Funding for a research project on the Swedish language at Hanken

The project is linked to sustainable societal development as it examines how a linguistic minority such as the Swedish-speaking Finns perform in the only compulsory matriculation examination. It is also researching the language of young language users in a multilingual society with a strong majority language (Finnish).

"In many environments, English is a strong second language and this is reflected in the writing," says Sofia Stolt, lecturer at Hanken and postdoctoral researcher in the project. “Changes in the written language of Swedish-speaking Finns have not been studied to any great extent in recent years, and it is relevant for higher education institutions to have results on the language of future students.”

The research project hopes to develop the matriculation examination and Swedish native language teaching in both the short and long term. The researchers will monitor the design of the matriculation examination and see if the research results lead to any changes. In addition, the language use of the examinees and the general linguistic changes in society will be monitored in the coming years.

For more information, please contact the project's postdoctoral researcher Sofia Stolt and project manager Jannika Lassus at the University of Helsinki.

Sofia Stolt
Lecturer in Swedish and Business Communication, Director
Phone: +358 40 352 1402
E-mail: sofia.stolt@hanken.fi

Jannika Lassus
Associate Professor in the Swedish language
Phone: +358 50 556 0892
E-mail: jannika.lassus@helsinki.fi