2. International experience in multilingual education | 149
ҮШ ТІЛДЕ БІЛІМ БЕРУДІ ҰЙЫМДАСТЫРУ
·
ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ОБУЧЕНИЯ НА ТРЕХ ЯЗЫКАХ
·
TEACHING IN THREE LANGUAGES
80% of learners are proficient in 4 languages by the end of grade 11
[57]
First pilot groups implementing language immersion with Finnish
and Swedish started in 1987 [57]
According to the early total immersion model of Finnish children
into Swedish language, preschool education is delivered only through
Swedish (image 13) [63]
At school, every subject is taught in two languages until comple-
tion of the program [63]
For instance, History of Finland in grades 5 and 6 is taught in Swe-
dish, and in grades 7 and 8 – in Finnish [63]
Image 13. The multilingual education
model in Finnish schools
Swedish, Finnish and English languages are taught in grades 1-6 as
compulsory subjects, French or German are introduced from grade 5
(table 4) [63]
Table 4. The distribution of hours in Finnish schools by language
Grade
Swedish
(hour/week)
Finnish
(hour/week)
English
(hour/week)
French/German (as a
subject) (hour/week)
1
17
2
1
-
2
17
2
1
-
100
90
90
80
70
60
50
40
40
40
10
10
20
30
40
50
40
40
40
10
10
10
10
10
10
Presch.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
time
alloc
ate
d
for
ea
ch
la
ng
ua
ge
, %
Swedish
Finnish
English
French/German
grades
150 | 2. International experience in multilingual education
ҮШ ТІЛДЕ БІЛІМ БЕРУДІ ҰЙЫМДАСТЫРУ
·
ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ОБУЧЕНИЯ НА ТРЕХ ЯЗЫКАХ
·
TEACHING IN THREE LANGUAGES
3
14
7
2
-
4
14
7
2
-
5
10
7-11
2
2
6
10
7-11
2
2
7-11
Distribution varies in every school depending
on the teacher potential, teach-
ing and learning resources, and facilities
Teaching English is mainly focused on developing communicative
competences [64]
There are two types of schools based on the language of instruction
in Finland – schools with Finnish as a language of instruction (3,257
schools) and Swedish language of instruction (315 schools) [65]
Swedish is an optional at the schools with Finnish language of in-
struction, while Finnish is compulsory at the schools with Swedish lan-
guage of instruction [65]
As a result, Swedish-speaking learners have higher proficiency in
Finnish than Finnish-speaking learners in Swedish [65]
The division by the language of instruction (Finnish or Swedish) is
applied to the whole educational system from preschool (around 2,700
organizations) to higher education (14 universities and 26 polytechnics)
[66; 67]
Teacher training at the University of Vaasa and Åbo Akademy is
administered in two stages: undergraduate – 180 ECTS and Master’s –
120 ECTS [68]
4 subject blocks are compulsory: Swedish, Pedagogy, Multilingual-
ism and Subjects in major (table 5)
At Åbo Akademi students learn the theory (3 credits) and practice
(2 credits) of multilingual education within their elective courses. 50%
of these subjects are taught in English [69]
2. International experience in multilingual education | 151
ҮШ ТІЛДЕ БІЛІМ БЕРУДІ ҰЙЫМДАСТЫРУ
·
ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ОБУЧЕНИЯ НА ТРЕХ ЯЗЫКАХ
·
TEACHING IN THREE LANGUAGES
Table 5. Compulsory subject blocks in 2 Finnish teaching universities
University of Vaasa
Åbo Akademy
Block on
Swedish language:
Grammar, translation, Swedish litera-
ture, academic writing
Block on
Pedagogy:
Psychology in
education, Special educa-
tion, School didactics, Teachers’ identity,
4 terms of teaching practice
Block on
Multilingualism:
Multilingual education, multilingual-
ism in society, language immersion
and other bilingual programs, CLIL,
teaching
and learning languages, re-
search on language immersion
Block on
Special Subjects:
Biology, Math, Physics and other subjects
depending on the major (Math teacher,
Physics teacher, etc.)
At the University of Oulu and University of Jyväskylä 40-70% of
curriculum is taught in English during the 5-year CLIL training [68]
At the University of Helsinki 40 hours (1 credit) is devoted to learn-
ing CLIL. At the University of Turku primary school teachers learn
CLIL theory (2 credits), and subject teachers learn an additional CLIL
module (1 credit) since 1997 [70]
Main conclusions:
Most school leavers are proficient in 4 languages – Finnish, English,
Swedish, and German or French. Furthermore, expenditure per student
is $ 9579 or 22 % of GDP, 7 times more
than in Kazakhstan
Future teachers take a compulsory block of subjects on multilin-
gualism as a part of their academic program
2.2.2. The Netherlands
97,5% of the population speak Dutch, 90% are fluent in English,
74% - in Frisian, 71% - in German, and 29% - in Spanish [71]
In 2016, GDP per capita was $45,210 [61]
The public expenditure on education is 5.4% of GDP [72]
Expenditure per student is $10,552 or 23% of GDP per capita [72]
Teaching in three languages was initiated in 1997 in 5 pilot schools
[57]
