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Lea ning and main aining languages in he wo kplace : mig an NGO p ac i ione s in
Finland
Sah adyan, Sonya
Sah adyan, S. (2017). Lea ning and main aining languages in he wo kplace : mig an
NGO p ac i ione s in Finland. In J.-C. Beacco, H.-J. K umm, D. Li le, & P. Thalgo
(Eds.), The Linguis ic In eg a ion o Adul Mig an s / L’in ég a ion linguis ique des
mig an s adul es : Some lessons om esea ch / Les enseignemen s de la eche che
(pp. 329-334). Mou on de G uy e . h ps://doi.o g/10.1515/9783110477498-045
2017
SonyaSah adyan
Lea ning and main aining languages in
he wo kplace: mig an NGO p ac i ione s
in Finland
Abs ac : This a icle epo s on alinguis ic e hnog aphic s udyexplo ing mi-
g an NGO p ac i ione s’languagelea ning and main enance a wo k. The ind-
ingssugges ha he mig an slea n no only he languageo he ecei ing soci-
e y,in his case Finnish, bu also English as an addi ional language h ough
wo k. The na a i es also show ha he wo kplace suppo ed mig an sinmain-
aining bo h hei homelanguageand addi ional languages. O e all, he s udy
highligh s he impo ance o languagelea ning and main enance, which p o-
mo e he linguis ic in eg a ion and social inclusion o mig an NGO p ac i ione s
in he wo kplace.
Résumé : L’a icle end comp ed’une é udee hnog aphique su l’app en issage
e la consolida ion de la langue des p a iciens qui a aillen dans des ONG de
mig an s. Elle conclu que les mig an s on app is non seulemen la langue du
pays d’accueil –danscecas, le innois –mais aussi l’anglais comme langue sup-
plémen ai e, pa le biais du a ail. Lesau eu s mon en égalemen que le a-
ail aide les mig an sàconsolide la ois leu langue ma e nelle e des langues
é angè es.De açon géné ale, l’é ude souligne l’impo ance de l’app en issage
e de la consolida ion de la langue pou a o ise l’in ég a ion linguis ique e so-
ciale des p a iciens mig an s dansles ONG su le lieu de a ail.
1In oduc ion
In Finland, languagehas inc easinglybecome apolicy p io i y,and linguis ic e-
sea ch has ecen ly ocused on a ious mig an g oups wo kingindi e en sec-
o s.The Finnish in eg a ion policy suppo s mig an s in lea ning na ionallan-
guages, Finnish and Swedish, and in main aining hei mo he ongue,
ega dlesso hei legal s a us (Ac on he P omo ion o Immig an In eg a ion
1386/2010). In addi ion, scien i ics udies ha e e ealed ha mig an s ha e an
oppo uni y o de elop hei Finnish languageskills in he wo kplace (e.g.
SonyaSah adyan,Cen e o AppliedLanguageS udies, Uni e si yo Jy äskylä, Finland,
E-mail:sonya.s.sah ady[email p o ec ed]
DOI 10.1515/9783110477498-045, ©2017 Sonya Sah adyan, published by De G uy e .
This wo k is licensed unde he C ea i e CommonsA ibu ion-NonComme cial-NoDe i s3.0 License.
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Suni 2010;Ta nanen, Rynkänen, and Pöyhönen 2015).Se e al s udies ha e also
indica ed ha he wo kplace enables mig an s o main ain hei homelanguage
wi hin he Finnish con ex (e.g. Rynkänen e al. 2014). E en hough language
lea ning and main enanceha ebeen s udied among mig an s wo kingin he
Finnish public and p i a esec o s, ela i elyli le esea ch has been conduc ed
on mig an swo kingin he hi d sec o ,namelyanon-go e nmen al o ganiza-
ion (NGO), o hei languagelea ning and main enancea wo k.
This a icle, he e o e, a emp s o ill he abo e-men ionedgap by p o iding
answe s o he ollowing ques ion: “How do mig an NGO p ac i ione slea n and
main ain languages in he wo kplace?”The linguis ic e hnog aphic s udyp e-
sen ed in his pape is conduc ed in asupe di e se NGO basedinFinland. The
key pa icipan s in he s udya e mig an NGO p ac i ione s, ha is, employees,
app en ices, ainees, in e ns,and olun ee s.
2Asociocul u al app oach
In my esea ch, Id awupon he sociocul u al pe spec i e on languagelea ning.
F om his pe spec i e,languageissi ua ed in acon ex co-c ea ed in social in e -
ac ion and is lea ned om o he s wi hin his in e ac ion (Vygo sky 1978). In ad-
di ion,Ibuild on wo kplace lea ning esea ch, which emphasises ha lea ning is
ap oduc o in ol emen in social p ac ices, o example, happening in wo k-
places (Bille 2002).The s udyconduc ed by Bille also highligh s ha lea ning
is o med by “wo kplace pa icipa o y p ac ices”and can be “co-pa icipa i e”
(2002: 1). Mo eo e ,Malloch and he colleagues shedligh on he ac ha lea n-
ing and pe o mance a e “embodied phenomena”(Malloche al. 2011:24). By
combining hese wo s ands o esea ch, Iconside languagelea ning o be si u-
a ed in di e en se ingsand o ake place h ough social in e ac ion and pa -
icipa iona wo k (seeTa nanen, Rynkänen, and Pöyhönen 2015), which con-
ce ns languagemain enancein he wo kplace as well(see Rynkänen,
Sah adyan, and Ta nanen2014).
3In o man s,da a, and me hods
The s udy ocuses on mig an NGO p ac i ione s (n =22) who we e i s -gene a-
ion adul mig an s. They we ewo kingaspa -o ull- ime employees, app en-
ices, ainees, in e ns,o olun ee s in he supe di e se o ganisa ion loca ed in
Jy äskylä,Finland. The in o man s had a ious cul u aland socio-economic
backg ounds,and hey all spoke mo e han wo languages. A he ime o he
330 Sonya Sah adyan
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in e iews, he in o man s we ebe ween 23 and 61 yea s old, and hey had esid-
ed in Finland o be ween h ee and 29 yea s. The le el o educa ion he in o m-
an s had ecei edbe o e mo ing o Finland anged om p ima y o uni e si y,
whe eas hei le el o educa ion ob ained in Finland anged om in eg a ion
aining o uni e si y educa ion.
Wi hin he amewo k o linguis ic e hnog aphy, Icollec ed di e en ypes o
da a h ough mul i-si ee hnog aphic ieldwo k o aone-yea pe iod in he NGO.
In addi ion, Iconduc ed in e iews wi h he in o man s. In his pape ,only he
in e iew and obse a ional da a a e epo ed. Na a i e analysis is applied o
he mul ilingual da a accumula edin ou di e en languages: Finnish, English,
Russian, and A menian.
4Languagelea ning and main enancein he
wo kplace
All he mig an s pa icipa ingin his s udywe emul ilingual, and hey had di -
e en p o iciencyle els in di e en languages. In he case o Finnish, he in-
o man s’p o iciencyle els anged om basic o ad anced, and hey lea n Fin-
nish bo h wi hin and ou side o mal educa ional se ings. Based on he da a
analysis, he NGO as awo kplace p o ided he in o man s wi h oppo uni ies
o de elop hei Finnish languageskills. In hei na a i es, he in o man s e-
pea edly alked abou Finnish languagelea ning a wo k, which is illus a ed
in he ollowing quo e: “Iwas lea ning Finnish e e y single day om colleagues
and isi o s, om job- ela ed ac i i ies, asks and pape wo k”(Hudi, ainee).
Like Hudi, mos o he o he in o man s also ecognised he impo ance o he
wo kplace o lea ning Finnish. Howe e ,whe he hey could imp o e hei w i -
en o o al skills o bo hinFinnish dependedon hei ype o employmen .
In gene al, he in o man s lea n Finnish by pa icipa ing in a ious ac i i-
ies and e en s o ganised in he wo kplace. One o hem is ABC-Basic Finnish
languagelea ning,p o ided o mig an lea ne s, especially onewlya i ed, el-
de ly, and illi e a e mig an s as well as o s ay-a -homemo he s. The in o man s
we ein ol edin his ac i i y as media o s and had an oppo uni y oenhance
hei Finnish skills while helping wi h he in e p e a ion o elabo a ion o
wha is said by mig an lea ne s and Finnish olun ee s ac ingas eache s.
The homewo k club is ano he impo an ac i i y in which he in o man s’Fin-
nish languagelea ning ook place du ing he comple ion o youngmig an s’
homewo k o di e en school subjec s. Howe e ,du ingcul u ale enings, he
in o man sde elopedno onlyFinnish bu also English skills by p esen ing
Lea ning and main aining languages in he wo kplace 331
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and discussing he his o y,cul u e, language, and eligion o hei homecoun-
ies. Simila ly, e hno-ca és suppo ed he in o man s in lea ning bo h Finnish
and English while cooking adi ional ood oge he wi h Finns and mig an s
om di e en pa s o he wo ld.
Almos all he in o man salso ound s a mee ings e y use ul o de elop-
ing hei languageskills in Finnish, and some in o man smen ioned ha he
mee ingscould help hem o o e come challenges ela ed o unde s anding
and communica inginspoken Finnish. One o he in o man ssaid: “We usually
had s a mee ingse e y week in o de o plan and o ganise ac i i ies wi h col-
leagues …I was good o be he e, ’cause Ihad di icul ies in suomen puhekieli
[spoken Finnish], bu in mee ingsIcould lea n puhekieli [spoken language]
and e en could use i ou side o wo k”(Sa a, in e n). Such ana a i e is common
in he s o ies o mig an sand, in pa icula ,in e ns’and ainees’s o ies.Addi-
ionally,ano he in o man ga e he ollowing desc ip ion: “Mee ings ha we
had wi h au ho i ies we eonlyinFinnish, bu mee ingswi h pa ne p ojec s
o o ganisa ions we esome imes in Finnish and some imes in English o bo h
in Finnish and English …In hosemee ings Ip ac ised Finnish as well as Eng-
lish”(Fabian, employee).Asseen om he las wo exce p s, he mee ings
wi h inside s suppo ed he in o man s in imp o ingmainlyFinnish skills,
whe eas he mee ings wi h ou side s enabled hem o enhance bo h Finnish
and English skills.
In addi ion o languagelea ning, he wo kplace conside ably in luenced he
main enanceo in o man s’languages, especially hei home language. Fo ex-
ample,i isillus a edinBela’sna a i e: “A wo k Iuse also my mo he ongue,
Russian …A he beginning o my wo k, i was abi di icul o emembe рус-
ские слова [‘Russianwo ds’]asa e mo ing o Finland IusedEnglish and
hen Finnish дома или сдрузьями [‘a homeo wi h iends’]…I hink Iwas
g aduallylosing my mo he ongue be o e ge ing his job”(Bela, employee).
Apa om he in o man s’s o ies,myobse a ional ield no es e eal ha he
wo kplace also suppo ed in o man sinmain aining hei addi ional languages.
One o he pa icipan ’sobse a ional ield no es a e p esen ed he e:
One a e noon we we e discussingdi e en coun ies’holidays in ou Russian discussion
g oup. The g oupleade , Лаура [‘Lau a’], was Russian and we, he pa icipan s,we e
bo h Finns and mig an s.Lau a was helpingus ouse aco ec
քերականական
խոնարհում
[‘g amma ical conjuga ion’(A menian)] and was gi ingasho explana ion
in Russian and/o Finnish. Du ing he con e sa ion, Kla awho had amig an backg ound
askedLau a o explain in English as well, i possible,because, she old, ha she had only
basic le el in Finnish. Lau asmiled and eplied “Well, i ’sbe e o me o sayalso in Eng-
lish, Ican e esh my English and can keep i ali e”(Lau a, olun ee ).
332 Sonya Sah adyan
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5Conclusions
In his a icle, Iha eadd essed one main ques ion ela ed o he languagelea n-
ing and main enance o mig an NGO p ac i ione s in he wo kplace. The analy-
sis epo ed abo esugges s ha he wo kplace suppo ed he in o man s in de-
eloping addi ional languages, such as Finnish, he languageo he hos socie y,
and English. Also, i was ound ha he in o man s had an oppo uni y o p e-
se e hei home and addi ional languages wi h he help o hei wo k. Fu he -
mo e, he na a i es show ha languagelea ning (seealsoTa nanen,Rynkänen,
and Pöyhönen 2015) as well as languagemain enance(seealso Rynkänen, Sah-
adyan, and Ta nanen2014) a e si ua ed, and hey akeplace h ough social in-
e ac ion and pa icipa ion in di e en wo kplace se ings. The s udy hus illus-
a es ha languagelea ning and main enance os e he in o man s’linguis ic
in eg a ion and social inclusion a wo k. In he ligh o hese indings, he
pape gi esnew insigh s in o mig an s’wo kplace languagelea ning and hei
languagemain enance h ough wo k.
Acknowledgemen s
The s udyispa o bigge esea chp ojec s “T ans o ming P o essional In eg a-
ion”(p incipal in es iga o ,P o esso Sa i Pöyhönen)(2011−2014 /h p://in
eg a ion.jyu. i)and “Language andSupe di e si y: (Dis)iden i ica ioninSocial
Media”(p incipal in es iga o P o esso Si pa Leppänen)(2012–2016;h ps://
www.jyu. i/hum/lai okse /kiele / u kimus/hankkee /lgsd), undedby he Acad-
emyo Finland andimplemen ed a heUni e si yo Jy äskylä.
Thepape d aws on heempi ical da a collec edby he au ho o he doc o al
disse a ion,which is unded by he Kone Founda ion and he Cen e o Applied
LanguageS udies, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä.
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