Browsing by Subject "ruotsin kieli"

The purpose of this study was to describe high school Swedish teachers’ thoughts and experiences in Swedish and its status in the Finnish society and education system. The aim of this study was also to examine what types of attitudes high school students have towards the Swedish language according to their teachers, as well as what types of challenges Swedish teachers experience in their occupation. The study focuses on Swedish teachers’ ways of action and methods that they use to motivate their students and justify studying Swedish. Previous studies have shown that according to Swedish teachers, the biggest challenges in teaching Swedish are students’ negative attitudes and prejudices. It is a question of more comprehensive social issue, where for example the debate on obligatory Swedish influence students’ attitudes as well as their motivation. The study was conducted by a qualitative approach using a questionnaire during the years 2017-2018. The data was collected in the spring of 2017 using an electric questionnaire form. 34 high school Swedish teachers from 23 different municipalities filled in the questionnaire which comprised of background questions, open questions and claims. The method of analysis used was content analysis and the data was eventually categorized into themes that followed the research questions. The themes were: Swedish and its status in Finland, Swedish in the education system, students’ attitudes towards Swedish and challenges in teaching Swedish. The results showed that Swedish teachers experience the future of Swedish language as uncertain and they feel that the appreciation of the subject has decreased. The biggest challenge in teaching Swedish according to the teachers is the students’ negative attitudes towards Swedish, but also for example the decrease in the amount of lessons, constantly growing differences in skills within teaching groups and new changes in final examinations have influenced teaching. The fact that Swedish is an obligatory subject in schools can influence students’ attitudes and motivation, according to the teachers. On the other hand, when Swedish became an optional subject in the final examinations in 2005, the number of students willing to participate the examinations, as well as the learning results decreased considerably. It proved significant, that the majority of the teachers still want Swedish to be an obligatory school subject even though they often have to justify studying Swedish to their students.