Browsing by Subject "oletettu lukija"

The purpose of this study was to examine textbooks used in Finnish as a second language education of general upper secondary education. The aim was to explore the assumptions the data found in textbooks had of the implied reader and what kind reader positions are built in the text. Also, the aim was to explore the language ideologies that these assumptions are linked to. The comprised data was first read using content analysis and then through the lens of dis-courses. The concepts of implied reader and language ideology were used to enhance the analysis. It was found that the language competence required in the text was somewhat contradictory to the cultural competence of the implied reader. Three discourses were to be found in the data. The discourse of foreignness meant that the implied reader had their own culture to which they could compare Finnish culture and that they feel is their “own”. The discourse of one’s own language means that the implied reader had one specific language that was “theirs” and that was easily identified. In addition, there was a discourse of stereotypical Fin-land when Finnish culture and customs were showcased to the implied reader. The stereo-typical Finland found in the data was decisively monocultural. The reader position offered to the implied reader was that of a foreign language learner who possesses one, strong lan-guage and to whom Finnish culture is not familiar but needs to be showcased. All the dis-courses to be found in the data could be reduced to monolingual language ideology. The core curriculum of Finnish general upper secondary education emphasizes the use of multilingualism as a resource and as an identity strategy. Therefore, it is peculiar that in this data collected from textbooks, multilingualism was not treated according to the core curriculum. One can also ask if the linguistic resources of multilingualism are fully recognized at school context. On the other hand, both teacher and students can treat school texts in various fashions. The actual reader of the data can also refuse the reader positions offered in the analyzed texts.