Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies
type: channel
description: Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies is a peer reviewed international Open Access journal housed by the Language Campus at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. Apples transgresses disciplinary boundaries and invites submissions that broadly relate to issues of language in society. We welcome manuscripts from all areas and fields that discuss linguistic and discursive phenomena and their societal embeddedness, by addressing in/equity, exclusion/inclusion, societal challenges and developments, or language rights.
publisher: University of Jyväskylä
language: en
publication name: Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies
issn: 1457-9863
copyright: Author’s Warranty and Publication Agreement The corresponding Author (hereafter Author) hereby warrants on behalf of all the authors (hereafter author(s)) that the manuscript here submitted to the journal Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies is original and has not been published or submitted to publication elsewhere in part or in whole. The Author also commits not to send the manuscript for consideration elsewhere while the article is being processed by Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies. The Author also warrants to have the full authority to submit the article. Apples will not accept a manuscript for which the copyright is held by a third party. The Author also warrants that the article contains no libelous or unlawful statements, and does not infringe on the rights of others. If the article contains any material protected by the copyright of others, the Author must deliver a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to reproduce such material in the article. The Author also understands that: 1. The Author hereby agrees that the Publisher (the University of Jyväskylä, Centre for Applied Language Studies) has the right to publish, distribute, display and copy the article. When the manuscript is ready for publication, it will be published at Publisher's own expense and under the Publisher's name. The author(s) retains the copyright to the article. 2. The Author understands that no royalties or remuneration will be paid by the Publisher to the author(s) for the above-named submitted manuscript. 3. The Author is responsible for the content, originality and integrity of the article, and will indemnify and defend the Publisher against any claim, demand or recovery against the Publisher by reason of any violation of any proprietary right or copyright, or because of any libelous or scandalous matter contained in the manuscript. 4. The publisher will have the right to edit the work, provided that the meaning of the text is not materially altered. 5. …
items: Exploring basic literacy education in Arabic for students with intellectual disabilities
items: Technology-Mediated Language Teaching: From Social Justice to Artificial Intelligence
items: Silent Shifts: The Covert Promotion of English (L2) in Eswatini First Language (L1) Education Framework
items: Building a culture of assessment in the speech of Finnish as a second language teachers
items: Building Bridges: Educators’ Perspectives of Mediation in Language Education
items: Vulnerability in health literacy
items: Administrators’ views on supporting newly arrived students in Finland
items: Negotiating Translanguaging Space
items: Embodied language learning through engagement in the arts
items: Enhancing Language Education through Social Robots
items: Modes of positioning agency in academic writing
items: „Das hat die Angehörigen schwer enttäuscht“ - Stimmen und Positionierung der Terroropfer in der deutschen Tagespresse
items: Walking and mapping methodologies: creative explorations of people’s relationships with space
items: (Im)mobility, literacies and second language education for adults and adolescents with limited previous education
items: Suomalaista viittomakieltä käyttävien kuurojen ja huonokuuloisten nuorten mediankäyttö ja mediaympäristöt sosiaalisina ja kulttuurisina käytänteinä
items: Bilingual aspirations
items: Teachers’ expanding roles and tasks
items: Towards transknowledging
items: Exploring mediagrams as a visual tool to encourage teacher critical multilingual awareness through parent-school interaction in Norway
items: Å tenke med Polanyis kunst- og kunnskapsfilosofi
items: Language learners’ drawings and textual commentaries as a way to envision goals and aspirations for future language use
items: What’s art got to do with it?
items: The frictions and blessings of doing community arts in schools with multilingual pupils
items: Motivation through solidarity
items: Reaching gender equity in the classroom
items: A schoolscape in the north of Sweden. Visual representations of the national minority languages Finnish, Meänkieli, and Sami
items: A qualitative study on identity work and positioning of a Swedish-speaking Finn in the Swiss diaspora
items: Multilingual pedagogies ― towards more equitable education?
items: Embodied and arts-integrated languages and literacies education in primary teacher education
items: Bedeutungsaushandlungen in deutsch-finnischen technologievermittelten Bildungsexportverhandlungen

Exploring basic literacy education in Arabic for students with intellectual disabilities
type: item
description: Students with intellectual disabilities who use languages other than Swedish at home have the right to study both their home language and Swedish as a second language in school. This study explores teaching of emergent literacy in Mother Tongue Instruction in Arabic at the Adapted Upper Secondary School in Sweden. The material analysed in the article comes from observations in one classroom with one teacher and New Literacy Studies has been used as a theoretical framework and literacy practices as the analytical tool. Whereas earlier research has shown positive effects of bilingualism on cognition, the results of this analysis show that both the teacher and the students struggle. The literacy teaching was not related to students’ everyday lives and as their proficiency was low, they are not likely to have much use of their literacy outside of school and the one-sided focus on literacy in the teaching means that the development of the students’ oral skills is not well supported. The conclusion is that for instruction in Arabic to be valuable for the language and cognitive development of students with intellectual disabilities, teachers need to collaborate, so that special needs teachers, L2-teachers and Mother Tongue teachers can combine their respective knowledge.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: students with intellectual disabilities; the Adapted Upper Secondary School; basic literacy education, Arabic, Mother Tongue Instruction
  topic: keywords
creator: Åsa Wedin
creator: Lovisa Berg
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Åsa Wedin, Lovisa Berg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-12-19
publication date: 2025-12-19
starting page: 64
ending page: 80
doi: 10.47862/apples.143845

Technology-Mediated Language Teaching: From Social Justice to Artificial Intelligence
type: item
description: This is a book review for Javier Muñoz Basols, Mara Fuertes Gutiérrez, and Luis Cerezo, which provides the readers with an understanding of injustices with technology use in both language teaching and learning in different virtual learning environments. The Planning, Personalization, and Implementation (PPI) model is introduced to facilitate an engaging and inclusive classroom. The book review provides a critique of the title, a summary of each of the interdisciplinary reading routes, an evaluation of the book, and a provocative statement in closing the review.
subject: Book reviews
  topic: section
subject: technology-mediated
  topic: keywords
subject: language teaching
  topic: keywords
subject: language learning
  topic: keywords
subject: PPI model
  topic: keywords
subject: AI
  topic: keywords
creator: Rehna Sotto
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Rehna Sotto https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-12-19
publication date: 2025-12-19
starting page: 61
ending page: 63
doi: 10.47862/apples.160763

Silent Shifts: The Covert Promotion of English (L2) in Eswatini First Language (L1) Education Framework
type: item
description: Rooted in game theory and the economics of language, this qualitative study examines the muted shift entrenched in the Eswatini language-in-education policy. The principal question the study addresses is: Do schools and classroom practices in Eswatini support the provisions of the national language-in-education policy? Data are drawn from archival document analysis, observations and interviews conducted with teachers and government officials randomly selected from the four administrative regions of Eswatini. The findings reveal that despite the theoretical objectives of the language-in-education policy, such as promoting additive bilingualism and cultural pride through siSwati, the actual implementation practices reflect a stark contradiction. SiSwati enjoys official status but is sidelined in practice in favour of English and other globally valued languages. This practice has resulted in English being the preferred language of all educational institutions — a preference that has created difficulties for content teachers in addressing students’ language needs in the context of individual schools’ domestic policy guidelines. From the findings, the study argues that despite the best intentions, language policies might, like other ‘placed resources’, become dysfunctional when the Ministry of Education and Training fails to provide consistent support, clear implementation guidelines and adequate teacher training aligned with the policy guidelines. The Ministry of Education and Training is aware of the inconsistency between policy and practice, but it is unable to take serious action to curtail this practice, as the policymakers themselves subvert the public good.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Eswatini
  topic: keywords
subject: language-in-education policy
  topic: keywords
subject: classroom practice
  topic: keywords
subject: English-siSwati divide
  topic: keywords
subject: elite bilingualism
  topic: keywords
subject: additive bilingualism
  topic: keywords
creator: Phindile Alice Dlamini
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Phindile A. Dlamini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-12-19
publication date: 2025-12-19
starting page: 81
ending page: 105
doi: 10.47862/apples.146986

Building a culture of assessment in the speech of Finnish as a second language teachers
type: item
description: This study examines the construction of an assessment culture in the discourse of teachers of Finnish as a second language and literature at the broad level of the work community. The research material consists of thematic interviews conducted in 2021 (N=9). The interviews have been analyzed by means of interpretative discourse analysis. The construction of an assessment culture is the sum of many elements. In this study, these components are described by three dominant discourses: the discourse of direction, the discourse of goal-direction and the discourse of shared expertise. Based on these discourses, it can be concluded that the construction of an assessment culture should be based on assessment guidelines that are commonly shared in basic education practices. The cornerstone of this is pedagogical participation and open discussion of assessment principles and practices between different members of the working community. This requires a dialogical interaction within the work community. Through this, it is possible to achieve a common assessment culture. A new way of building a culture of assessment requires a new kind of community building, an opening up of assessment concepts, a clarification of curriculum texts and cooperation across disciplines.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Assessment culture
  topic: keywords
subject: discourse analysis
  topic: keywords
subject: Finnish as a second language and literature
  topic: keywords
subject: pedagogical action
  topic: keywords
creator: Helena Vesaranta
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Helena Vesaranta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-12-19
publication date: 2025-12-19
starting page: 20
ending page: 42
doi: 10.47862/apples.148914

Building Bridges: Educators’ Perspectives of Mediation in Language Education
type: item
description: Mediation has emerged as a crucial component of language education in response to the growing demand for multilingual, intercultural collaboration, particularly following its inclusion in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This study investigates how primary school foreign language educators conceptualize mediation and perceive its role in the context of early language education. Data (N = 60) were collected from primary school foreign language educators through an online questionnaire in four countries and analysed using deductive qualitative content analysis. Results indicate that although some educators demonstrate a thorough grasp of mediation, most have only partial or unclear understandings of the concept. Additionally, while mediation is already being incorporated into many classrooms, its role is not fully recognized and carried out. This incomplete understanding suggests the need to broaden educators’ awareness of mediation’s scope and significance in diverse educational contexts. Moreover, the findings underscore the importance of targeted professional development and explicit pedagogical strategies to guide teachers in systematically applying mediation. By revealing that mediation is already present in classroom practices, though not explicitly recognized as such, this study emphasizes the need for a more systematic application of mediation to enhance students’ communicative competence and learning outcomes. The results further point to the growing imperative for teachers to refine their mediation knowledge to better support students in increasingly diverse and multilingual classrooms.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Mediation in foreign language education
  topic: keywords
subject: Primary school language teaching
  topic: keywords
subject: Teacher perspectives on mediation
  topic: keywords
subject: Early language education
  topic: keywords
creator: Ritva Kantelinen
creator: Laura Fielden Burns
creator: Zainab Elgundi
creator: Kirsi Wallinheimo
creator: Kati Kajander
creator: Mari Kuusimäki
creator: Yali Hu
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Ritva Kantelinen, Laura Fielden Burns, Zainab Elgundi, Kirsi Wallinheimo, Kati Kajander, Mari Kuusimäki , Yali Hu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-12-19
publication date: 2025-12-19
starting page: 43
ending page: 60
doi: 10.47862/apples.159774

Vulnerability in health literacy
type: item
description: This linguistic ethnography compares discourses circulating among civil servants in Norway’s public health and welfare system with the lived experiences of migrant women living with disabilities. The article investigates how discourses and experiences of vulnerability influence organizational and subjective health literacies. Vulnerability emerges as a dual phenomenon: i) a structural phenomenon, discursively racializing, gendering, and disabling subjects and ii) a collective, relational, and deeply embodied experience illuminating the universal nature of vulnerability as a human phenomenon. The first form of vulnerability sheds light on discursively structured inequalities in health and welfare spaces, and the ways that multiple social factors increase subjects’ exposure to health-related risk through lack of access to health information. Moreover, normalizing discourses of vulnerability produce and order knowledge hierarchies, adding more value to scientific, state-directed information than diverse and experiential health literacies. When internalized by subjects rendered vulnerable (in this case migrant women living with disabilities), such discourses may further victimize, pacify, isolate, and exclude, thus obstructing rather than enabling subjects to enact more relevant health literacies for themselves. The second form of vulnerability identified in the study, sheds light on vulnerable experiences not as marginalizing, but universal. Such experiences of vulnerability enable novel forms of microlevel agency – wiggle room – to recast existing knowledge hierarchies and pursue more relevant literacies. A deeper exploration into discourses of vulnerability will contribute to the undressing of epistemic injustices that regulate subjective and organizational health literacies at the intersection of migration and disability in Norwegian welfare and beyond.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: health literacy
  topic: keywords
subject: vulnerability
  topic: keywords
subject: racialization
  topic: keywords
subject: gender
  topic: keywords
subject: affect
  topic: keywords
subject: wiggle room
  topic: keywords
creator: Ingvild Badhwar
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Ingvild Badhwar https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-12-19
publication date: 2025-12-19
starting page: 1
ending page: 19
doi: 10.47862/apples.142829

Administrators’ views on supporting newly arrived students in Finland
type: item
description: This study examines Finnish municipal-level administrators’ (N = 4) insights on organizing and administering education for newly arrived students. The data were gathered through interviews and analyzed using thematic content analysis. All the municipalities where the participants worked had good practices for preparatory education for newly arrived students. However, variations in these practices indicate that more coherent national guidelines are needed. Post-preparatory education practices were less developed. Overall, there are some effective practices related to organizing and administering education for newly arrived students in Finland, which could be implemented internationally; however, further practices need to be developed to promote educational and social justice for all students.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: newly arrived immigrants
  topic: keywords
subject: immigrant students
  topic: keywords
subject: preparatory education
  topic: keywords
subject: administrators
  topic: keywords
subject: educational support
  topic: keywords
creator: Jenni Alisaari
creator: Raisa Harju-Autti
creator: Mervi Kaukko
creator: Leena Maria Heikkola
creator: Sanna Mustonen
creator: Maria Petäjäniemi
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Jenni Alisaari, Raisa Harju-Autti, Mervi Kaukko, Leena Maria Heikkola, Sanna Mustonen, Maria Petäjäniemi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-08-29
publication date: 2025-08-29
starting page: 76
ending page: 92
doi: 10.47862/apples.144900

Negotiating Translanguaging Space
type: item
description: In this article, translanguaging as a concept is used to study the negotiation of meaning in Mother Tongue Instruction (MTI) in Arabic in a classroom. The case of Arabic makes translanguaging relevant to the diglossic situation between MSA and varieties of Arabic. The aim of this article is to study classroom interaction in MTI Arabic in relation to students’ space for their varied linguistic repertoires. The material used includes fieldnotes, audio recordings from classroom observations in MTI Arabic and one teacher interview. A seamless shuttling between Swedish and Arabic varieties appears. The diglossic situation in Arabic means that while all students need to learn Modern Standard Arabic, the challenges are greater for those students whose language variety differs most from the teacher’s. In this case, the teacher’s Levantine variety was closer to the variety of some students than of others. The critical and creative aspects inherent in translanguaging put issues of student engagement and participation in focus. In this case, the teacher took a central position and students were rather passive, answering questions and completing set tasks. We conclude that the syllabus and teacher education for MTI need to include issues of linguistic variation and, in the case of Arabic, implications of the diglossic situation.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: mother tongue instruction
  topic: keywords
subject: Arabic
  topic: keywords
subject: translanguaging space
  topic: keywords
subject: diglossia
  topic: keywords
creator: Åsa Wedin
creator: Lovisa Berg
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Åsa Wedin, Lovisa Berg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-08-29
publication date: 2025-08-29
starting page: 93
ending page: 110
doi: 10.47862/apples.147714

Embodied language learning through engagement in the arts
type: item
description: –
subject: Editorials
  topic: section
subject: embodied learning
  topic: keywords
subject: arts
  topic: keywords
subject: language education
  topic: keywords
creator: Sofia Jusslin
creator: Niina Lilja
creator: Eeva Anttila
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Sofia Jusslin, Niina Lilja, Eeva Anttila https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 1
ending page: 7
doi: 10.47862/apples.148553

Enhancing Language Education through Social Robots
type: item
description: This article explores the long-term child-robot interaction (CRI) in the context of robot-assisted language learning (RALL). More specifically, we examined how robot literacy, the ability to have appropriate relations and interactions with a robot, manifested itself in the use of L2 communication strategies in French as a second language (L2). Our primary research question centres on the role of familiarity with the robot and the development of robot literacy through engagement in L2 interaction. We compared the experiences of fourth graders who had interacted with a social robot over a prolonged period with fifth graders without such experience. A usage-based approach to examine L2 oral communication strategies, including conversation management, was employed. The findings revealed that robot literacy positively impacted learners’ willingness to communicate with the robot and their L2 interactional skills. This improved their communication strategies, and understanding of language structures. Unlike previous studies emphasizing the positive impact of novelty in RALL, this study suggests that long-term familiarity might, in fact, benefit the learners more in a one-on-one setting. The research underscores the importance of robot literacy and familiarity in shaping effective engagement and language development outcomes. It contributes to the CRI discourse and highlights the intertwined relationship between technology, education, and societal progress. Overall, the study posits that enhancing robot literacy equips learners with skills to navigate the evolving technological landscape, fostering social and linguistic sustainability.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Child-Robot Interaction
  topic: keywords
subject: Robot-Assisted Language Learning
  topic: keywords
subject: Robot Literacy
  topic: keywords
subject: L2 Communication Strategies
  topic: keywords
subject: Social and Linguistic Sustainability
  topic: keywords
creator: Liisa Peura
creator: Maarit Mutta
creator: Telma Peura
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Liisa Peura, Telma Peura, Maarit Mutta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-08-29
publication date: 2025-08-29
starting page: 27
ending page: 52
doi: 10.47862/apples.146076

Modes of positioning agency in academic writing
type: item
description: This study aims to enhance our understanding of agency in academic writing by examining its multidimensional nature. It takes a holistic socio-cultural and narrative approach to agency, viewing it as a dynamic process that is socially situated and includes awareness of one’s actions, goals, and autonomy. The study is based on interviews and drawings from eight bachelor’s thesis writers at a Finnish university. The data is analyzed through positioning analysis, identifying four orientations to writer agency: instrumental, questioning, self-willed, and solitary. The findings highlight the tensions between individuals and the academic community in academic writing and underscore the importance of institutional support. Trust and positioning are identified as crucial elements in the practice of agency. The research suggests that creating self-portraits as an academic writer during the writing process and sharing them with others can be a practical way to position oneself in the academic community and enhance one’s understanding of agency.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Agency
  topic: keywords
subject: academic writing
  topic: keywords
subject: positioning
  topic: keywords
subject: reflection
  topic: keywords
creator: Kati Rantala-Lehtola
creator: Mirja Tarnanen
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Kati Rantala-Lehtola, Mirja Tarnanen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-08-29
publication date: 2025-08-29
starting page: 53
ending page: 75
doi: 10.47862/apples.141885

„Das hat die Angehörigen schwer enttäuscht“ - Stimmen und Positionierung der Terroropfer in der deutschen Tagespresse
type: item
description: Die Auswahl und Hierarchisierung unterschiedlicher Stimmen in der Tagespresse ist als ein den sozialen Machtverhältnissen unterliegender subtiler Konstruktionsprozess zu verstehen. Diese diskursanalytische Studie setzt sich zum Ziel, die Präsenz der Opfer des NSU-Terrors und des IS-Anschlags am Berliner Breitscheidplatz in der Presse anhand zweier überregionaler deutscher Tageszeitungen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung und Süddeutsche Zeitung, sowie deren publizistischen Ablegern zu untersuchen. Nach der Analyse der repräsentierten Stimmen sollen mit Hilfe der Analyse der diskursiven Positionierung nicht nur die im Diskurs erzeugten Subjektpositionen der Opfer aufgezeigt, sondern vor allem die Verbindung zwischen der Hierarchisierung der Stimmen und den Äußerungsmöglichkeiten der Opfer erklärt werden. Aus der Analyse der Stimmen ergibt sich, dass in opferbezogenen Textstellen der Pressebeiträge eher die Stimmen von Politiker:innen als die der Opfer zu erkennen sind. Die Analyse zeigt deutliche Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Hierarchisierung der Stimmen und den Äußerungsmöglichkeiten zwischen den Terrorfällen auf. Diese Studie trägt zur kritischen Medien- und Terrorismusforschung aus linguistischer Perspektive besonders in Deutschland bei, indem sie die medial erzeugten Konstruktionen von Terroropfern in Deutschland betrachtet.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Stimme
  topic: keywords
subject: Diskursrepräsentation
  topic: keywords
subject: Positionierung
  topic: keywords
subject: Subjektposition
  topic: keywords
subject: Kritische Diskursforschung
  topic: keywords
subject: Terroropfer
  topic: keywords
subject: Tagespresse
  topic: keywords
creator: Anna-Maija Ylä-Mattila
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Anna-Maija Ylä-Mattila https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-08-29
publication date: 2025-08-29
starting page: 1
ending page: 26
doi: 10.47862/apples.142120

Walking and mapping methodologies: creative explorations of people’s relationships with space
type: item
description: This discussion note reflects on the experiences of collaborating to produce a hybrid workshop on walking and mapping methodologies (author 1 & author 2, 2023) building on research, scholarship and teaching in this area that we, the authors, have been undertaking over the past decade. The workshop explored how walking and mapping might be used in educational settings, in particular multilingual and transnational environments in higher education institutions. It brought together multidisciplinary perspectives on ‘space’, drawing on creative inquiry and applied linguistics, linguistic landscapes, and social geography. Our workshop was aimed at anyone with interests in creative approaches to research, particularly those engaged with participants’ lives and interactions within, across, and through space; and we intended to examine the challenges and opportunities of these approaches, including applications in their own research, scholarship and teaching. Here we outline the processes and thinking behind them, in the form of a two-part dialogue. We raise questions for researchers and educators about boundaries between research, teaching and scholarship, in addition to how walking and mapping methodologies might be critically engaged with in higher education.
subject: Discussion notes
  topic: section
subject: walking
  topic: keywords
subject: creative inquiry
  topic: keywords
subject: multilingualism
  topic: keywords
subject: education
  topic: keywords
subject: linguistic landscapes
  topic: keywords
subject: schoolscapes
  topic: keywords
creator: Jessica Bradley
creator: Tim Herrick
creator: Tamás Péter Szabó
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Jessica Bradley, Tim Herrick, Tamás Péter Szabó https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 233
ending page: 245
doi: 10.47862/apples.146719

(Im)mobility, literacies and second language education for adults and adolescents with limited previous education
type: item
description: This special issue draws attention to literacy and basic literacy education for adult and adolescent migrants with limited or no previous school background, who are learning a second language. This introduction addresses issues closely related to literacy education for this group of migrants, namely human mobility and immobility, including both horizontal (geographical and spatial) and vertical (social) mobility, as well as the interrelation between the two. Whereas some people’s mobility is considered a threat that must be regulated and restricted, other people’s mobility is encouraged. While mobility and diversity have always been intrinsic aspects of human societies, it can be concluded that social, economic and technological changes have intensified migration, the movement of artifacts and communication between people over vast distances. As mobility and diversity have increased, theoretical perspectives and research in applied linguistics and education have emerged. In this special issue, we bring together seven studies of second language and literacy education for adolescent and adult second language learners in different contexts, illustrating both similarities and differences between educational domains. The studies were conducted in Canada, Norway and Sweden. We are happy to say that the authors’ efforts have resulted in a body of work that contributes to research on literacies and literacy education for adults and adolescents with limited previous education. It is also our hope that the articles will inspire additional research in the area in the coming years.
subject: Editorials
  topic: section
subject: basic literacy education
  topic: keywords
subject: literacy education
  topic: keywords
subject: (im)mobility
  topic: keywords
subject: second language education
  topic: keywords
subject: adult second language learners
  topic: keywords
subject: adolescents
  topic: keywords
creator: Annika Norlund Shaswar
creator: Birgitta Ljung Egeland
creator: Jenny Rosén
creator: Åsa Wedin
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Annika Norlund Shaswar, Birgitta Ljung Egeland, Jenny Rosén, Åsa Wedin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10
starting page: 1
ending page: 6
doi: 10.47862/apples.146459

Suomalaista viittomakieltä käyttävien kuurojen ja huonokuuloisten nuorten mediankäyttö ja mediaympäristöt sosiaalisina ja kulttuurisina käytänteinä
type: item
description: Tarkastelen artikkelissani 25:n suomalaisen viittomakieltä (SVK) käyttävän 13–28- vuotiaan kuuron ja huonokuuloisen (KHK) nuoren median käyttöä ja tekstikäytänteitä digitaalisissa ympäristöissä sosiaalisina ja kulttuurisina käytänteinä. Lähestyn aihetta ensisijaisesti sosiokulttuurisen tekstitaitoperinteen (Uudet lukutaidot, New Literacy Studies, NLS) näkökulmista. Tutkimuskysymykset ovat: Mitä medioita ja mihin tarkoituksiin KHK-nuoret käyttävät niitä? Millaisiin käyttäjäryhmiin nuoret ovat jaoteltavissa? Tulokset osoittavat, että KHK-nuoret ovat mediankäytöltään ja monilukutaidoiltaan heterogeeninen ryhmä, jossa ilmenee kielellisiä, kulttuurisia ja yksilöllisiä eroja. KHK-nuoret ovat jaettavissa mediankäyttö- ja lukutavoiltaan kolmeen ryhmään: 1) visuaalinen ja viitottujen kielten lukija, 2) monikielinen lukija ja 3) puhuttujen kielten lukija. Näiden ryhmien piirteitä voidaan tarkastella kieli- ja lukutaitojatkumolla, joiden päissä painottuvat eri kielet ja modaliteetit. KHK-nuoret lukevat media-arjessaan useita erikielisiä tekstejä monenlaisissa digitaalisissa ympäristöissä. SVK:n lisäksi he lukevat ja viittovat usein muitakin viitottuja kieliä ja kansainvälistä viittomista (International Sign). Mediaympäristöjen saavutettavuus, viittomakielisten tekstien ja ympäristöjen saatavuus sekä KHK-nuoren kieliin, kulttuuriin ja kuulostatukseen kytköksissä oleva lukijaprofiili ovat vuorovaikutteisessa suhteessa ja vaikuttavat myös nuoren toiminnan mahdollisuuksiin. Kotimaisen rajallisen viittomakielisen mediatarjonnan vuoksi KHK-nuoret lukevat usein ulkomaisia viitottuja mediasisältöjä, useimmiten kansainvälisellä viittomisella tai amerikkalaisella viittomakielellä. Tekstitys koetaan tärkeänä osana erityisesti audiovisuaalisissa mediasisällöissä, mutta sen tarjoamat hyödyt puhutuissa sisällöissä eivät ulotu kaikkiin KHK-nuorten lukijaryhmiin. Tekstitys koetaan tärkeänä myös viittomakielisissä mediasisällöissä, sillä KHK-nuorten SVK-lukutaito ei aina ole riittävä tavanomai…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: media
  topic: keywords
subject: monilukutaito
  topic: keywords
subject: suomalainen viittomakieli
  topic: keywords
subject: nuoret
  topic: keywords
subject: saavutettavuus
  topic: keywords
subject: monikielisyys
  topic: keywords
subject: multiliteracy
  topic: keywords
subject: finnish sign language
  topic: keywords
subject: youth
  topic: keywords
subject: accessibility
  topic: keywords
subject: multilingualism
  topic: keywords
creator: Ulla Sivunen
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Ulla Sivunen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 88
ending page: 115
doi: 10.47862/apples.145537

Bilingual aspirations
type: item
description: This paper examines students’ practices in becoming bilingual experts. Students study in bilingual bachelor’s degrees (Finnish-Swedish) at the University of Helsinki. The research questions are: 1) What practices do the students engage in to promote language and content learning? 2) How are language ideologies and perceptions of language learning reflected in student practices? 3) How do learning environments, including teachers’ practices, guide and regulate students’ practices towards bilingual expertise? The data consist of observations during the lessons as well as interviews immediately after the lessons. The data were analysed qualitatively. The main theoretical concepts are content-based language learning, bilingual expertise, language ideologies and the learning environment. The analysis shows that many students pro-actively seek opportunities to enhance and practise their “weaker” language. However, students’ language ideologies, attitudes, and perceptions of what it is to ‘know’ and ‘learn’ a language affect the practices they engage in. In this context, the different status of Finnish and Swedish in the society plays a role as well. The students call for student-centred, engaging teaching methods that offer a safe environment in which to practise one’s expert voice in different languages. The students are mostly content with the language support offered by the Language Centre, but the timing of the support is not always ideal. Integrated language and content courses with co-teaching were mentioned as a desirable practice.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: language learning practices
  topic: keywords
subject: bilingual education
  topic: keywords
subject: language ideology
  topic: keywords
subject: learning environment
  topic: keywords
creator: Dragana Cvetanovic †
creator: Heini Lehtonen
creator: Åsa Mickwitz
creator: Auli Toom
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Dragana Cvetanovic, Heini Lehtonen, Åsa Mickwitz, Auli Toom https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-08-29
publication date: 2025-08-29
starting page: 111
ending page: 138
doi: 10.47862/apples.145576

Teachers’ expanding roles and tasks
type: item
description: Developing linguistically and culturally aware pedagogies is essential in increasingly diverse countries, such as Finland, thus needing more attention in teachers’ preservice education. This article focuses on physical education (PE) students’ views on their future profession and how these views may expand toward cultural and linguistic awareness. In addition, it explores how Finnish as a second language (F2L) teachers view their roles and tasks and how they apply embodied and arts-based pedagogies in their language classes. The notion of expanding professionalism is a central concept in this study. It entails attending to teachers’ social responsibilities. In addition, the theoretical framework includes a discussion of embodied pedagogy and language as a multimodal phenomenon. The context is a mandatory equality course in a PE teacher program at a Finnish university. The course included fieldwork where the PE students practiced embodied and arts-based language pedagogies. Drawing mainly from approaches to performative writing, the authors approach the research material and present their findings in narrative form. Based on the study, both PE students and F2L teachers appear to be aware of the need to expand their professional competences and consider embodied and arts-based approaches to be important in teaching language. However, future teachers need courage and skill in embodied and multimodal pedagogies. Moreover, they expressed an awareness of teachers’ social responsibilities within the increasingly complex societal situation. The authors conclude that embodied and arts-based approaches are key to developing culturally and linguistically aware PE. Such approaches have great potential for educating all future teachers.
subject: Special issue: Arts and Embodiment in Language Education
  topic: section
subject: Physical education
  topic: keywords
subject: language learning
  topic: keywords
subject: social justice
  topic: keywords
subject: expanding professionalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Finnish as a second language
  topic: keywords
subject: embodied pedagogy
  topic: keywords
creator: Mariana Siljamäki
creator: Eeva Helena Anttila
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Mariana Siljamäki, Eeva Anttila https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 154
ending page: 173
doi: 10.47862/apples.142971

Towards transknowledging
type: item
description: In this article, we review literature on epistemic oppression and justice for colleagues in the area of applied language studies. Based on this, we develop the concept of transknowledging as an entry point for epistemic justice. We draw from personal accounts and experiences as language scholars to consider an epistemic ecosystem of knowledges that challenges monolithic conceptualizations of how knowledge is created, engaged, and shared. In this process, we argue for more horizontal forms of embracing and celebrating knowledge while disobeying, dismantling, and decolonizing currently dominant modes of thinking. Transknowledging, for us, points to a praxis-oriented, transdisciplinary, and transformative understanding of knowledge processes. We consider the ethical, social, and linguistic dimensions of knowledge, keeping in mind that knowledging is not a neutral endeavor but rather influenced by power dynamics and social structures throughout times and places. We envision transknowledging as the process of acquiring and negotiating knowledge by actively transgressing disciplinary boundaries, subverting colonial knowledge frameworks, and working towards societal transformation in the pursuit of a holistic understanding of diverse beings in relation to others and the space we share.
subject: Review articles
  topic: section
subject: Decolonization
  topic: keywords
subject: Epistemic justice
  topic: keywords
subject: Knowledges
  topic: keywords
subject: Transknowledging
  topic: keywords
subject: Social justice
  topic: keywords
creator: Johanna Ennser-Kananen
creator: Sanna Riuttanen
creator: Yecid Ortega
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Johanna Ennser-Kananen, Sanna Riuttanen, Yecid Ortega https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 66
ending page: 87
doi: 10.47862/apples.138546

Exploring mediagrams as a visual tool to encourage teacher critical multilingual awareness through parent-school interaction in Norway
type: item
description: Teachers hold a key position for processes of inclusion and exclusion in parent-teacher relationships. Through teachers’ critical analysis of their own contributions in these processes, inclusion can be enhanced. This article explores how a visual representation of a person’s linguistic and media repertoires, a mediagram, can foster such teacher critical awareness. More specifically, it investigates the research question: How can mediagrams contribute to teachers’ critical awareness related to existing language ideologies in parent-teacher interaction in multilingual settings? To answer this question, an innovative use of the mediagram, where pupils and parents created a shared mediagram, is presented and discussed. Qualitative in-depth interviews with three teachers and four parents who took part in the activity are analysed. Interviews with the teachers are explored in terms of different dimensions of language awareness before and after implementation of the mediagram activity, while interviews with parents complement the teachers’ perspectives with parents’ perspectives. The study shows that the mediagram has promising potential to enhance teacher critical multilingual awareness in an extended understanding of the concept which also includes digital resources in interaction. Yet, it also points to important discrepancies in the parents’ and teachers’ evaluations of the tool.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: inclusion
  topic: keywords
subject: mediagram
  topic: keywords
subject: parent-teacher interaction
  topic: keywords
subject: , teacher critical multilingual awareness
  topic: keywords
subject: visual representations
  topic: keywords
creator: Hilde Thyness
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Hilde Thyness https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 45
ending page: 65
doi: 10.47862/apples.142142

Å tenke med Polanyis kunst- og kunnskapsfilosofi
type: item
description: Taking the Hungarian scientist and philosopher Michael Polanyi’s theoretical framework as a point of departure, this article investigates how the language promoting and developing potential of metaphors may be utilized in classroom teaching. Polanyi sees the metaphorical expressions in poetry and art, and in general the imagination’s ability to synthesize the otherwise ambiguous and chaotic elements of life, as equally valid modes of knowledge as those of science. His most important discovery is the structure of tacit knowing. This structure is described as a “from-to knowing”. By this Polanyi means that what we have in focal awareness, as in a metaphorical expression or an artwork, always bears upon something we are “only” subsidiarily aware of, as for example the tacit understanding of the semiotics, bodily sensations, life-world experiences or historical and theoretical facts. This article investigates three aspects of “from-to knowing” as embodied in art: the functional, the phenomenal and the semantic. The ontological aspect is inferred from these three. Through empirical studies of how teachers and senior college students in upper secondary Nordic classrooms attribute values to metaphors and artworks, the article investigates how the concepts of Polanyi reveal the language learning potential specifically of literature, in “real” teaching and learning contexts. Polanyi´s viewpoints on intentionality, “being in the world” and embodiment intersect with views expressed by other phenomenologists. However, we find that Polanyi´s unique contribution to phenomenology in general, and literature education specifically, is that it gives profound insights into the structure of intentionality that is particularly helpful in making us understand the complexity of levels at work in literature.
subject: Special issue: Arts and Embodiment in Language Education
  topic: section
subject: Metaphors
  topic: keywords
subject: Art
  topic: keywords
subject: Knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: Tacit knowing
  topic: keywords
subject: Meaning making
  topic: keywords
subject: Nordic classroom
  topic: keywords
subject: Upper secondary school
  topic: keywords
subject: Language promoting
  topic: keywords
subject: Language enriching
  topic: keywords
subject: Language developing
  topic: keywords
creator: Elin Aaness
creator: Nikolaj Elf
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Elin Aaness, Nikolaj Elf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 79
ending page: 98
doi: 10.47862/apples.142806

Language learners’ drawings and textual commentaries as a way to envision goals and aspirations for future language use
type: item
description: Written and spoken language are not the only ways to illustrate thinking. Incorporating arts-informed and multimodal ways to communicate can offer new insights for higher education language teaching and learning practices. This study investigates how Finnish as a second language students’ drawings as visualizations support an arts-informed approach to knowledge production in the initial years of language learning and proficiency in higher education in Canada. Further, it explores how students of Finnish represent their aspirations and objectives for their future language use and study through these embodied visualizations. The article focuses on how students visualize their aspirations to learn and use language without having to look for support from English. Grounded in reflective arts-informed language pedagogy, this study employs multisemiotic content analysis to examine a selection of students’ drawings. Through drawing, students visualize their imagined potential selves as future language users in different situations, activities and tasks and with different people. While language learners traditionally express their thoughts through oral and written language, and commonly in English, this study shows that drawings offer an alternative and artistic avenue for knowledge transmission and communication in the early stages of the language learning trajectory. Through reflective research practice, his study also addresses some implications of integrating arts-informed teaching and learning practice into second language pedagogy, encouraging instructors to adapt arts-informed teaching methodologies to align with students’ individual learning trajectories.
subject: Special issue: Arts and Embodiment in Language Education
  topic: section
subject: art-informed language pedagogy
  topic: keywords
subject: drawings
  topic: keywords
subject: visualizations
  topic: keywords
subject: reflectivity
  topic: keywords
subject: learning aims
  topic: keywords
creator: Anu Muhonen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Anu Maarit Muhonen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 99
ending page: 124
doi: 10.47862/apples.143222

What’s art got to do with it?
type: item
description: This article focuses on the meaning of art in embodied language learning. It tackles questions about how art works, what art is good for or—as the heading states— What's art got to do with it?​ The connection between language and embodiment has been established, and the role of art in enhancing learning in various ways has been discussed widely. While this article acknowledges the claims on the educational power of art in existing literature, the guiding question of how art works—especially in educational situations related to language learning—is deliberately open regarding assessable (language) learning outcomes. The article begins by discussing the author’s methodological approach that draws from the notions of sense, sensing, and seeing. This discussion is followed by sections on language, including (trans)languaging, art, and arts education. The author then moves towards practice and, within it, the notion of ‘glowing’ moments, in which she leans on her earlier work related to ‘physical expressive space’​ and the methodological approach and theoretical concepts presented earlier. She takes a closer look at a videotaped excerpt from an art pedagogical project, in which she attends to its material, sensory, and affective elements. Through this inquiry, the author proposes that the notion of (trans)languaging is pivotal to understanding and articulating how art works in educational situations related to language learning and beyond. In closing the article, the author asserts that artistic practice is (trans)languaging and further, that arts education is language education.
subject: Special issue: Arts and Embodiment in Language Education
  topic: section
subject: art
  topic: keywords
subject: arts education
  topic: keywords
subject: language
  topic: keywords
subject: language learning
  topic: keywords
subject: embodiment
  topic: keywords
creator: Eeva Anttila
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Eeva Anttila https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 8
ending page: 24
doi: 10.47862/apples.142936

The frictions and blessings of doing community arts in schools with multilingual pupils
type: item
description: Ethical reflections are integral to community art, which aims for equitable encounters and collaboration. However, the reality in which many community art projects are conducted creates friction with this aim. The asymmetrical positions of artists and participants and the sometimes limited possibilities for participants to regulate their participation, especially in formal education settings, pose challenges that must be addressed. This article analyses ethical challenges in facilitating community arts projects in primary schools. Data was collected from two projects with multilingual preparatory-class pupils led by two dance and community artists in collaboration with a class teacher. The projects aimed to engage pupils in artistic processes and facilitate Finnish-language learning through participation in artistic activities. Using autoethnographic methods and thematic analysis, we examined the ethically important moments reflected in our work diaries. These often unpredictable and fleeting everyday moments are seemingly unrelated to ethics; however, they have the potential for ethical concerns as they entail the possibility of wrongdoing. We explore critical ethical considerations and possibilities in artistic processes within educational contexts, aiming to offer new insights into the factors influencing such processes.
subject: Special issue: Arts and Embodiment in Language Education
  topic: section
subject: community arts
  topic: keywords
subject: preparatory class
  topic: keywords
subject: language learning
  topic: keywords
subject: ethics
  topic: keywords
subject: autoethnography
  topic: keywords
creator: Riina Hannuksela
creator: Angela Aldebs
creator: Niina Lilja
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Riina Hannuksela, Angela Aldebs, Niina Lilja https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 52
ending page: 78
doi: 10.47862/apples.143070

Motivation through solidarity
type: item
description: The aim of this study is to describe and discuss the unique motivational characteristics of adult immigrants and refugees learning Greek as a second language, characteristics related to the concept of investment in second language learning, based on the results of a qualitative study carried out in non-formal educational settings. Seventeen (17) participants attending Greek lessons in non-formal educational settings in Athens, Greece, were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The data obtained was analysed using thematic analysis. The students were asked about the reasons they are learning Greek and what motivates them to invest in studying the language. The results of the thematic analysis show that the main motives driving the participants to invest in learning Greek in the research settings were threefold: instrumental, integrative, and related to the L2 learning environment. Learning Greek was considered as a chance that could lead to greater job opportunities, empowerment, and greater integration into the host society. Additionally, the results highlight the fact that the atmosphere in the specific educational settings being very friendly and relaxed was very important for the participants and enhanced their desire to invest in learning Greek in the specific settings. Finally, the social aspect was also significant for the immigrants and refugees, who considered participation in the classes as a means of greater socialisation with both locals and other immigrants. The study highlights that non-formal settings are better suited to migrants/refugees’ learning needs and can promote the social inclusion of vulnerable groups and their integration into the host society.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: immigrants
  topic: keywords
subject: refugees
  topic: keywords
subject: non-formal learning
  topic: keywords
subject: Second language learning
  topic: keywords
subject: motivation
  topic: keywords
subject: solidarity
  topic: keywords
creator: Marina Mogli
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Marina Mogli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 210
ending page: 232
doi: 10.47862/apples.140845

Reaching gender equity in the classroom
type: item
description: The present study explores the impact of the choice of language in tests for girls’ academic performance at monolingual primary and secondary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. For that purpose, students in grades 3, 6, and 10 (140 girls and 139 boys) from schools in rural Senegal were given a test consisting of three mathematics problem-solving tasks. They were randomly divided into an experimental group if they received the test in a local language, their mother tongue (Sereer for grades 3 and 6, and Joola for grade 10), and into a control group if they received the test in French, the unique language of instruction in the traditional Senegalese public education system. The findings suggest that using a local language familiar to students may contribute to girls’ attainment at school: Girls in the experimental group in grades 3, 6 and 10 outperformed girls in the control group, therefore narrowing the existing gender gap in education. The present study also explores the application of Cummins’ (1979, 2009) theories of language acquisition: The data shows that girls might take advantage of bilingual education systems that promote the transfer of language skills and knowledge. The results presented in this paper show the benefit of introducing local languages familiar to students in the education system of Senegal and other Sub-Saharan countries where only a European language is employed as the language of instruction, especially for girls, by improving their academic performance and contributing to gender equity in education.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Senegal
  topic: keywords
subject: rural schools
  topic: keywords
subject: gender equality
  topic: keywords
subject: language of tests
  topic: keywords
subject: students' L1
  topic: keywords
subject: academic success
  topic: keywords
creator: Alexandre Martin-Chazeaud
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Alexandre Martin-Chazeaud https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 186
ending page: 209
doi: 10.47862/apples.137152

A schoolscape in the north of Sweden. Visual representations of the national minority languages Finnish, Meänkieli, and Sami
type: item
description: This study investigates how a compulsory school, catering for students from the preschool class to grade nine in the north of Sweden, visually opens spaces in the schoolscape for multilingualism involving the national minority languages, Finnish, Meänkieli, and Sami. The analysed material consists of photographs of language-related images, objects, symbols, and written texts in the school’s common spaces such as entrances, corridors, and stairwells. Geosemiotics is used to analyse discourses and representations of languages in the school environment. Furthermore, the connections between discourses in the schoolscape and the larger context of national policy are explored. The analysis reveals that there is a complete absence of representations of multilingualism in significant parts of the examined schoolscape, and that Finnish, Meänkieli, and Sami are treated as temporary elements with the representations tending to become a museum exhibition, despite the school's ambition to recognise and value the three languages. The study thus demonstrates the complexity of the issue and that the renegotiation of national ideology in a local setting is not unproblematic.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: schoolscape
  topic: keywords
subject: compulsory school
  topic: keywords
subject: multilingualism
  topic: keywords
subject: Finnish
  topic: keywords
subject: Meänkieli
  topic: keywords
subject: Sami
  topic: keywords
subject: policy-practice gap
  topic: keywords
subject: northern Sweden
  topic: keywords
creator: Theres Brännmark
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Theres Brännmark https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 1
ending page: 21
doi: 10.47862/apples.138258

A qualitative study on identity work and positioning of a Swedish-speaking Finn in the Swiss diaspora
type: item
description: This study examines a Swedish-speaking Finn’s identity work and positionings in the Swiss diaspora. Based on a qualitative case study approach this study analyses three interviews with a Swedish-speaking Finn, Lia. Using positioning theory as a framework, six central positions that shape Lia’s identity construction were found: patriotic, distanced, diasporic, settled, emotional, and mediated. These positions manifest through her interactions, linguistic environment, and cultural attachments. They shed light on Lia’s complex relationship with her native Finland and adoptive Switzerland, revealing strategies she employs to negotiate her sense of self. Linguistic resources, social networks, and digital communication are vital tools in her identity work. The findings showed that a broader national, Finnish identity in the diaspora setting overshadowed Lia’s identity as a Swedish-speaking Finn. However, preserving and mediating her mother tongue, Swedish, remained paramount. The study illustrates the experiences of this linguistic minority navigating identity in a non-native setting and highlights the significance of the mother tongue when its use is not self-evident.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: identity
  topic: keywords
subject: identity work
  topic: keywords
subject: diaspora
  topic: keywords
subject: Swedish-speaking Finns
  topic: keywords
subject: positioning theory
  topic: keywords
subject: linguistic minority
  topic: keywords
creator: Jessica Rosenberg
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Jessica Rosenberg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-06-10
publication date: 2024-06-10
starting page: 90
ending page: 113
doi: 10.47862/apples.141537

Multilingual pedagogies ― towards more equitable education?
type: item
description: I scrutinise six multilingual pedagogical approaches (MPA), such as translanguaging pedagogy, language awareness and linguistically responsive teaching, which promise to make education more equitable by encouraging students to employ all their linguistic resources. Equitable education enables the same opportunities and access for everyone and it is reached through practices guided by the principles of social justice, but whether and how these aims are concretely achieved varies from MPA to another. In the analysis, I examine their strengths and weaknesses and ask whether multilingual pedagogy can make education more equitable. For the MPAs, representation of languages, acknowledging students’ language skills and scaffolding access to the academic register are the main instruments in advocating for a socially just school. Some of them acknowledge aspects of cultural or racial inequity, but in general they focus mainly on language(s). Power, empowerment, and criticality are frequently mentioned, but comprehensive discussion on how to address them in school is not provided. Therefore, there is a danger that the multilingual pedagogies will be implemented as supporting celebratory multilingualism. Thus, I argue that the multilingual pedagogical approaches cannot effectively promote equitable practices unless the question of equity is centred and other categories for inequity are recognised.
subject: Review articles
  topic: section
subject: multilingualism
  topic: keywords
subject: pedagogy
  topic: keywords
subject: equity
  topic: keywords
subject: education
  topic: keywords
creator: Venla Rantanen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Venla Rantanen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 116
ending page: 135
doi: 10.47862/apples.138084

Embodied and arts-integrated languages and literacies education in primary teacher education
type: item
description: Embodied learning and arts integration have recently gained more attention in research on languages and literacies education. Researchers have stressed that teacher education can act as a catalyst for bringing new perspectives on teaching languages and literacies to school practices. This study builds on a workshop series about embodied and arts-integrated languages and literacies education implemented in primary teacher education in Finland. Engaging with posthumanist and rhizomatic theories, the study explored becoming-teachers’ diffractions of opportunities and challenges in using embodied and arts-integrated teaching approaches in languages and literacies education. The study was methodologically conducted as arts-based research, specifically by creating poems with data as an analytical approach. The opportunities and challenges created friction between each other and became intertwined as opportunities-and-challenges. As such, the becoming-teachers recognized their value and adopted a critical perspective on the teaching approaches. Illustrated with four poems, the analysis indicates that the becoming-teachers’ engagement with these approaches set in motion thoughts about opportunities-and-challenges concerning (un)learning conceptions of teaching and learning languages and literacies; balancing pedagogical acts and realities; the friction of differentiating the teaching; and a mixture of (un)certainties regarding future teaching practices. In conclusion, implications for languages and literacies education, as well as teacher education, are discussed.
subject: Special issue: Arts and Embodiment in Language Education
  topic: section
subject: language education
  topic: keywords
subject: literacy education
  topic: keywords
subject: embodied learning
  topic: keywords
subject: arts integration
  topic: keywords
subject: arts-based research
  topic: keywords
subject: posthumanism
  topic: keywords
subject: rhizome
  topic: keywords
subject: primary teacher education
  topic: keywords
creator: Sofia Jusslin
creator: Kaisa Korpinen
creator: Riina Hannuksela
creator: Charlotte Svendler Nielsen
rights: Copyright (c) 2021 Sofia Jusslin, Kaisa Korpinen, Riina Hannuksela, Charlotte Svendler Nielsen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-03-31
publication date: 2025-03-31
starting page: 125
ending page: 152
doi: 10.47862/apples.142928

Bedeutungsaushandlungen in deutsch-finnischen technologievermittelten Bildungsexportverhandlungen
type: item
description: In dieser Studie werden Bedeutungsaushandlungen in deutsch-finnischen Bildungsexportverhandlungen untersucht. Die Studie basiert auf einer Nexusanalyse, in der die Perspektiven situierten Handelns und Diskurse der Bildungsexportverhandlungen untersucht werden. Zu den Forschungsmaterialien gehören Videoaufnahmen von Situationen, in denen ein finnisches Bildungsexportunternehmen sein Produkt für Schulen in Deutschland und Österreich verkauft. Die Studie beleuchtet, welche Art von Bedeutungsaushandlungen sich finden und wie sie während der Verhandlungssitzungen entstehen. Die während der Verhandlungen geführten Diskurse betrafen Produkteigenschaften, technologische Lösungen, Finanzierung, pädagogische Praktiken sowie Benchmarking in Bezug auf die Situation an Schulen in Finnland. Die Analyse zeigt die Komplexität der Bedeutungsaushandlungen, die in einer technologiegestützten Verhandlungssituation geführt werden. Es wird auch deutlich, dass Bedeutungsaushandlungen eine zentrale Rolle spielen, wenn über die mögliche Einführung des Produkts in den Kundenschulen verhandelt wird. Die Studie bietet für den technologiegestützten Bildungsexport neue Perspektiven, die bei der Erneuerung aktueller Praktiken im Bildungswesen und in Unternehmen in diesem Bereich angewendet werden können.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Bedeutungsaushandlung
  topic: keywords
subject: Bildungsexport
  topic: keywords
subject: Geschäftskommunikation
  topic: keywords
subject: Nexusanalyse
  topic: keywords
subject: Technologie
  topic: keywords
creator: Maarit Leskelä
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Maarit Leskelä https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-09
publication date: 2024-12-09
starting page: 136
ending page: 161
doi: 10.47862/apples.138542