Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Heikkola, Leena Maria
• Alisaari, Jenni
• Vigren, Heli
• Commins, Nancy

Titel

Linguistically responsive teaching: A requirement for Finnish primary school teachers

Ist Teil von

• Linguistics and education, 2022-06, Vol.69, p.101038, Article 101038

Ort / Verlag

Oxford: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •Finnish primary school teachers are knowledgeable about language learning processes.•Finnish teachers report using primarily visual and multimodal scaffolding practices.•Teachers’ professional learning needs to focus on students’ backgrounds, experiences, and skills.•Teachers who are most aware of linguistically responsive teaching have the strongest desire to know even more. We investigated Finnish primary school teachers’ understandings of processes of language learning, their reported linguistically responsive practices, their reported professional learning needs, and the links between these. The teachers (n = 246) responded to an online survey. Frequencies, possible links between the teachers’ background factors and their understandings and reported practices (one-way analysis of variance) and possible correlations between teachers’ understandings, reported practices and personal learning needs were investigated. Respondents had a solid understanding regarding the investigated language learning processes and reported using additional semiotic scaffolding practices, such as visual cues, most often. Over half of the respondents reported needing more information about their students’ backgrounds, experiences, and skills. The teachers with the highest levels of understanding reported using linguistically responsive practices the most and also sought the most professional learning. However, most Finnish primary school teachers would benefit from both theoretical and practical training in linguistically responsive pedagogy.