When MT + 2 is not enough: Tensions within foreign language education in Finland

Review of recent applied linguistics research in Finland and Sweden, with specific reference to foreign language learning and teaching

“…Among researchers in Finland there seems to be widespread agreement that there should be more diversity in the foreign languages offered at school and that the dominance of English is not altogether a good thing. Three recent articles criticize the situation in Finland regarding proficiency in foreign languages other than English: Pyykkö (2009), Nikula et al (2010) and Ylönen & Kivelä (2011) (cf. Takala 2009).…”

Linguistic Diversity as a Problem and a Resource – Multilingualism in European and Finnish Policy Documents

“…There are no declarations about the need to uphold the Swedish language, but it is noteworthy how the use of the term 'toinen kotimainen' ('the other national language') is almost invariably used with reference to Swedish, either explicitly as in "The learning outcomes of the second national language (Swedish) are weak" or more implicitly for example when reference is made to "immersion education in a second language", which in the Finnish context almost invariably refers to immersion in Swedish. In other words, although protectionist discourses directed at Swedish do not emerge in the same way as in the Development Plan, there are more subtle references which suggest that the position of Swedish in Finland is a politically sensitive topic (see also Salo, this volume; Nikula et al, 2010). It was pointed out above that the diversity resulting from multilingualism is constructed as less of a threat in the KIEPO recommendations than in the Development Plan.…”

“…However, general discourses around language education in Finland show that knowing various languages is usually conceptualized as skills in German, French and Russian in particular, in addition to English and Swedish (e.g. Pöyhönen, 2009;Nikula et al, 2010). These discourses of multilingualism as desirable are counterbalanced in the Development Plan by discourses addressing the problematic nature of increasing diversity.…”