Language and spatiality in the study of migrants' integration into Finnish working life : building bridges between applied linguistics and geography

Abstract

While several studies have addressed migrants’ status at the Finnish job market as well as multicultural and multilingual workplace interaction, there is a lack of research that ties these more closely with questions of spatiality. Through discourse analysis, this article examines the interrelationships of language, work, and place in three data sets collected around Finland. The purpose is to better understand how experiential place and geographical space matter in the discourses construed of and by migrants working or seeking employment in Finland. The findings show that different understandings of spatiality feed into one another and affect employment opportunities, requirements for language skills in the workplace and how the relationship between language competence and professional skills is challenged and negotiated.