Finnish language teaching and organization of Finnish language courses for adult migrants in Turku region
Iurko, Daria (2018-08-31)
Finnish language teaching and organization of Finnish language courses for adult migrants in Turku region
Iurko, Daria
(31.08.2018)
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Turun yliopisto
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this study was to research organization of Finnish language courses for adult migrants in Turku region from the perspective of the Finnish language teachers. Due to the fact that number of immigrants in Finland is growing, and migrants come to stay and work in Finland, their primary goals is to integrate in the culture through learning the host language. Integration and employment of migrants is also in the interest of the host country – to make them into active members of society.
The main aims of the research is to investigate how teachers, as mediators between the adult migrants and the state, perceive the adult Finnish language students and their needs and motives, how their needs are met throughout the course and how it reflects on teachers’ choice of means and materials of teaching Finnish language to adult migrants. Due to this research being qualitative and aims to research views, opinions and motives, the empirical data was collected through interviews and their further analysis with consequent subdivision of the materials into thematic categories.
Main results of the research, among other findings, indicate, that teachers, regardless of the main focus of the course they teach, are in most cases free to choose their own materials or even forced to find and create materials of their own in order to provide sufficient level of teaching and guidance to their students. They all choose to concentrate on communicative approach, however try to follow a textbook, and feel the lack of speaking exercises, as well as lack of time during the contact teaching hours to practice speaking efficiently. Therefore, re-organization of contact teaching time and implementation of online means of learning to decrease the workload and allows students to work independently, would allow teachers to use their classroom time for speaking activities and activating learners’ speaking skills, thus promoting more effective and faster learning.
The main aims of the research is to investigate how teachers, as mediators between the adult migrants and the state, perceive the adult Finnish language students and their needs and motives, how their needs are met throughout the course and how it reflects on teachers’ choice of means and materials of teaching Finnish language to adult migrants. Due to this research being qualitative and aims to research views, opinions and motives, the empirical data was collected through interviews and their further analysis with consequent subdivision of the materials into thematic categories.
Main results of the research, among other findings, indicate, that teachers, regardless of the main focus of the course they teach, are in most cases free to choose their own materials or even forced to find and create materials of their own in order to provide sufficient level of teaching and guidance to their students. They all choose to concentrate on communicative approach, however try to follow a textbook, and feel the lack of speaking exercises, as well as lack of time during the contact teaching hours to practice speaking efficiently. Therefore, re-organization of contact teaching time and implementation of online means of learning to decrease the workload and allows students to work independently, would allow teachers to use their classroom time for speaking activities and activating learners’ speaking skills, thus promoting more effective and faster learning.