Monikielisten korkeakouluopiskelijoiden kokemuksia pärjäämisestä suomenkielisessä tutkintokoulutuksessa

Abstract

Finnish higher education have a growing number of students for whom Finnish is not their strongest language. In this article, we explore the experiences of these students in Finnish-taught degree programmes, focusing in particular on their experience of coping in common study situations, language skills and their interconnection. The data consists of 261 students’ responses to a questionnaire in which they were asked to describe their experiences of coping in language-related tasks and to self-assess their language skills. We also used an external language test to assess their Finnish skills. Results show that the respondents have generally excellent skills in Finnish, typically also in English and their first language. Finnish language proficiency measured with the external language test is associated with self-assessed proficiency level and experience of coping. The higher the Finnish language proficiency, the better the respondents experience their coping in studying tasks. Although self-assessed English language skills were related with the experience of coping, for many students in higher education, Finnish was a more realistic option than English as a language of study. Respondents at lower level perceived their coping as moderate and reported major difficulties. Those at higher levels of proficiency mostly perceived their coping as excellent and reported minor challenges. The most challenging task at all proficiency levels was perceived to be writing. This research suggests that higher education institutions should invest in language support, especially to the minimum proficiency level.