarian, German, Dutch, French, English). Results: Phoneme deletion and RAN were strong concurrent predictors of developmental dyslexia, while verbal ST/WM and general verbal abilities played a comparatively minor role…
Finnish and UK English pre-teen children's text message language and its relationship with their literacy skills
2011
The aim of the study was to demonstrate the style of text language used by Finnish pre-teen texters (n = 65) and determine how their text language related to their traditional literacy skills, and compare descriptively these results with earlier results from work with young English texters. Three kinds of text messages (natural texts, elicited texts and elicited replies) were recorded after cognitive and literacy skills were assessed. Relationships between text language and standard literacy skills were shown to be different between the two languages, and we propose that those differences arise from both the structures of the languages themselves, and the communities of linguistic practice …
Conceptual knowledge‐based strategy training in single‐digit calculation: a single case intervention study in a child with specific language impairme…
2009
The aim of this single‐case intervention study was to examine whether a conceptual knowledge‐based strategy training would improve the accuracy of single‐digit arithmetical calculation in a child with specific language impairment. The intervention concerned an11‐year‐old Finnish‐speaking child with specific language impairment. He was trained individually once a week for three months. On the basis of his baseline performance single‐digit arithmetical problems were divided into ‘well‐known arithmetical problems’ and ‘error‐prone arithmetical problems’. Error‐prone problems were taught in meaningful relation to well‐known problems, which he repeatedly solved correctly by using arithmetical fa…
The early childhood education and care partnership for bilingualism in minority language schooling : collaboration between bilingual families and ped…
2016
Educational partnerships occur at the intersection of early childhood education and care (ECEC), families, and the surrounding community, and have been shown to play a significant role in student success rates in education. There is, however, a gap in research on the role and potential of ‘partnership’ in the case of bilingual families with children enrolled in monolingual minority language ECEC. This study aimed to fill this void by examining parental and practitioner discourses on partnership and on obligations, desires, abilities, and competencies involved in acting on a bilingual childhood in the context of monolingual minority ECEC. Parents in nine Finnish–Swedish bilingual families an…
Finns in the Colonial World
2021
AbstractUtilizing such concepts as “colonial complicity” and “colonialism without colonies”, this chapter examines the case of Finns and Finland as a nation that was once oppressed but also itself complicit in colonialism. It argues that although the Finnish nation has historically been positioned in Europe between western and eastern empires, Finns were not only passive victims of (Russian) imperial rule but also active participants in the creation of imperial vocabulary in various colonial contexts, including Sápmi in the North.This chapter argues that although Finns never had overseas colonies, they were involved in the colonial world, sending out colonizers and producing images of colon…