12 ILLITERATE ADULT IMMIGRANTS AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR LANGUAGE SKILLS IN FINNISH IN SIX MONTHS

Transcription

1 12 ILLITERATE ADULT IMMIGRANTS AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR LANGUAGE SKILLS IN FINNISH IN SIX MONTHS Marjut Heikkinen 2009: "Opettaja, minä osaa sanoo, ei kirjoittaa! Luku ja kirjoitustaidottomien aikuisten maahanmuuttajien suomen kielen kehitys puolen vuoden aikana. Online:

2 Content Presentation of the informants and the test Production of written and spoken language Measuring the advancement from June to December Samples of the written production Conclusions

3 Informants 12 informants All women 4 primary illiterates 8 secondary illiterates from Africa and Asia 5 have Finnish husbands All took part in the Integration training which is arranged for adult immigrants who are subject to the Integration Act

4 The Test 3 times the same test (June, October, December 2008) Written part: 1) dictation, 2) vowel dictation, 3) reading comprehension, 4) writing about a picture, 5) more difficult reading comprehension Oral part: 6) picture description, 7) questions about the picture Altogether 7 tasks were analysed

5 Written picture description Idea: Niina Halme 2008 Picture: Carl Brennan

6 Oral picture description Ulla Lappalainen 1996: AAMU suomen kielen kuvasanakirja. OPH, Helsinki.

7 Richness indicators Analyzing the material by creating different indicators The indicators are: the number of 1) inflected nominals 2) right nominatives 3) word classes 4) sentence types 5) different verbs 6) sentences

8 Indicators of written language production June 2008 October 2008 inflected nominals right nominatives word classes sentence types different verbs sentences December 2008

9 Indicators of oral language production June 2008 October 2008 inflected nominals right nominatives word classes sentence types different verbs sentences December 2008

10 Progress Different levels in the improvement There are 3 levels in every task except description tasks where are 4 levels (maximum amount of the level changes is 16) The dividing line between different levels depends on the general level of the informants Changing the level to the upper level means that the informant improves notably

11 Level changing upwards and downwards Nir. Jas. Rim Tam. Poe Oum Mut. Hawa Sah. Chi. Ling Bat. 1/16 5/16 4/16 5/16 10/16 5/16 7/16 9/16 7/16 7/16 3/12 0/14 Upwards Nir. Jas. Rim Tam. Poe Oum Mut. Hawa Sah. Chi. Ling Bat. 1/16 1/16 1/16 2/16 1/16 1/16 0/16 0/16 0/16 2/16 1/12 2/14 Downwards

12 Samples of written language production (Poe) June 2008 laiva = boat lentokone = airplane ihminen = person ja = and kissa = cat bussi = bus kukka = flower ruoka = food meri = sea ikkuna = window verho = curtain lapsi = child mummo = granny äiti =mother OR aita = fence

13 Samples 2 October 2008 Lentokone lentää = Airplane is flying Laiva on meressä = Boat on the sea Ihminen ja koira = Person and a dog Keinu lapsi = Swing child Rattaat = pram Mummo odottaa bussia = Granny waits for the bus Kissa on ulkona = The cat is outside Ovi on kiinni = The door is closed Ikkuna on pimeä = The window is dark Ravintola on pimeä = The restaurant is dark? Pilvi = cloud Aita = fence

14 Samples 3 Granny goes in the bus. The airplane flyes in Thailand. The boat goes in the water. The man and the dog walks outside. The boy flings the swing. The window is wet and dark. The dog stand out the dog is cold. December 2008 There is food on the table.

15 Sample 4 (Batulo) Bussi = bus Ovi = door Ikkuna = window Koira = dog Poika = boy On istuu = is sit Seisoo = stands Kävelee = walks Tulee = comes October 2008

16 Conclusions Students made progress during the literacy courses They who progressed most in the test were good in the written and spoken part alike The gap between the weak and good informants became smaller (compare PISA; Finnish way of teaching) The production of written language grew The production of spoken language reduced but the accuracy grew Need to remember that learning is individual, it can be slow and everybody needs his/her time

17 How are the informants doing after the course? 7 continued to the level slow 1 and then to the slow 2 3 repeated the course 1 went to work 1 didn t improve enough to continue to the next level