From university to working life: International student’s Finnish language learning experiences

Abstract

In Finland’s integration policy, learning an official language, Finnish or Swedish, is prioritised to promote migrants’ entry into the labour market and participation in society. The implementation of the integration policy primarily focuses on formal language courses offered as part of integration training for unemployed jobseeker migrants with residence permits. However, this approach leaves other migrants largely outside the scope of integration training that provides Finnish language courses. Meanwhile, opportunities to learn Finnish outside formal education settings, namely non-formal and informal learning, have been mostly overlooked in integration and language education policies, as well as in academic research. This ethnographic study addresses these aspects by exploring the Finnish language learning trajectory and personal curriculum of an Arabic-speaking international higher education student, Ahmed, with a particular focus on the variety of his experiences across formal, non-formal and informal learning settings, which provide the context and opportunities for ‘integrative encounters’. Specifically, integrative encounters refer to micro-spaces, such as peer or group activities, that are meant to foster intercultural dialogue and promote migrants’ integration. The research findings thus reveal how these learning settings, whether formal, non-formal or informal, not only facilitate but also hinder an international student’s learning of Finnish during studies and after graduation. Furthermore, the findings illustrate how non-formal and informal learning alongside formal education, enabled by more or less integrative encounters, impact migrants’ broader integration process. Overall, this research highlights the necessity of adopting a holistic approach to language education and integration policies to effectively support migrants’ integration into working life and society at large.