VAKKI Publications (Dec 2023)
Språkanvändning och språkval i undervisningen av svenska som det andra inhemska språket: läraruppfattningar om språklig praxis i tre olika lärokurser
Abstract
In this article, we focus on the language practices of teaching Swedish as second national language in Finnish-medium primary schools. We examine teacher perceptions of the linguistic repertoires of the student group as well as of language use and language choices in the classroom. The analysis is based on interviews with teachers of different Swedish syllabi. The results show that some Swedish teachers see their students and groups as monolingual, while others both see and strive to acknowledge the students’ multilingualism. In general, the Swedish teachers consider themselves aware of the students' linguistic backgrounds. The study further shows that there is variation in the use and dominance of individual languages in Swedish teaching, with focus on Swedish and Finnish, and that there are differences in how teachers perceive language use and language choice between the different actors in the classroom. These differences are related to the characteristics of the three syllabi and divergences in the local linguistic contexts. Although all teachers who participated in this study teach the subject of Swedish as second national language, their descriptions of the language practices varied in terms of language choices and multilingualism in the classroom. The pattern that emerges is that communication in the classroom according to the teachers is more Swedish-dominated in the native-level Swedish syllabus whereasthe classroom in the B1-Swedish syllabus is more Finnish-dominated. The linguistic practices in A-Swedish classrooms move between these two alternatives. The study gives insight to the de facto language policy of the classroom, which is of central importance for the possibility of enhancing a language pedagogy in accordance with today’s approach to language teaching and multilingualism.
