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Becoming and Being a Highly Proficient Second Language Speaker of Finnish JYU DISSERTATIONS 309

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Becoming and Being a Highly Proficient Second Language Speaker of Finnish JYU DISSERTATIONS 309 JYU DISSERTATIONS 309 Katharina Ruuska At the Nexus of Language, Identity and Ideology Becoming and Being a Highly Proficient Second Language Speaker of Finnish JYU DISSERTATIONS 309 Katharina Ruuska At the Nexus of Language, Identity and Ideology Becoming and Being a Highly Proficient Second Language Speaker of Finnish Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston vanhassa juhlasalissa S212 marraskuun 9. päivänä 2020 kello 17. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Seminarium, Old Festival Hall S212 on November 9, 2020 at 5 p.m. JYVÄSKYLÄ 2020 Editors Minna Suni Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä Timo Hautala Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä Copyright © 2020, by University of Jyväskylä This is a printout of the original online publication. Permanent link to this publication: http://urn.fi/URN:978-951-39-8366-6 ISBN 978-951-39-8366-6 (PDF) URN:ISBN:978-951-39-8366-6 ISSN 2489-9003 Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2020 ABSTRACT Ruuska, Katharina At the nexus of language, identity and ideology: Becoming and being a highly proficient second language speaker of Finnish Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2020, 292 p. (JYU Dissertations ISSN 2489-9003; 309) ISBN 978-951-39-8366-6 (PDF) This multiple case study focuses on second language speakers of Finnish and their lived experience of everyday language use in Finland. The participants are late multilinguals who moved to Finland and learned Finnish as adults, and have reached a very advanced second language competence in Finnish. Given that such speakers of Finnish are still often considered exceptional, the aim of the study is to explore the complex relationship between ideas about language and the position second language speakers take in the community of Finnish speakers. More specifically, drawing on perspectives from second language research, sociolinguistics and sociology, the study investigates the nexus of language ideologies about Finnish as a second language, processes of identity construction, and linguistic legitimacy. The data were collected over the course of two years and consist of qualitative interviews with twelve participants as well as ethnographic data (additional interviews, observations and recordings in different contexts of everyday life) from four focus participants. The data were analysed from the perspective of the three key concepts of ideology, identity and legitimacy, using tools from nexus analysis and narrative analysis. The study shows how the participants’ identities and practices emerge against the background of language ideologies as well as their previous experiences with language use. In the context of Finland, very advanced second language proficiency in Finnish seems to require careful identity work in social situations, and in attempting to achieve legitimacy as language users, my participants employ a number of different and partly conflicting strategies. The study grants new empirical insights into the experiences of very advanced adult second language speakers of Finnish in Finland. From a theoretical perspective, it introduces the nexus of language, identity and ideology as a novel viewpoint in research on Finnish as a second language and second language research more broadly. Keywords: Finnish as a second language, advanced second language learners, language ideologies, identity, linguistic legitimacy, nexus analysis TIIVISTELMÄ Ruuska, Katharina Oppijasta puhujaksi: Erittäin edistyneet suomea toisena kielenä puhuvat aikuiset kielen, identiteetin ja ideologian risteymässä Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2020, 292 s. (JYU Dissertations ISSN 2489-9003; 309) ISBN 978-951-39-8366-6 (PDF) Tämä monitapaustutkimus keskittyy suomi toisena kielenä -puhujiin ja heidän arkikokemuksiinsa kielenkäyttäjinä Suomessa. Osallistujat ovat aikuisiässä Suomeen muuttaneita monikielisiä henkilöitä, jotka ovat saavuttaneet erittäin edistyneen suomen kielen taitotason. Tällaisia suomen kielen puhujia pidetään usein edelleen poikkeuksellisina, ja tutkimuksen tavoitteena onkin tarkastella kieltä koskevien käsitysten monisyistä suhdetta toisen kielen puhujien asemaan Suomen kieliyhteisössä. Tarkemmin ottaen tutkimus käsittelee suomea toisena kielenä koskevien kieli-ideologioiden, identiteetin rakentumisen ja kielellisen legitimiteetin neksusta eli risteymää toisen kielen oppimisen tutkimuksen, sosiolingvistiikan ja sosiologian tarjoamista näkökulmista. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin kahden vuoden aikana, ja se koostuu kahdentoista osallistujan haastatteluista sekä laajemmasta etnografisesta aineistosta neljältä avainosallistujalta (jatkohaastattelut ja arkitilanteiden havainnointi osittain tallentaen). Aineisto analysoitiin ideologian, identiteetin ja legitimiteetin käsitteiden näkökulmasta hyödyntämällä neksusanalyysin ja narratiivisen analyysin työkaluja. Tutkimus osoittaa, miten osallistujien identiteetit ja käytänteet rakentuvat heidän kohtaamiensa kieli-ideologioiden ja heidän aiempien kielen käyttöä koskevien kokemustensa kautta. Suomen kontekstissa erittäin korkea suomi toisena kielenä -taitotaso vaikuttaa edellyttävän tarkkaa identiteettityötä sosiaalisissa tilanteissa, ja saavuttaakseen legitimiteetin kielenkäyttäjinä tutkimuksen osallistujat käyttävät erilaisia ja osittain keskenään ristiriitaisiakin strategioita. Tutkimus tuo esiin uutta empiiristä tietoa erittäin edistyneen kielitaitotason saavuttaneiden suomea toisena kielenä puhuvien aikuisten kokemuksista Suomessa. Teoreettisesti tutkimus nostaa kielen, identiteetin ja ideologian risteymän uudeksi tärkeäksi näkökulmaksi suomea toisena kielenä koskevaan tutkimukseen ja toisen kielen oppimisen tutkimukseen myös kansainvälisesti. Asiasanat: suomi toisena kielenä, edistyneet kielenoppijat, kieli-ideologiat, identiteetti, kielellinen legitimiteetti, neksusanalyysi Author’s address Katharina Ruuska Department of Language and Communication Studies University of Jyväskylä [email protected] Supervisors Minna Suni Department of Language and Communication Studies University of Jyväskylä Simo Määttä Department of Languages University of Helsinki Reviewers Peter De Costa Michigan State University Anu Muhonen University of Toronto Opponents Peter De Costa Michigan State University ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One of the core ideas of this thesis is that language learning is not a straightfor- ward or an individual endeavour: it is time-consuming and life-changing in many ways, and, most importantly, it takes place in a community. The writing of a dissertation is no different, and I owe thanks to many people who have been part of this journey in one way or another. First of all, I want to thank my supervisors, Minna Suni and Simo Määttä. Minna, I cannot count the ways in which you have supported me. Your intuitive grasp of my research interests in the initial stage of my project, your genuine interest in my topic, your patience and your unshakeable belief in my work have been invaluable. Simo, thank you for your calm and steady support throughout this entire project. Our meetings in Helsinki were incredibly important at a time when I did not have an academic community around me. Thank you both for all your help with the big questions, the small details and the practical challenges of academic life. I also wish to express my gratitude to the two pre-examiners of this disser- tation, Peter De Costa and Anu Muhonen. I feel extremely honoured that you have taken the time to read my thesis and to comment on it so thoughtfully. Many thanks to Peter De Costa for agreeing to act as my opponent in the public defence. I would not have been able to start (or finish) this dissertation without the generous financial support of various bodies. The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Jyväskylä enabled me to begin working on this thesis with a start- ing grant and a working grant for my first year. The Kone Foundation generously supported my dissertation project for three years, funded a research exchange and conference trips, and the Ellen & Artturi Nyyssönen Foundation awarded me a finishing grant. I am also grateful to the Department of Language and Com- munication Studies at the University of Jyväskylä for giving me the opportunity to gain teaching experience while also enabling me to finish this thesis on a work contract. The Department has also funded several conference and seminar trips, as have the Network for Finnish doctoral programmes in language studies Lang- net and the EU Cost Action IS1306 - New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe. Over the years, I have received support from a number of experienced re- searchers. My thanks go to Francis Hult and the Centre of Languages and Liter- ature at Lund University in Sweden, where I was a visiting PhD student for three months in 2017. Francis, thank you for your interest in my work, your ever-in- sightful and helpful comments, and for introducing me to many new people. I was also fortunate to be able to participate in the activities of the New Speakers network, which opened many professional doors to me. Special thanks to Jürgen Jaspers and Lian Malai Madsen for giving me the opportunity to publish early on in my doctoral studies and for working on my first ever article drafts with me. Thanks to my Master’s thesis supervisor at the University of Mainz, Anneli Sarhimaa, for encouraging me to explore
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