Browsing by Author "Türkmen, Leyla"

Objectives. Multilingualism will become more and more visible in schools with immigration. According to the forecast, by 2030, one in four residents of the Helsinki region will speak a foreign language, ie speak their first language other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi. This means that at least one in four school-age children speaks more than just their school language at home. The diversity of students' language backgrounds must also be taken into account in school teaching. Research has been conducted on the challenges and opportunities of multilingualism in basic education from the perspective of teachers and schools, among others. The perspective of children and young people who speak Finnish as a second language, ie multilingual, has received less attention. The aim of this study is to bring the student’s perspective on the topic, as they themselves are best placed to tell about their own multiplicity in terms of both the challenges and opportunities involved. Methods. The study examines the challenges and opportunities of multilingualism from the student’s perspective. Research has three needs, which are research need, supporting the development of multicultural schools, and increasing understanding of multilingual students. The extract of the study was a qualitative case study, the material of which has been collected through semi-structured thematic interviews. The material was collected by interviewing three young people who speak Finnish as a second language. Interviewees were selected for the study based on their multilingual backgrounds. Content analysis from data sources was used as the data analysis method. Results and conclusions. According to the interviewees, linguistic challenges arose in learning Finnish, studying in another language and especially in reading comprehension and language fluency. The challenges experienced in the school environment were strongly related to situations that were perceived as difficult to adapt to. The potential for multilingualism in this study was not combined with teaching at all. Multilingualism was perceived as an empowering factor in maintaining friendships, an important part of one's own identity and a tool for self-expression. Although summaries of young people’s responses could be made, despite the similarities, young people’s experiences of the challenges in primary education varied widely. The research provides information and increases educators ’understanding of what issues should also be addressed when encountering a multilingual learner.