1 of 16

�Language education policy and practice in Finland

Pirkko Nuolijärvi

​

London

Efnil, October 26th, 2011

Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

2 of 16

Contents

​

  • Education system and content of basic education in Finland
  • Languages offered and studied in schools
  • Languages offered in universities and polytechnics; business students’ language choices as an example
  • Recent efforts to strengthen the selection of languages taught at different levels of education
  • Schools and programmes of multilingual education.

3 of 16

The Finnish curriculum

  • It is self-evident that people learn foreign languages
  • Everyone has the right to learn foreign languages
  • Everyone has other languages in their native country

​

​

4 of 16

�The

​

​

5 of 16

Basic Education Act

Section 11

Content of education

The basic education syllabus shall contain, as enacted by virtue of Section 14, the following core subjects: mother tongue and literature, the second national language, foreign languages, environmental studies, health education, religious education or ethics, history, social studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, physical education, music, art, crafts, and home economics.

6 of 16

Language studies in grades 1–6 2010

 

Compulsory

language A1

Optional language A2

Compulsory

language B1

Optional language B2

Total

%

​

Grades

Language

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

Grades

1-6

English

218 458

13 365

-

-

231 823

67.1

​

Swedish

2 919

12 625

-

-

15 544

4.5

​

Finnish

14 016

1 086

-

-

15 102

4.4

​

French

2 164

4 439

-

-

6 603

1.9

​

German

3 076

9 042

-

-

12 118

3.5

​

Russian

843

810

-

-

1 653

0.5

​

Sámi

1

210

-

-

211

0.1

​

Other

253

626

-

-

879

0.3

​

7 of 16

Language studies in grades 7–9 2010

 

Common languageA1

Optional languageA2

Common languageB1

Optional languageB2

Total

%

​

 

Yhteinen kieli A1

Vapaaehtoinen kieli A2

Yhteinen kieli B1

Valinnainen kieli B2

Yhteensä

Osuus vuosiluokkien 1-6 oppilaista, %

Osuus vuosiluokkien 7-9 oppilaista, %

Language studies in grades

7-9

English

170 345

14 252

310

100

185 007

99.3

Swedish

1 856

12 786

156 747

7

171 396

92.0

Finnish

10 071

1 058

209

2

11 340

6.1

French

1 234

3 689

229

5 896

11 048

5.9

German

1 659

9 038

391

8 513

19 601

10.5

Russian

518

331

-

1 706

2 555

1.4

Sámi

3

34

-

6

43

0.0

Latin

0

0

-

342

342

0.2

Other

27

269

-

2 267

2 563

1.4

8 of 16

Language studies in the upper secondary school

 

Language

Compulsory

A language

Compulsory

B1

Optional

B2,

at least 6 courses

Optional B3,

at least 6 courses

Optional language, fewer than 6 courses

Total

%

English

30 497

29

12

4

0

30 542

99.1

Swedish

2 524

25 475

3

5

48

28 055

91.0

Finnish

2 045

50

16

21

1

2 133

6.9

French

634

35

915

1 334

2 445

5 363

17.4

German

1 804

7

1 485

1 608

3 032

7 936

25.7

Russian

171

5

46

613

1 191

2 026

6.6

Sámi

3

-

4

3

15

25

0.1

Latin

0

-

23

86

440

549

1.8

Spanish

11

-

56

1 510

2 671

4 248

13.8

Italian

0

-

15

246

826

1 087

3.5

Other

0

-

1

18

310

329

1.1

9 of 16

Bilingual education

  • Language immersion programmes:

- Swedish immersion for Finnish-speaking children

- English immersion for various groups

- Showers in Chinese

  • Bilingual schools:

Finnish-French school, Finnish-Russian schools, German school, International school (instruction in English)

​

​

10 of 16

Programmes to strengthen �language learning

​

  • Language projects to strengthen different language choices in the comprehensive school in different parts of Finland: instead of English, supporting choices of French or Russian (Kielitivoli – Finnish Amusement Park)
  • Svenska nu (Swedish Now)

11 of 16

Government Decree on University Degrees 794/2004

Section 6

Language proficiency

​

The student must demonstrate in studies included in education for a lower or higher university degree or otherwise that he/she has attained:

​

(1) proficiency in Finnish and Swedish which is required of civil servants in bilingual public agencies and organisations under Section 6(1) of the Act on the Knowledge of Languages Required of Personnel in Public Bodies (424/2003) and which is necessary for their field; and

​

(2) skills in at least one foreign language needed to follow developments in the field and to operate in an international environment.

​

12 of 16

�The Language Centre of �the University of Helsinki�

 

  • Established in 1977 to provide language teaching in accordance with the degree requirements of all faculties at the University of Helsinki.
  • Elementary, intermediate, and specialized courses in �17 languages

​

13 of 16

Business students’ choices

​

Language taken at university (n = 2663)

​

English 92.5%

Swedish 79.9

German 48.0

Spanish 28.9 (W 31%, M 26%)

French 25.1 (W 33%, M 15%)

Russian 13.9

Italian 3.9 (W 5%, M 3%)

Japanese 3.1

Other 3.7

Grasz, Sabine & Schlabach, Joachim  (2011)

​

Business students' choices of foreign languages

​

​

14 of 16

National Certificates of �Language Proficiency

  • Intended for adults
  • Assessing language skills in practical situations
  • Available in English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Sámi, Spanish and Swedish

​

15 of 16

Current issues in public debate

​

  • How to increase people’s language skills in other languages than in English?
  • How to support bilingual education in Finland?
  • How to strengthen the immersion programmes in Finland?
  • How to build bilingual schools in Finnish and Swedish?
  • How to support the multilingualism of migrants in Finland?

​

16 of 16

Thank you for your attention!�