Abstract:The paper introduces a fresh perspective on individual language skills, or, language proficiency. Based on dialogical thinking, theory of distributed language and cognition and sociolinguistics, it will be argued that ’mental grammar’ is an inappropriate metaphor for describing an individuals’ language skills. To present an alternative view, language is here understood as ’resources’ that will be appropriated by individuals for developing a ’personal repertoire’. Focusing here on the role of embodiment and mat… Show more
“…Language is a social and embodied action (e.g. van Lier 2002;Dufva 2020); it is not just words but what we create together through our material and social environment.…”
This paper studies how embodiment is realised in distance and online language learning. Eleven students from the University of Helsinki Language Centre participated in the study. The interviews conducted were thematic, and the research question was as follow: How is embodiment evident in students’ narratives about online language learning? I apply nexus analysis (Scollon & Scollon 2004, 2007, 2009) as the analytical method of this study. Focusing on the connections between narratives of historical bodies and language learning in online contexts, four distinct discourses emerged in the data: 1) the lack of embodiment; 2) embodiment as a matter of power; 3) private, safety-giving embodiment; and 4) embodiment in relation to the material and social world.
“…Language is a social and embodied action (e.g. van Lier 2002;Dufva 2020); it is not just words but what we create together through our material and social environment.…”
This paper studies how embodiment is realised in distance and online language learning. Eleven students from the University of Helsinki Language Centre participated in the study. The interviews conducted were thematic, and the research question was as follow: How is embodiment evident in students’ narratives about online language learning? I apply nexus analysis (Scollon & Scollon 2004, 2007, 2009) as the analytical method of this study. Focusing on the connections between narratives of historical bodies and language learning in online contexts, four distinct discourses emerged in the data: 1) the lack of embodiment; 2) embodiment as a matter of power; 3) private, safety-giving embodiment; and 4) embodiment in relation to the material and social world.
“…myös Hall 2019: 86-87) ja Ruuskan (2020: 67-70) tapaan kielellisenä repertoaarina. Kielellisellä repertoaarilla viitataan yksilön kielelliseen ja multimodaaliseen keinovalikoimaan, joka mahdollistaa osallistumisen sosiaaliseen toimintaan (Dufva 2020). Kielenoppiminen on siis näiden keinojen haltuunottoa (Dufva 2020), joka myös tapahtuu sosiaalisessa toiminnassa.…”
Section: Teoreettiset Lähtökohdatunclassified
“…Kielellisellä repertoaarilla viitataan yksilön kielelliseen ja multimodaaliseen keinovalikoimaan, joka mahdollistaa osallistumisen sosiaaliseen toimintaan (Dufva 2020). Kielenoppiminen on siis näiden keinojen haltuunottoa (Dufva 2020), joka myös tapahtuu sosiaalisessa toiminnassa. Dufva (2020: 25) hahmottaa Cowleyn (2018) työhön nojaten repertoaarin "valmiuksiksi tuottaa taitavaa toimintaa".…”
This study explores the educational and professional trajectories of three skilled migrants in Finland. The aim is to investigate how language-related issues intertwine with the migrants’ individual trajectories to gain a deeper understanding of the kinds of challenges migrants may face in Finnish society. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of nexus analysis and the concept of linguistic repertoire, the study focuses on the participants’ lived experiences of language along their trajectories. The longitudinal data, consisting of interviews over the period of 4.5 years, are analysed using the nexus analytic framework. The findings show that although the participants knew English and studied Finnish successfully, their individual lived experiences of language varied, and their non-straight-forward trajectories were shaped by multiple factors. To support migrants’ agency and their possibilities to participate, we thus need more flexible language policies and practices in higher education as well as a more nuanced understanding of linguistic repertoires.
“…Kieli-ja kielenoppimiskäsityksemme nojaakin ymmärrykseen kielestä tilanteisina resursseina ja sosiaalisena toimintana. Lähestymme siis kieltä yksilön kognitiivisen prosessoinnin sekä ympäristön kielen käyttöön tarjoamien mahdollisuuksien yhdistelmänä (Dufva 2020;Norton 2013). Kieli syntyy ja kehittyy sosiaalisessa vuorovaikutuksessa, ja kielenkäyttäjät saavat ja tarjoavat toisilleen sosiaalista ja kielellistä tukea.…”
Section: Kielenoppiminen Sosiaaliset Identiteetit Ja Intersektionaali...unclassified
“…Kieli syntyy ja kehittyy sosiaalisessa vuorovaikutuksessa, ja kielenkäyttäjät saavat ja tarjoavat toisilleen sosiaalista ja kielellistä tukea. Keskeistä tässä on repertuaari-ajattelu, jolla viitataan sekä varsinaisiin kielellisiin resursseihin että erilaisiin tilanteisiin, joissa kieliä käytetään (Dufva 2020). Ehkä kielen oppimiseen investoimista voisikin tarkastella yhdistettynä intersektionaalisuuteen eli erilaisten risteävien ja yhtä aikaa olemassa olevien sosiaalisten identiteettien huomioimiseen ja hyväksymiseen?…”
Section: Kielenoppiminen Sosiaaliset Identiteetit Ja Intersektionaali...unclassified
Socially just education calls for recognizing societal power structures, working actively towards dismantling oppression and implementing more equitable educational practices. Cultural diversity has gained a foothold in Finnish education policies and core curricula, but there is a great deal of variation in how themes related to social justice are dealt with on the practical level. As an entry point to social justice-oriented education, we first discuss social identities and intersectionality in language learning. Then we discuss the decolonization of teaching and learning and introduce two approaches to more equitable education: translanguaging and raciolinguistics. Finally, we suggest some further directions towards more social justice-oriented language education. These would entail for example adopting an explicit decolonial and anti- oppressive stance and incorporating pedagogies developed and led by minoritized scholars, activists and practitioners. Raciolinguistic and intersectional approaches would lend themselves well towards this end. Teachers need training and support in implementing these pedagogies.
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