Articles

Finnish Teachers’ Beliefs About Students' Home Language Use

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Abstract

This study examined Finnish teachers' (N = 691) beliefs of students use of their home languages in learning tasks and teachers' preparedness to implement the requirements of the Finnish curricula. The teachers' beliefs related to students' use of their home languages were mainly positive; however, only 7% of the teachers reported encouraging home language use, while 20% of the teachers reported preventing it. The teachers who reported tolerating the use of home languages in the classroom were more interested in whether the students accomplished the task than what language they used. However, many of the teachers (39%) required that the students report on their discussions in the language of instruction. The results indicate varying language practices, some of which are not aligned with the Finnish curricula.

Keywords: home languages, multilingual pedagogies, teachers' beliefs, language practices

How to Cite:

Alisaari, J., Hurme, T., Heikkola, L. & Routarinne, S., (2021) “Finnish Teachers’ Beliefs About Students' Home Language Use”, Critical Multilingualism Studies 9(1), 46-76.