PREFACE

This volume reports on the findings of a survey which investigated Finns’ uses of and relationship to English. The survey is a part of a long-term research venture of the Centre of Excellence for the Study of Variation, Contacts and Change in English (VARIENG) at the University of Jyväskylä. Besides the survey, the research group has undertaken a range of qualitative, multi-methodological studies focused on different aspects of the uses and functions of English in Finland, a nation undergoing rapid internationalization and globalization. Our research unit is part of a joint venture between the Universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä (2006–2011) and it is funded by the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence programme and the respective universities.

Previous qualitative studies by our research group have shown that in contemporary Finnish society there are various contexts in which Finns use English – either because in these contexts it is made necessary by the situation in question, or because they themselves for some reason choose to do so. These qualitative studies have described in detail how Finns draw on and use resources provided by English and have explored the social, cultural, and discursive meanings of such language use (see e.g. Leppänen & Nikula 2007).

However, the findings of such case studies as these, are – even at their best – informative primarily of the situations under investigation and thus cannot present a more general understanding of what English means to Finns. To obtain this kind of broader view of Finns’ relationship with English, our research group conducted a large-scale survey in 2007.

The aim of the survey was to investigate the roles and meanings English has in Finland, as well as Finns’ learning of, and skills in, English and other foreign languages. In addition, the survey mapped where Finns encounter English, how they use it, and what they think about the language. These foci in the survey were specified through an extensive planning process, one stage of which consisted of envisaging a much broader agenda for the study. Such an agenda would have extended beyond an examination of Finns’ relationship with English, to their relationship with other foreign languages they have studied, as well as the languages of Finland’s neighbouring countries and immigrant languages. Unfortunately, for the sake of economy and finances, it was necessary to narrow the scope of the survey to English only.

Successfully planning, conducting, analyzing, and reporting a large-scale survey requires a great deal of dedicated work in which the input and collaboration of a number of experts is essential. The entire Jyväskylä VARIENG research team, doctoral students and senior researchers, participated actively in the survey work. As a process this required both shared enthusiasm as well as serious and persistent labour, but happily, this was also an endeavour which was not without moments of laughter. During the survey work our research team has learnt a great deal together. Most importantly, we have learnt that it is not only rewarding to work together for a shared goal, but that much more can be achieved collectively, than as individuals.

Throughout the survey project our research group has received generous assistance from a number of experts. We wish to express our most sincere gratitude to all of them. During the planning stage we received invaluable advice from Dr. Kari Törmäkangas from the Finnish Institute for Educational Research in the University of Jyväskylä as well as from our partners at Statistics Finland: Research Manager Antti Siikanen, Head of Development Kari Djerf, senior researcher Tuula Melkas, and research secretary Outi Stenbäck. Ms Elina Tergujeff provided us with a Swedish translation of the questionnaire as well as the English translation of the Finnish baseline report. In the piloting phase, the large network of our research group as well as our colleagues in the VARIENG Helsinki unit gave us important and constructive feedback in regards to the comprehensibility and functionality of the questionnaire. In general, the VARIENG collective offered numerous opportunities for feedback and reflection at all stages of the survey work. Of this we are most grateful.

Our professional and dependable research secretaries Ms Terhi Paakkinen, Ms Saija Peuronen, and Mr Ari Häkkinen deserve our warmest thanks – without their expert help throughout the process, we would have been utterly lost. Ms Hanna Jäntti, our research assistant, also merits our sincere thanks for the skilful technical editing and html formatting of the report. Ms Marianne Toriseva and Ms Alicia Jinkerson also assisted the team in different stages of the process.

Thanks to meticulous proof-reading by Mr Donald Adamson, the voices of the many authors of the report were eventually unified as a single and much more elegant voice than we could have ever achieved on our own. We also wish to thank the Department of Languages of the University of Jyväskylä, which provided us with additional financial support, without which the survey could not have been implemented. We also thank the Academy of Finland as well as the University of Jyväskylä for their support which has given us a unique opportunity to be ambitious and bold.

The survey has spurred many new challenges which we intend to tackle in the future. One such challenge is how to utilize the results of both the qualitative studies and the survey in a complementary and integrative way. This kind of work also calls for development of theoretical and methodological solutions. Such solutions may enable new, interesting, and multifaceted interpretations of how individual ways of using language resonate with what Finns in general and the different demographic and social groups in Finland think of English. In an increasingly multilingual and multicultural Finland, there certainly is a need for this kind of research-based knowledge.

Jyväskylä 23 March 2011

The authors