|
11 BILINGUALISM
Bilingualism is an important issue in Finland, a country with two official languages: Finnish and Swedish. Those
who are fully bilingual can find good employment in national and municipal government as well as the private
sector.
I have always considered myself bilingual, having Swedish as my mother tongue yet having been considered
competent for a professorship at the University of Helsinki with Finnish as the teaching language. I might not
know the Finnish names of some plant and animal species, but I am no naturalist, so I may be excused in
making use of the Latin on occasion.
Add to this the fact that the language issue now seems to be of less significance than in my student days in
the 1930s, when a disproportionate amount of leading positions were held by people whose mother tongue was
Swedish. These days, the language requirement remains, but those concerned must blame themselves if they
fail to meet it. There appears to be no discrimination based on mother tongue to speak of.
All this applies to people from wholly Finnish or Swedish-speaking households
– people who have often
expended blood, sweat and tears to learn the “second national language”, nowadays more accurately referred to
as the “first foreign language”. But what is the situation for the genuinely bilingual – those who at home speak
Finnish with one parent and Swedish with the other, and can think fluently in both languages?
In Belgium I have met people who define themselves as bilingual, and The Statesman’s Yearbook has no
accurate details on how many Belgians have French or Flemish as their first language. This does not apply in
Finland. Here, all citizens must be registered from birth as either Finnish or Swedish-speakers. So what do the
genuinely bilingual do?
Professor of Statistics Gunnar Fougstedt discussed this matter in his 1955 book Social Factors Affecting the
Choice of Language. He concluded that the choice of first language was mainly influenced by three factors: the
mother’s language, the language of schooling and the surrounding language. In addition there were a few other
factors and naturally some exceptions to the rule.
Thus, if your mother is Finnish-speaking and you go to school in Kuopio, you are most likely to be registered
as a Finnish-speaker
– just as likely as you are to register as a Swedish-speaker if your mother speaks Swedish
and you go to school in Ekenäs. Against this background, it is easy to understand why there are many young
men with Swedish names and surnames who prefer to speak Finnish, and many young ladies with Finnish
names and surnames who favour Swedish.
How will the situation develop in the future? Marriages that transcend language boundaries (I dislike the term
“mixed marriages”) seem to be increasing, but they do not necessarily imply an automatic choice of Finnish as
the main language. I have often gently pointed out that while my grandfather was actually a Fennoman (a
movement promoting the elevation of the Finnish language and culture), just one century ago my father leaned
more towards the Constitutionalists, joining the Swedish People
’s Party. Politics was thus a strong factor.
Another perspective is that the environment is changing due to the increasing migration of Finnish-speakers
to southern Finland. Naturally this is to the benefit of the Finnish language. On the other hand, the fact that the
environment is becoming more Finnish may contribute to parents putting their children in Swedish language
immersion programmes or Swedish schools to maintain bilingualism. So these two factors may actually partly
balance each other out.
Finally, we should consider how ongoing globalisation affects bilingualism. It is hard to say; most of all,
globalisation contributes to improving English skills among young people. In this way it can increase the facility
for acquiring new languages: learning one foreign language makes it ever easier to learn others.
Is it therefore easier for Swedish-speakers than Finnish-speakers to become fluent in foreign tongues? Most
probably yes, in the case of English and German, but generally speaking the most important factor is the attitude
towards learning languages. Bilingualism will continue to be a good starting point for positive human contacts.
Göran von Bonsdorff
– Professor emeritus
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
