Constructions of bilingualism in Finnish Government programmes and a newspaper discussion site debate
Pöyhönen, S., & Saarinen, T. (2015). Constructions of bilingualism in Finnish Government programmes and a newspaper discussion site debate. Current Issues in Language Planning, 16(4), 392-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2014.979650
Published in
Current Issues in Language PlanningDate
2015Discipline
Soveltava kielitiedeCopyright
© 2015.Taylor & Francis This is a final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Taylor & Francis.
The concept of bilingualism in Finnish political discourse is predominantly
used in the meaning of official or state bilingualism, focussing on the two
constitutionally defined ‘national languages’; i.e. Finnish and Swedish.
Legally, both Finnish and Swedish speakers have a right for public services,
such as schooling or health care, in their first language. On the other hand,
several language ideological debates have taken place in recent years,
challenging especially the status of Swedish in administration and education.
These debates have reshaped the discourses on what counts as bilingualism.
This paper analyses on one hand the historical discursive development of
the “official will” presented in the Finnish Government programmes on the
concept of bilingualism and the current language ideological debates that
take place in an Internet discussion site, offered by a Finnish newspaper, on
the other. These two discourses seem to operate on separate fields and
among different actors. We show that language policy discourses are
essentially multi‐sited: they confirm, contest and challenge views that are
produced by various stakeholders over time.
...


Publisher
RoutledgeISSN Search the Publication Forum
1466-4208Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/24036718
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Language orientations in early childhood education policy in Finland and Norway
Alstad, Gunhild Tomter; Sopanen, Pauliina (Routledge, 2021)This article investigates the language orientations in education policy documents for early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland and Norway. Finland, an officially bilingual country, and Norway, a predominantly ... -
The use of English in the construction of Christian youth identities in a Finnish youth magazine
Jousmäki, Henna (2006) -
Family language policy in bilingual Finnish and Swedish families in Finland
Huhta, Austin (2020)In Finland families are only allowed to choose one language for their child to be the child’s L1 even if the family is bilingual. With both Finnish and Swedish being national languages of Finland this thesis looked into ... -
“I can’t be funny in Finnish!” : A Case Study of Aspects Affecting the Forming of a Bilingual’s Dominant Language
Mikkonen, Pinja; Tiainen, Lilli (2019)Kaksikielisyys on nopeasti yleistyvä yhteiskunnan ilmiö, ja siten myös kaksikielisten perheiden osuus väestöstä on jatkuvassa kasvussa. Kaksikielisten perheiden vanhempien vastuulla on päättää, millaisia kielivalintoja he ...