Eveliina Bovellan CLIL TEACHERS VIEWS ON TEACHING MATERIALS AT PRIMARY LEVEL. AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING TEACHING MATERIAL FOR CLIL. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been an established practice in the Finnish school system for almost two decades. Nevertheless, there are just a handful of ready made textbooks for CLIL available, and consequently, CLIL teachers often make the teaching material needed by themselves. In this study, I aim at finding out what CLIL teachers in Finnish primary schools think of their work and especially of the CLIL teaching materials. I also intend to examine their process of producing teaching materials for CLIL lessons. The theoretical background of my study is Krashen s theory of language acquisition (1985). According to his input hypothesis, we acquire a foreign language through exposure to comprehensible input. In an optimal situation, input has to be a little beyond the learners current language level. Similarly, an optimal teaching material in CLIL would take the learners language level into account. My study is also based on previous studies on teaching materials. Törnroos (2004) studied textbooks effects on learning results and Pitkänen Huhta (2003) looked into texts and interaction in an EFL classroom. Karvonen (1995) examined the language of biology textbooks. This is a qualitative study with ethnographic features, and I will collect data for the study in three stages. First, I intend to interview ten CLIL teachers about their work and their views on CLIL teaching materials. At the second stage, I will ask them to keep an oral diary while producing teaching material in order to find information on the process itself, on the sources they have for finding material, on the means teachers may use to adapt the material to the learners language level etc. Finally, after collecting the teaching materials the teachers have made this way and listening to their oral diaries, I will interview them another time, now concentrating on the details of their teaching materials and on the process of producing them. I believe my study will give valuable information on CLIL teachers ideas of their work and their means of making teaching material. Previous studies on CLIL have slightly different points of view. Rasinen (2006) describes a model of using the CLIL method at the primary school level capturing the CLIL teachers, pupils and parents voices. Meriläinen s (2008) classroom research gives guidelines to support teaching through a foreign language and the needs of diverse children in immersion education. Research on CLIL or learning through a foreign language has also been carried out by Nikula (2003, 2008), Jäppinen (2005) and Järvinen (1999), for instance. On the basis of the results of this study, it may be possible to give CLIL teachers and printing houses general instructions of making teaching material for CLIL. It might also standardize the use of teaching material in CLIL schools around Finland as well as clarify the challenges and diversity of CLIL teachers work at primary level. Key words: CLIL, content and language integrated learning, teaching materials References: Jäppinen, A K. 2004. Opettajan ammattitaito vieraskielisessä opetuksessa. In Sajavaara, K. & Takala, S. (eds.) Kielikoulutus tienhaarassa. Center of Applied Linguistics. University of Jyväskylä. Jyväskylä: University Press.
Järvinen, H M. 1999. Acquisition of English in Content and Language Integrated Learning at Elementary Level in the Finnish Comprehensive School. B:232. Turku: The University of Turku. Karvonen, P. 1995. Oppikirjateksti toimintana. Jyväskylä: Gummerus Oy. Krashen, S. 1985. The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. New York: Longman. Meriläinen, M. 2008. Monenlaiset oppijat englanninkielisessä kielikylpyopetuksessa. Rakennusaineita opetusjärjestelyjen tueksi. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Nikula, T. 2003. Englanti oppimisen kohteena ja välineenä: katsaus luokkahuoneinteraktioon. In Koskela, M. & Pilke, N. (eds.) Kieli ja asiantuntijuus. AFinla Yearbook Nr. 61. Center of Applied Linguistics. Jyväskylä, 135 157. Nikula, T. 2008. Learning Pragmatics in Content Based Classrooms. In E. Alcón & A. Martinez Flor (eds.) Investigating Pragmatics in Foreign Language Learning, Teaching and Testing. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Pitkänen Huhta, A. 2003. Texts and Interaction. Literacy practices in the EFL classroom. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Rasinen, T. 2006. Näkökulmia vieraskieliseen perusopetukseen. Koulun kehittämishankkeesta koulun toimintakulttuuriksi. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Törnroos, J. 2004. Opetussuunnitelma, oppikirjat ja oppimistulokset seitsemännen luokan matematiikan osaaminen arvioitavana. University of Jyväskylä: Research Center of Education.
Tiina Kasi suomen kieli abstrakti kielentutkimuksen kevätkoulu Identiteetti, rajat ja asenteet. Eteläpohjalaisnuoret paikkojen ja ihmisten nimeäjinä Aivan alussa oleva lisensiaatintutkimukseni on jatkoa pro gradu -tutkielmalleni, jossa selvitettiin eteläpohjalaisnuorten käyttämiä epävirallisia paikan- ja henkilönnimityksiä erityisesti ryhmäidentiteetin näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan, miten seinäjokelaiset, lapualaiset, ilmajokelaiset, kurikkalaiset ja jalasjärveläiset nuoret nimeävät paikkoja ja niiden asukkaita tai käyttäjiä. Erityisesti tutkitaan, miten nimeämisen avulla ilmaistaan asenteita sekä rakennetaan ryhmäidentiteettiä ja alueellista sekä paikallista identiteettiä siis luodaan sosiaalisia ja maantieteellisiä rajoja meidän ja muiden välille. Tarkastellaan, mitkä ryhmät (esim. perhe, ystäväpiiri, suku, koulu- tai työyhteisö, harrastusryhmät, alakulttuurit, asuinyhteisöt, kaupunginosat tai kylät, kaupungit tai kunnat, maakunta) muodostuvat sisäryhmiksi ja mitkä taas ulkoryhmiksi. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään ja testataan Henri Tajfelin 1980-luvulla kehittämää sosiaalisen identiteetin teoriaa, jonka mukaan ihmiset määrittelevät itsensä ryhmäjäsenyyksiensä avulla, ja saavuttaakseen myönteisen kuvan itsestään he pyrkivät saavuttamaan sisäryhmälleen etua tai paremmuutta vertailun kohteena oleviin ulkoryhmiin nähden. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään myös Anssi Paasin aluemaantieteellisiä tutkimuksia sekä Pertti Rannikon sosiologian alan kirjoituksia. Tutkimusaineisto kootaan kyselyin ja teemahaastatteluin. Kyselyillä kootaan nimistö talteen ja haastatteluilla selvitetään syvemmin nimien merkitystä käyttäjilleen. Tutkimukseen otetaan mukaan eri alojen opiskelijoita, jotta saadaan tietoa eri opiskelijoiden asenteista toisiinsa ja toistensa paikkoihin. Kyselyitä kootaan monipuolisesti naapurikunnista, jotta saadaan selville suhtautuminen naapurikuntalaisiin. Tutkimukseen on tarkoitus ottaa mukaan niin maaseudulla kuin keskustoissa ja kaupungeissakin asuvia nuoria. Kyselyiden pohjalta suoritetaan teemahaastattelut luonnollisille kahden neljän hengen ryhmille. Haastatteluihin valitaan sekä tyttöjä että poikia. Haastatteluilla selvitetään syvemmin nimiin ja paikkoihin liittyviä asenteita ja käsityksiä. Tässä esitelmässä esittelen lisensiaatintyön tavoitteita ja teoreettisia lähtökohtia, joita taustoitan pro gradussa tekemilläni havainnoilla. asiasanat: paikannimistö, epävirallinen paikannimi, identiteetti
VIERAAN KIELEN OPPIMISMOTIVAATIO KIELIVALINTOJEN NÄKÖKULMASTA Teija Kyllönen Jyväskylän yliopisto, Soveltavan kielentutkimuksen keskus Väitöskirjatutkimukseni tavoitteena on selvittää vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatiota ja sitä, millaisin perustein koululaiset tekevät päätöksiä kieltenopiskelussaan. Millaisia motiiveja ja asenteita perusasteella tehtyjen valinnaisten vieraiden kielten valintojen tai valitsematta jättämisten taustalta löytyy? Millaisia käsityksiä oppilailla on esimerkiksi eri kielten tärkeydestä, ja mikä vaikutus kieliin kohdistuvilla asenteilla on valintoihin? Millaiset tekijät motivoivat monipuoliseen kieltenopiskeluun, ja mitkä tekijät puolestaan vähentävät kieltenopiskeluintoa? Tutkimuksessani tarkastelen suomenkielisten yhdeksäsluokkalaisten B2 kielen valintoja tai valitsematta jättämisiä. Valinnaisen B2 kielen opiskelun voi aloittaa yläkoulun luokilla 7 9, ja yleisimmin se aloitetaan 8. luokalla. Toteutan tutkimukseni kyselytutkimuksena ja sitä varten laadin vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatiota kartoittavan motivaatiomittarin, jonka tuottaman aineiston analysoin tilastollisesti. Tutkimuksellani tavoittelen tietoa, joka on yleistettävissä koko maahan. Tarkastelen tutkimuksessani kielivalintoja / kielten valitsematta jättämisiä oppilaan tekeminä päätöksinä. Tutkimuksen taustalla on ajatus siitä, että sosiaalisten ja koulutuspoliittisten tekijöiden lisäksi erityisesti psykologiset tekijät, kuten vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatio ja asenteet kyseistä kieltä kohtaan vaikuttavat ratkaisevasti siihen, valitseeko oppilas vai jättääkö valitsematta valinnaisen kielen opintoihinsa. Tutkimuksen keskeisiä psykologian peruskäsitteitä ovat siten motivaatio ja asenteet. Vieraan kielen oppimismotivaation käsitettä tarkastelen mm. Gardnerin (1985) sekä Gardnerin ja Lambertin (1972) teorioiden pohjalta, joissa oppimismotivaatio jaetaan integratiiviseen ja instrumentaaliseen orientaatioon. Sittemmin vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatiota on tutkinut laajasti mm. Dörnyei (1994), ja Suomessa esimerkiksi Julkunen (1998). Esitelmässäni käyn läpi erilaisia vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatioteorioita ja näkökulmia selvittääkseni, mikä (mitkä) niistä olisi lähestymistavaltaan sopivin aiheen tutkimiseen, kun lähtökohtana on ajatus siitä, että kielivalinnat / valitsematta jättämiset heijastavat vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatiota. Asiasanat: vieraat kielet, oppimismotivaatio, kielivalinnat LÄHTEET Dörnyei, Z. 1994. Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom. The Modern Language Journal 78 (3), 273 284. Gardner, R.C. 1985. Social Psychology and Second Language Learning. The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. The Social Psychology of Language 4. London: Edward Arnold. Gardner, R.C. & Lambert W.E. 1972. Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House Publishers. Julkunen, K. 1998. Vieraan kielen oppiminen: A2 kielen opiskelijoiden motivaatio ja kielen valintaan vaikuttaneet tekijät. Joensuun yliopisto: Kasvatustieteiden tiedekunnan tutkimuksia N:o 70.
Ilona Laakkonen Centre for Applied Language Studies ilmala@jyu.fi The future of language learning? Exploring the relationship between ICTs, language pedagogy and educational change The working title of my ongoing research is Emerging technologies on sound pedagogies. Supporting sustainable pedagogical change towards multimodal language learning and teaching. My presentation will focus on three concepts that are central within the scope of this research and together form an entity of complex dialectical relationships: the developing technologies, language learning/teaching and educational change at large. During the past decades a fundamental shift has occurred in the role that knowledge and technology play in the economy: we are now living in a knowledge society in which wealth and welfare depend on intelligence and innovations (Hargreaves 2003). This development causes pressures on the educational system as well: students need skills to cope with social and technical change and to engage in lifelong learning (Owston 2007). However, developments in technology do not only offer challenges, but also possibilities. ICTs support many aspects that are valuable for learning: access to resources, collaboration, joint knowledge building, sharing and self direction (Kozma 2003). With the increased rate of technology, social and economic changes, the challenges posed on the educational system are now addressing the very core of education, the way teachers teach (Hargreaves 2003). However, recent research indicates that innovative practices are still hard to find (e.g. Ilomäki 2008; Luukka et al. 2008) and that technology use is rare especially among language teachers (Kankaanranta & Puhakka 2008). It seems that what is needed is teachers to engage in developing new understandings and approaches to teaching and learning (Fullan 2001). My presentation will first discuss the background and implications of educational change. Then the focus will shift to new pedagogies in the language learning context. Finally, it will close with a glimpse of the future: what could be the future trends of language learning?
References Fullan, M. 2001. The New Meaning of Educational Change. 3 rd edition. New York: Teachers College Press. Hargreaves, A. 2003. Teaching In The Knowledge Society: education in the age of insecurity. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Ilomäki, L. 2008. The effects of ICT on school: teachers and students perspectives. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Jyväskylä, Centre for Applied Language Studies. Kankaanranta, M. & E. Puhakka 2008. Teknologian käyttö opettamisessa ja oppimisessa. Kansallinen SITES raportti. Kozma, Robert B. (ed.) 2003. Technology, innovation and educational change. A global perspective. A report of the Second Information Technology in Education Study. MODULE 2. Luukka, M., S. Pöyhönen, A. Huhta, P. Taalas, M. Tarnanen & A. Keränen 2008. Maailma muuttuu mitä tekee koulu? Äidinkielen ja vieraiden kielten tekstikäytänteet koulussa ja vapaa ajalla. Jyväskylä: JY, Soveltavan kielentutkimuksen keskus. Owston, R. 2007. Contextual factors that sustain innovative pedagogical practice using technology: an international study. Journal of Educational Change 8(1), 61 77.
Applying Results from Second Language Acquisition Research to Diagnosing Language Proficiency with a Computer Adaptive System The aim of the presentation is to give an overview of my research centred on compiling and evaluating a diagnostic computer adaptive test (CAT) that assesses linguistic features that are important for learners writing skills in English. The linguistic features to be assessed in the test will mostly be based on the findings of CEFLING project, which examines second language acquisition (SLA) across the Common European Framework levels and tries to find out which combinations of linguistic features characterise each level. Currently, it is envisaged that the study will focus on the linguistic features that relate to interrogatives and the different stages of question development. Thus a link between writing and grammar is made. The study will, then, also operationalise some key findings of SLA research by designing, and trying out with one or more learner groups, a computerised system that diagnoses the current question development stage a learner is in as well as a detailed profile of his/her strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to discover what features characterise a diagnostic test based on SLA research, and whether computer-adaptive testing is a rational basis for such a test. Research questions include, e.g.: Do the selected outcomes of SLA research lend themselves to be used for diagnosing the ability of using questions in English or, more generally, writing ability? How could a computer adaptive diagnostic language test based on SLA research be designed? How to combine information about the content and difficulty of the items in the test? What are the effects of giving feedback at different points of the test? How could the test be integrated into the teaching and learning process? What is the impact of the test? The test design uses an innovative approach, especially when it comes to the way in which the system adapts the presentation of content to the learner. The adaptation mechanism is to be a combination of Item Response Theory and Bayesian reasoning approaches. Keywords: computer adaptive testing, diagnostic testing, second language acquisition, CEFLING
English as an Academic Lingua-Franca: Academic Writing Norms on an English Medium Master's Program in Finland. Laura McCambridge 2009 This presentation will introduce my proposal for doctoral research, with the aim of receiving feedback and advice. The research investigates academic writing norms on an English medium master's program at Jyväskylä University. It approaches academic writing as a social practice rather than as a skill, meaning that it considers writing norms and conventions to be socially determined rather than universal ideals. Writing practices can therefore be seen as a reflection of and contributor to social ideologies and power relations. My research asks which academic writing practices are favoured by teachers within this English lingua-franca environment and why. In other words, what do teachers consider to be 'good writing' and where have they acquired these principles? It also asks how students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds are affected by their teachers' writing expectations. In terms of course assessment, who benefits from the writing conventions on the program and who is penalized? I will take an ethnographic approach to collecting data, and therefore these initial questions will be refined and developed as my fieldwork progresses. The use of English as an academic lingua franca is rapidly growing internationally, not only at a post-graduate/post-doctoral level but also at an undergraduate/graduate level. Within the University of Jyväskylä alone, 16 master's programs are now offered through English. Most of these programs use writing as their primary means of assessing students' work. I therefore expect my study to have important practical implications for teachers in this context, as well as contributing a new perspective to literature on ELF language practice and academic literacies. Keywords: Lingua-franca Literacy practice Academic Discourse Language Ideologies
Saija Peuronen University of Jyväskylä / Research unit for variation, contacts and change in English Using Finnish and English for identity construction in a subcultural Internet discussion forum Many online environments offer a space for encountering others, interacting, sharing both information and particular worldviews. Thus, it is possible to form communities which provide means for constructing one s identity in online settings. Ways of using language can be seen as a central means of acquiring a membership in online communities and accordingly, constructing individual or social identities. From a sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic perspective, this presentation illustrates one aspect of my ongoing doctoral research, focusing on identity construction in bilingual interaction between members of one online community. The community members consist of young Finnish Christians who share an interest in extreme sports activities. Even though the lifestyles related to Christianity and extreme sports seem to be removed from one another, the community members are able to create interfaces between these two cultural frameworks, also by their bilingual language use. The main language-of-interaction in their discussion forum is Finnish but the young continuously use English as a meaningful resource in their interaction. Following Auer s (1999) typology of bilingual speech, instances of code-switching and language mixing from Finnish to English are identified in the forum discussion threads. According to a discursive approach to identities (Pavlenko & Blackledge 2004), I view the hybrid discourses, which emerge in the nexus of Christianity and extreme sports in this electronic space, as introducing particular identity options for the community members. In order to find out how the linguistic resources from two languages are used for constructing and negotiating the identities, I consider the ways in which the young position themselves and others throughout the interactive situations online. For instance, the young may use extreme sports jargon, mostly derived from English, for defining themselves as representatives of particular extreme sports, or apply the message found in the Bible (either the Finnish or the English version) to the context of their community activities. References Auer, P. 1999. From code-switching via language mixing to fused lects: Toward a dynamic typology of bilingual speech. International Journal of Bilingualism 3 (4), 309 332. Pavlenko, A. & A. Blackledge (eds) 2004. Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Key words: Identity, discourse analysis, bilingual interaction, online communities
Kielentutkimuksen XII kevätkoulu Hanni Salo (MA) Northern Multilingualism Project (www.northernmultilingualism.fi) Department of Languages, Applied linguistics University of Jyväskylä E-mail: hanni.salo@jyu.fi Narratives in an investigation of language resources and agency of three Sami generations in Northern Finland This paper presents the main theoretical and methodological framework as well as the narrative data of my dissertation that investigates indigenous Sami languages and their speakers in Northern Finland from a multilingual perspective. The study is part of the Northern Multilingualism Project funded by the Finnish Academy (2008 2011). The presented study has a multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological framework employing (critical) ethnography, (critical) discourse analysis and narrative analysis in studying individual language resources and their effect on individuals voice and agency. I am especially interested in how the (truncated) competence of indigenous minority language affects the person s possibilities to act as a member of the community, but also how the competence of other languages affects person s agency in a globalized world. This paper focuses particularly in the assets and challenges of narrative as a theoretical and methodological concept, and narrative interviews as data. Sami families in the Northern Finland have always lived a multilingual life in a multilingual environment with multiple minority Sami and national major languages. However, the sociolinguistic situation has changed rapidly in Northern Finland as in the whole North Calotte area. There has been a rapid language shift from minority to majority languages in only two generations, but also a flow of new global languages due to e.g. globalized media and a growing tourism industry in the area and larger scale changes in the political, economic and cultural processes in the Nordic societies. Narrative interviews of three generations offer interesting micro level viewpoints to these changes. Key words: narratives, ethnography, critical discourse analysis, indigenous minority language resources, truncated competence, voice, agency References BLOMMAERT, JAN 2006: Ethnographic fieldwork: A beginner s guide. Draft. BLOMMAERT, J.,COLLINS, J. & SLEMBROUCK, S. 2005: Spaces of multilingualism. Language and Communication. Vol. 25 Issue 2 p. 197 215. HELLER, MONICA 2007: Bilingualism as ideology and practice. Monica Heller (ed.): Bilingualism: a social approach (pp.1 22). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. HYMES, DELL 1972: On Communicative Competence. J.B. Pride and Janet Holmes (eds.): Sociolinguistics. Selected Readings (pp. 269 293). Penguin Books: Harmondsworth. HYVÄRINEN, MATTI & LÖYTTYNIEMI, VARPU 2005: Kerronnallinen haastattelu. Johanna Ruusuvuori ja Liisa Tiittula (toim.): Haastattelu: tutkimus, tilanteet ja vuorovaikutus. Tampere: Vastapaino. KELLY-HOMES, HELEN 2005: Advertising as multilingual communication. Basingstoke: Palgrave. PAVLENKO, ANETA 2008: Narrative analysis. Li Wei & Melissa G. Moyer (ed.): The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism. Blackwell. PIETIKÄINEN, SARI ALANEN, RIIKKA DUFVA, HANNELE KALAJA, PAULA LEPPÄNEN, SIRPA PITKÄNEN-HUHTA, ANNE 2008: Languaging in Ultima Thule: Multilingualism in the life of a Sami boy. International journal of multilingualism 5.2. RIESSMANN, CATHERINE KOHLER 2008: Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Sage. WEI, LI 2008: Research Perspectives on Bilingualism and Multilingualism. Li Wei and Melissa G. Moyer (ed.): The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism (p. 3 17). Blackwell: Malden (MA).
Practices in teaching and learning English pronunciation: Ongoing doctoral study and preliminary results Elina Tergujeff [elina.tergujeff@jyu.fi] In his dissertation, Lintunen (2004) discovered that advanced Finnish learners of English make systematic errors in their pronunciation. Based on this finding, he critisized school teaching for failing in pronunciation teaching. His assumption about insufficient pronunciation teaching inspired me to study the teaching and learning of English pronunciation in Finnish schools. In my doctoral study, I investigate what EFL pronunciation teaching is like in comprehensive and secondary education, and what kind of views both teachers and learners have on the teaching and learning of pronunciation. My doctoral study consists of four research articles, which report the results of four separate studies with closer research questions and separate research materials. Each study explores my research topic from a different perspective: textbook, observer, teacher and learner perspective. In this presentation I will introduce my research project as a whole and some preliminary results from the first part of my study. As teaching pronunciation is seen difficult by many teachers and is neglected in their teaching (Iivonen 2005: 46), good and varied teaching materials are needed for support. In the first part of my doctoral study, ten Finnish EFL textbooks are analysed. I investigate what kind of material they offer for the teaching and learning of English pronunciation. The study results in a description of pronunciation exercises by exercise type, with special reference to Seidlhofer's (2001: 62 64) proposals for classroom procedures. The textbooks are rich with exercises that develop pronunciation skills. These make use of both traditional methods, such as listen and repeat, and newer techniques, such as drama. Phonemic script is used in pronunciation instructions, and exercises in deciphering and producing transcriptions are included. This study shows that lack of teaching material cannot be a reason for EFL teachers not to teach pronunciation. Keywords: Teaching English as a Foreign Language, second language phonology, textbook analysis References Iivonen, Antti 2005. Fonetiikan merkitys kielenomaksumisessa ja -opetuksessa. In Iivonen, A., R. Aulanko and M. Vainio (eds.), Monikäyttöinen fonetiikka. Helsingin yliopiston fonetiikan laitoksen monisteita 21. 3rd edition. Lintunen, Pekka 2004. Pronunciation and Phonemic Transcription: A study of advanced Finnish learners of English. Anglicana Turkuensia no 24. Turku: University of Turku. Seidlhofer, Barbara 2001. Pronunciation. In Carter, Ronald and David Nunan (eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 56 65.
Opinions towards teaching and learning in a foreign language: Estonian CLIL teacher and student perspective Natalia Vaiss University of Jyväskylä This paper aims to introduce select findings of the study of Russian-speaking students from Estonia and CLIL pedagogues teaching those students in Estonian. The use of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in the Russian schools of Estonia has considerably risen in the last decade mostly as a result of preparations for an ongoing education reform. In accordance with this reform to the legislation of Estonia, as of September 2007, all Russian-medium upper secondary schools of the state started their transition to a partial Estonian language instruction which is required to reach a minimum limit of 60 per cent by September 2011. The study was conducted just about some months before implementation of the education reform. The main goal of the study was to explore the students and CLIL teachers attitudes towards different aspects of learning and teaching in a non-native language and to reveal the differences in the beliefs of CLIL and non-clil students. The participants included 815 ninth grade students and 30 teachers. The student sample was based on stratified random sampling and is representative of CLIL and non-clil students from socio-linguistically different regions of Estonia. The CLIL pedagogue sample was not based on probability sampling, though it includes teachers of different school subjects. The present paper focuses on highlighting study participant opinions towards the following issues: whether or not they find CLIL method effective and suitable for everyone; what subjects they consider the easiest and what subjects the hardest to study in a foreign language; how comfortable they feel about learning or teaching in a non-native language; what are the main positive and negative sides of CLIL in their opinion. The results of the study will be discussed in the light of Estonian context but also compared to the findings of Finnish research in this field. Keywords: Content and Language Integrated Learning, second language acquisition, language attitudes, Estonian/ English as a second language
Tiina Virkkula Kielten laitos/englanti Jyväskylän yliopisto tiina.t.virkkula@jyu.fi Finnish engineers biographies of language use and register development in multilingual contexts English is gaining ground in Finland and it is widely used as a lingua franca particularly in professional settings (Leppänen & Nikula 2007, Virkkula 2008). In this light, Finns face many challenges when moving from educational contexts to those of professional life, which is characterized by globalization, transnationalisation and multilingualism, and where English has become a necessity and a key asset for many. An ethnographic approach (e.g. Rampton 2006) and the study of biographies of language use reveals how individuals identity construction varies across these contexts and how this is linked with their trajectories of language socialization. In this presentation I will discuss some preliminary findings of my ongoing doctoral study on Finnish engineers biographies of language use and identity construction as users of English in education, work practice abroad and working life. From within a discourse analytic (e.g. Blommaert 2005) framework informed with interactional sociolinguistics (Gumperz 1982) I will focus on engineers spoken and written interactions in workplace settings from the point of view of personal characteristics and register use. To gain a holistic view of these interactions, I will also briefly introduce the participants emic views of them. My aim is to study how engineers through the use of linguistic resources develop registers and construct identities. Furthermore, the goal is to situate these single events of language use with the participants biographies. Blommaert, J. 2005. Discourse: a critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gumperz, J. 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Leppänen, S. & T. Nikula. 2007. Diverse uses of English in Finnish society: Discoursepragmatic insights into media, educational and business contexts. Multilingua, 26(4), 333-380. Rampton, B. 2006. Language in Late Modernity. Cambridge University Press. Virkkula, T. 2008. Työntekijöiden kokemuksia englannista yritysmaailman yhteisenä kielenä. In Leppänen, S., T. Nikula & L. Kääntä (eds.) Kolmas kotimainen. Lähikuvia englannin käytöstä Suomessa. Tietolipas. Helsinki: SKS. 382-420.
Constructing hip hop identities in Finnish rap lyrics Elina Westinen University of Jyväskylä Research unit for variation, contacts and change in English elina.westinen@jyu.fi The global hip hop culture has gained a strong foothold in Finland, amongst the youth in particular. Rap music, which is an essential part of the culture, offers a forum and a medium through which the youth can express themselves and articulate their identities. Rap lyrics describe one s experiences and feelings that are often tied to a specific time and place. The aim of the paper is to explore, from a sociolinguistic and discourse analytic perspective, how hip hop identities are constructed in Finnish rap lyrics, particularly through English and language mixing (see Westinen 2007). The data of the paper consist of contemporary lyrics and interviews of Finnish hip hop artists. In my paper, I will discuss how English and language mixing (English and Finnish) are drawn on by Finnish hip hop artists and how these linguistic strategies serve as resources for hip hop identities. In addition to the lyrics, I will draw on the interviews of the artists in exploring the specific kind of language they use. In my analysis, I will show how the hip hop artists under investigation use a new distinctive style that includes both English and specific language mixing strategies. I will also discuss ways in which these strategies contribute to the construction of hip hop identities as both global and local, i.e. glocal. Westinen, E. 2007. Buuzzia, budia ja hyvää ghettobootya. The construction of hip hop identities in Finnish rap lyrics through English and language mixing [online]. MA Thesis. Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä. http://thesis.jyu.fi/08/urn_nbn_fi_jyu-200801251100.pdf.
Why Isn t Multilingualism Impossible? John E. Joseph University of Edinburgh In a paper of a decade ago (Joseph 1998) I enquired into when and how the supposed impossibility of translation became a commonplace trope in translation theory, particularly with regard to certain literary genres. The first two decades of the 19th century were dominated by a Romantic conception of language which made it appear that translation could only be a very partial movement between the different cultures of the author and the reader. In the 20th century this conception was not overthrown, but reinforced by the Saussurean formulation of the linguistic sign as a social and psychological entity in which the conceptual value (meaning) of a word, as much as its sound shape, is specific to the language system to which it belongs. Although never so directly articulated, the impossibility of multilingualism or at least its deep unnaturalness came to be implicit in theories of language more or less in parallel with related assertions about translation. In this case there was a direct external impetus in the rise of language nationalism, which reached its apogee in reaction against the Napoleonic conquest of German-speaking territories. The radical assertions of linguistic cultural determinism made in defence of a natural political autonomy seeped into theories of language and mind, or more precisely, enabled strong theories of language and mind to develop. These ideas came to be paralleled a few decades later by a superficially contrary set of beliefs, according to which one or more dominant languages are bound to drive out others through cultural and economic hegemony. I say superficially because, in the end, this turns out to be another version of the impossibility of multilingualism, which is certainly not to say that it is groundless. But until it is reconciled with the other concepts cognitive, social and political, as well as cultural and linguistic with which it shares common origins, its usefulness for promoting multilingualism will continue to be limited. This paper will examine the relationships and tensions among these concepts and explore some of the options for a way forward on the level of both theory and policy, based on an underpinning that is optimistic rather than utopian.