Browsing by Author "Ronnholm, Helena"

In this research I have examined how multilingual students are met in Swedish speaking secondary school in the metropolitan area of Helsinki. I have looked at the challenges and possibilities the minority schools have in offering education for a minority group. My research is based on interviews with seven special education teachers in four different secondary schools in the area, as the special educations teacher plays a major role in the multilingual students educational path. As a base in my research I used Cummins framework for school language policy development. Cummins states that a successful language acquisition requires both cognitive engagement and identity investment. These two correlate, as they strengthen or weaken each other. The material was thematized in two categories according to Cummins model for learning the knowledge-oriented language. The first category, Relationships between teaching and learning, consists of measures and structures that either support the multilingual student's knowledgeoriented language learning in school, or do not. The second category, The strengthening of the student's self-image, consists of the action or structures found in the schools that either support the multilingual student's self-image and identity development, or do not. The strong role that the Finnish language has in the Swedish speaking schools in the Capital Region can have both a positive and a negative impact on the multilingual pupils' schooling. On the one hand, the Finnish language acts as an axcluding factor in the school community, but at the same time there is evidence that the teaching in these bilingual schools has been formed to be language supporting, which could benefit the multilingual students.