teaching illiterate adults – a new challenge in finland

Teaching illiterate adults – a new challenge in Finland

Taina Tammelin-Laine LESLLA, Cologne 28.8.2010

Contents of the presentation

Finnish official education system

Immigrants in Finland

Some special features of Finnish

My PhD research in a nutshell

Finnish educational system for adult immigrants

Official education system

Official education system

(http://www.oph.fi/english/education/overview_of_the_education_system)

Statistics on asylum seekers and refugees

Country Positive decisions on asylum / quota refugees 2009

Illiteracy-% of the country

Afghanistan 242 72

Iraq 1.023+301 26

Somalia 1.241 85

The Democratic Republic of Congo

29+151 14

Nigeria 79 29

Turkey 53 13

Iran 130 18

Positive total 1.373+727

National languages of Finland (31.12.2009)

Inhabitants 5.351.427

Finnish 4.852.209

Swedish 290.392

Finnish sign language (about) 5.000

Romany language (about) 4.500

Sami 1.778

The most common new languages (31.12.2009)

about 60 languages

Russian 51.683

Estonian 25.096

English 12.063

Somali 11.681

Arabic 9.682

Finnish, a different language

Inflection

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas

a boot

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas paljon saappaita

a boot a lot of boots

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas paljon saappaita

a boot a lot of boots

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas paljon saappaita

a boot a lot of boots

Compounding and derivation

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas paljon saappaita

a boot a lot of boots

Compounding and derivation– kieli+tarkistaa+ohjelma

language+check+programme

Finnish, a different language

Inflection– saapas paljon saappaita

a boot a lot of boots

Compounding and derivation– kieli+tarkistaa+ohjelma kielentarkistusohjelma

language+check+programme proof-reading

programme

Adult illiterate immigrants and the early stage learning process of

Finnish languagePhD thesis

4 informants

Focus on vocabulary, phrases, constructions and communication strategies

Data collection: Observation, notes, recordings and interviews

The aim: to provide information for

different kinds of use

Adult education system

About 800 institutions + commercial companies

Official and liberal education

Very variable quality

Educational system for adult immigrants

Constitution

Law on the integration of immigrants

Quality of the language courses?– Supervision, legislation

Integration training = labour force training

What about illiterate housewives and elderly?

Figure: Educational system for (illiterate) adult immigrants

The Ministry of the Interior

immigration units in the Centers for Economic

Development, Transport and the Environment

local Employment and Economic Development

Offices

church

associations

municipalities

elderly

job-seekers

housewives

References

Aro, Mari 2009: Speakers and Doers. Polyphony and Agency in Children’s Beliefs about Language Learning. Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities 116. https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/

19882/9789513935320.pdf?sequence=1

Finnish immigration service: Statistics on asylum and refugees.

http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp?article=3127&language=EN

Finnish Public Library Statistics.

http://tilastot.kirjastot.fi/engb/basicstatistics.aspx?AreaKey=Y2009T1N1

Guidance for Immigrants and Integration.

http://www.suomi.fi/suomifi/english/subjects/migration/guidance_for_immigrants_and_integration/index.html

Ministry of the Interior 2010: Integration.

http://www.intermin.fi/intermin/home.nsf/pages/11961B074D927256C22573B5002CFF39?opendocument

Ministry of the Interior 2010: Main focuses of operation. http://www.intermin.fi/intermin/home.nsf/pages/E84B8AE9EE5FB330C22573B50030D7AB?opendocument

PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World – Executive Summary. http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/13/39725224.pdf

suomi.fi one address for public services.

http://www.suomi.fi/suomifi/suomi/tietopaketit/perustietoa_suomesta/vaesto/index.html (only in Finnish)

Thank you

taina.tammelinlaine@gmail.com