ABSTRACT

Leppänen, Sirpa, Anne Pitkänen-Huhta, Tarja Nikula, Samu Kytölä, Timo Törmäkangas, Kari Nissinen, Leila Kääntä, Tiina Räisänen, Mikko Laitinen, Päivi Pahta, Heidi Koskela, Salla Lähdesmäki & Henna Jousmäki:

National Survey on the English Language in Finland: Uses, meanings and attitudes

This volume reports on a large-scale national survey on Finns’ uses of, attitudes to and perceptions of English in the 2000s when the significance of English for many Finns and in many societal domains in Finnish society was clearly in the process of becoming more pronounced. The survey was conducted in the autumn 2007. Data were collected with the help of an extensive questionnaire which covered the respondents’ learning of, contacts with and uses of English, their attitudes to English and language mixing, and their predictions about the role of English in Finland in the future. The data set consisted of 1 495 responses, collected by random sampling.

The survey confirms that English has a strong presence in Finland. English is the most widely studied language and the foreign language most commonly used. Finns also assess their own skills in English as relatively good. In addition, Finns’ overall attitudes to English are quite positive and pragmatic and they do not consider English a threat to the Finnish language and culture. Instead, the knowledge of English is considered an essential resource in the increasingly multicultural and globalizing world.

The survey also revealed some socio-demographic differences. In general, the proficiency in and use of English are highest among younger generations and respondents who live in cities, who are at least relatively well educated and whose professional position is managerial or expert. The survey also identified a small minority who have not studied English, who assess their skills in English as minimal and who do not need or use English much. They are typically older people with little education. On the whole, the survey foregrounded three broad respondent categories: the ‘haves’, ‘have-nots’, and ‘have-it-alls’ of English.

KEYWORDS: Sociolinguistics, national survey, Finland, proficiency in English, uses of English, attitudes to English, socio-demographic comparisons