Language, change and society: Perspectives from Finland

Abstract

In this paper, we offer an overview of the various themes that emerged in the course of AFinLA 2021 50-year Anniversary Symposium Language, change and society. After a brief review of the dialogical nature of this hybrid event and the heightened sense of reflexivity this belongs, we divide the 19 contributions to this yearbook into four thematic groups: (1) accommodating reform in language and in education policy, (2) evolving practices in language learning and teaching, (3) technologically mediated teaching environments, and (4) the digitization of work and everyday life. Taken together, the different contributions give a good indication of how changes in society are reflected in applied language studies in Finland.

Learner Experiences of Mobile Apps and Artificial Intelligence to Support Additional Language Learning in Education

“…A key contributor to its integration lies in MALL app user experience (UX) design. This theme is reflected in several research studies that employ questionnaires and interviews to explore users' experiences with language-learning technologies in some way, even when this is not always the focus of the study (e.g., Divekar et al, 2021;Pikhart, 2020;Seppälä et al, 2022). Seppälä et al (2020) point out that today's users have high expectations for interactivity with digital tools and that their expectations directly impact their engagement and motivation as language learners.…”