Learning Advanced Finnish: Explorations for Second Language Acquisition

The Finnish government offers various educational programs to aid immigrants — currently 5.2 % of the population — in language acquisition and cultural assimilation, but the efficiency of these programs in improving high-skilled immigrants’ job opportunities has been questioned. This study uncovers what impedes the high-skilled immigrants’ transition from intermediate level to advanced level language skills, and explores future instructional design solutions, with a qualitative study including textbook authors, instructors, and learners.

Findings report that current teaching materials with too heavy emphasis on grammar, and instructors’ too strict teaching styles overrule what intermediate level learners need the most: comprehensible/communicative input optimal to the learner’s current level, professional vocabulary, practical conversation skills, and cultural knowledge. For this, we suggest new approaches: teaching materials with low cognitive loads and effective visual design, adaptive- interactive text for personalized comprehension lessons, participatory storytelling platforms for personalized topics, and involving the whole community as a learning environment for more practice opportunities.