Modern foreign language teaching in Finland’s world-leading education system.

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Most importantly, the Finnish education system places a high priority on language teaching, starting young by integrating language learning into early years education. It also aims to provide pupils with a wide language repertoire, and to create a welcoming and encouraging attitude towards learning languages 

Finland's national language learning curriculum

The B1 syllabus is the other mandatory language course. It begins in the 6th grade (12 to 13 years of age) and usually focuses on the second national language, i.e. Swedish or Finnish. B2 is an optional foreign language such as Spanish, German, Russian or French. This begins in grades 8 (14-15 years) and is delivered according to available teacher expertise.

A core National Curriculum is in place for all language teaching. This must be followed, but municipalities retain the ability to tailor learning content and the languages studied to local requirements. Where necessary, teachers with particular language specialisms may be required to teach a class of students from different schools to meet demand. 

Finnish language teaching and learning will receive a further boost with the introduction of the new lukio curriculum. This will see language teaching being embedded into different subject areas. Teachers are positive about the benefits of helping to foster cross-curriculum between colleagues and raising the importance of language learning in a whole-school context.

Beyond formal education, the Finnish authorities also recognise the value of children learning different languages (other than Finnish or Swedish) to native-speaker standard. Funding has, for example, been made available to give children of immigrant or mixed linguistic background extra lessons in other languages they may speak at home. More than 50 languages have been taught through the scheme. Russian, Arabic, English, Estonian, Chinese and Spanish are widely studied, as well as the languages of significant immigrant communities including Albanian, Somali and Vietnamese.

Best practices from foreign language teaching

According to Heini, the vast majority of language teaching in Finland is delivered via textbooks or their digital equivalents. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has forced “teachers to learn to deliver their teaching digitally”*, Heini notes from her experience of teacher training that “there’s still lots more to understand given the number of digital language teaching resources available.” She therefore stresses that teachers should build a detailed knowledge of these materials, so that they can choose the most pedagogically relevant tool in every situation.

In particular, Heini continues, many of these digital resources reflect a traditional, national focus on written exercises and their predominance in language assessment. Teachers should also carefully consider which resources are best suited to support teaching of the latest (2016) curriculum, which shifts the focus more towards oral and communicative language skills. It’s important, she stresses, for teachers to respond to this change by using “a variety of different exercises and tools to show what students really know and understand.”

Heini has therefore developed her own “digital-tactile pedagogy” based on the National Curriculum and on her own, extensive experience of teaching and training. It acknowledges that all learners are different and enables her students “to learn a language whatever their level of ability.” Heini teaches common concepts through textbooks or by using either digital or tactile exercises. Students are able (and motivated) to use the resources that best suit their learning style, helping them to “learn and advance at their own pace.” Students are also able to demonstrate their understanding through a variety of assessment methods

How educational software supports language teachers?

Providing training for language teachers is as important as the new digital language teaching solutions

Heini hopes that such clear benefits will help convert more and more language teachers to integrate digital tools into their language teaching. But she fears that many will simply “return to their old habits and favourite resources” unless publishers can create digital resources that are more than just online textbooks. Unfortunately, this puts the teacher at odds with their students who, Heini believes, are far more positive about online learning post-Corona. Her research shows increased student enthusiasm for online learning, particularly as it enables them to focus on their teachers / their learning without being distracted by their classmates’ poor behaviour.