Språkbadselevskap i Finland och på Irland : en studie om språkpolicy och två- och flerspråkighet i skollandskap och hos elever i tidigt fullständigt svenskt och iriskt språkbad

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation explores language policy, bi- and multilingualism, and immersion pupils’ identity in Swedish immersion in Finland and in Irish immersion in Ireland. The aim is to show what kind of discourses on bi- and multilingualism and what kind of discourses on being an immersion pupil occur in a programme where majority language speakers acquire a minority language as a second language. I use the term schoolscapes as a reference to the visual communication and display of languages in four immersion schools. In order to define characteristics of an immersion pupils’ identity, I examine pupils’ language practices and attitudes toward languages and immersion as a programme. The data are collected partly applying visual methods and comprise 1 946 photographs of the schoolscapes. In addition, the data include semi-structured interviews with 12 immersion pupils in grades 5, 7 and 8, drawings made by twelve immersion pupils, national core curricula and local curricula. Critical discourse analysis constitutes as the main methodological framework. The results indicate that the schoolscapes in Finland and in Ireland are characterised by language separation. In Swedish immersion, the signs in Swedish are displayed mainly in classrooms where pupils are taught through the medium of the immersion language. The Swedish language has its physical space inside classrooms while the schoolscapes in general show a preference of Finnish. In Ireland, the immersion language is the main language in the Irish schoolscapes. In Irish immersion, the language separation means that the majority language of the country is displayed inside language classrooms. Other languages appear in the schoolscapes in varying extent. The study shows that immersion pupils in Finland and Ireland have different approaches regarding the meaning and use of the immersion language, i.e. Swedish respectively Irish. Pupils in Swedish immersion find the immersion language useful in their personal life. However, in Irish immersion the pupils highlight the status of the Irish language in the society. The results presented in this study can be utilized in planning of promoting language diversity through schoolscapes and in planning of activities to help develop immersion pupils’ linguistic and cultural identity in schools.