Automated speaking assessment (ASA) of second language proficiency benefits both learners and educators. However, developing these systems for less commonly taught languages like Finnish and Finland Swedish is hindered by the need for large datasets with equal representation of all proficiency levels. Traditional machine learning algorithms used…

Conducted in northern Finland, this study examines Sámi language teachers' professional identities through their narratives of language acquisition. We focus on how teachers' professional identities are shaped by their language acquisition process. The results are based on the narratives of nine North, Inari and Skolt Sámi language teachers. Two…

The research question of the present paper is the following: to what degree (if any) is gender relevant as an explanatory factor in, firstly, the process of assimilation and later, the process of (re)vitalisation of indigenous and minority languages in northern Fenno-Scandia (the North Calotte)? The assimilation of the ethnic groups in question…

Learning has been moving out of classrooms into virtual and physical spaces for over a decade now (Naismith, Lonsdale, Vavoula, & Sharples, 2004). It is becoming mobile "in space", i.e. carried across various domains (workplace, home, places of leisure), "in time", as it encompasses different moments of the day, and in…

This article serves as an introduction to a collection of four articles on multilingual practices in speech and writing, exploring both contemporary and historical sources. It not only introduces the articles but also discusses the scope and definitions of code-switching, attitudes towards multilingual interaction and, most pertinently, the…

Due to the history of assimilation, power relations, and their sociolinguistic situation, the Sámi languages are categorized as endangered. The position of the Sámi languages in Sámi education is reviewed, and language immersion as a teaching method and as a means of language maintenance is discussed. Sámi language learning is described through…

This paper offers insight into learning Slovak in an e-learning environment. The need to reach distance-learners of Slovak led to the implementation of a web-based course on Slovak language and culture in 2008-2010. The pedagogical basis of the course, called Virtual Slovak, is the socioconstructivist approach to teaching and learning, in which…

This article explores multimodal literacy practices in a transforming multilingual context of an indigenous and endangered Sámi language classroom. Looking at literacy practices as embedded in a complex and shifting terrain of language ideologies, language norms, and individual experiences and attitudes, we examined how multilingual Sámi children…

Publishing in the Sami languages has always been difficult. The Sami are currently spread across four countries, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. There are nine different Sami languages, some of them with only a few speakers. The Sami publishing industry is entirely dependent on government funding as it does not have its own funds nor is there…

The language policies adopted, imposed, or rejected in minority language media highlight the complexities of multilingualism and its regulation or ordering in contemporary contexts. In this article, we discuss convergence and divergence in the language policing of three minority language media contexts, namely Basque, Irish and Sami. All of the…

In this paper we investigate multilingualism as a phenomenon which pervades different social and cultural levels but is manifested in the everyday life of multilingual individuals. As an illustration, we examine multilingualism from the perspective of a young Sami boy, Ante, and explore how different languages function as a complex--but at times…

Provides an overview of the language situation in Finland, an officially bilingual country in Northern Europe. Presents the language profile of Finland, gives a detailed overview of the spread of all the languages used in the country, focuses on language planning and language policy legislation, discusses the current status of languages spoken in…

Analyzes dominant trends in the linguistic situation of Finnish Sami. The aim is to discuss these trends as a component of indigenous people's problems with linguistic inequality. Sami language and its speakers, Sami language shift, Sami schooling, status of Sami the language, and the reification of the language are all discussed. (20 references)…

This report discusses and compares language planning and the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and the English-speaking minority in Quebec. The report discusses four issues: historical minorities and the demographic dynamic; municipalities; the language of work; and other minority language groups. It is concluded that, despite numerous surface…

Focuses on the analysis of six-year-old Finnish-speaking children's second-language acquisition during their first year of Swedish immersion in kindergarten. (JL)