A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Language and Literacy in Social Context (2020)
Suni, M., & Tammelin-Laine, T. (2020). Language and Literacy in Social Context. In J. K. Peyton, & M. Young-Scholten (Eds.), Teaching Adult Immigrants with Limited Formal Education : Theory, Research and Practice (pp. 11-29). Multilingual Matters.
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Suni, Minna; Tammelin-Laine, Taina
Parent publication: Teaching Adult Immigrants with Limited Formal Education : Theory, Research and Practice
Parent publication editors: Peyton, Joy Kreeft; Young-Scholten, Martha
ISBN: 978-1-78892-699-7
eISBN: 978-1-78892-700-0
Publication year: 2020
Pages range: 11-29
Number of pages in the book: 208
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Place of Publication: Bristol
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
Abstract
In this chapter, we focus on the roles of various social contexts for language and literacy development with the aim of raising the awareness of those who work with adult migrants with little or no formal education. These roles include parenting, schooling and work contexts where literacy is required and put into practice. In addition to these roles, literacy empowers individuals to play an active role in society and take on civic responsibilities. We begin by introducing different culturally bound conceptualizations of what literacy means and give examples of different types of literacy. The reader is invited to think about the roles of literacy in daily life and across the life span as well as in the history of a family and language community. The chapter also discusses research on connections between the predominant ideologies of a given society and the literacy skills of its population on the one hand, and between the literacy skills of parents and their children on the other hand.
Examples come from a context that is assumed not to be well known to those living outside the Nordic countries, the context of Finland. Using examples from the authors’ own country serves to raise outsiders’ awareness about one of many smaller countries in which migrant adults resettle and encourages the reader to observe similarities across contexts, starting with their own context. Features of the Finnish national curricula for literacy instruction for migrants (Finnish National Board of Education, 2012; Finnish National Agency for Education, 2019a, 2019b) are described to familiarize the reader with the ways in which literacy skills are understood in Finland. But Finland is just one example; there is well-established collaboration among professionals in the Nordic countries in supporting adult migrants’ development of basic skills. The activities of the Nᴏʀᴅɪᴄ Aʟғᴀ Cᴏᴜɴᴄɪʟ (Alfarådet, http://nvl.org/alfaradet), which is part of the larger Nordic network of adult education, are an example. The goal is to provide opportunities for active participation in community life and democratic processes for adult migrants with no or very short formal schooling. Finland also represents a Western welfare state with a strong positive profile in the international results of the Pʀᴏɢʀᴀᴍ ғᴏʀ Iɴᴛᴇʀɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ Sᴛᴜᴅᴇɴᴛ Assᴇssᴍᴇɴᴛ (PISA) and other surveys. Yet despite these factors and the perception of some that Finland is an ‘educational paradise’, through the discussion below it will become clear that the same challenges confront low-educated adult migrants in Finland as elsewhere.
Keywords: immigrants; language skills; literacy; second language; Finnish language; social interaction; teaching and instruction; adult education; adult students
Free keywords: literacy; multiliteracies; Finnish language
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Preliminary JUFO rating: 2