U.S. English Foundation Research
SWEDEN
Language Research
4. Minority groups: To what extent are minority groups in this country disadvantaged by their language?
Updated (November 2002)
MEÄNKIELI AND SWEDEN FINNISH
Signing the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages ended the process of assimilation of the Tornedalians, initiated in 1888.
In 1888, one of the formal decisions in Tornedalen stipulated that only schools giving instruction in Swedish should benefit from the state support. From the introduction of Swedish state schools, the purpose of which was to “Swedicize” the region, until about 1957, there was an unofficial regional prohibition to use Finnish/Meänkieli in schoolyards. These languages were abandoned due to criticism by the former National Board of Education (Skolöverstyrelsen).
During the period of prohibition there were no coherent attempts to teach or to allow Finnish to be spoken in Swedish schools. In practice, the status of Meänkieli and Sweden Finnish was supported, but not explicitly protected, particularly in the education system and in the media. Theoretically Meänkieli speakers have had occasional opportunities to receive some instruction in Finnish at different levels since the 1930s, but in practice this has been possible mainly since the mid-1950s.
Between about 1962 and 1975, children with the Meänkieli/Sweden Finnish language backgrounds were sporadically given remedial instruction in their mother tongue for some hours per week. Around 1970, with the increased immigration from Finland, remedial instruction and so-called home language teaching was initiated on a larger scale. This was a result of the fact that Swedish teachers faced difficulties to teach non-Swedish-speaking children, who were submersed into monolingual mainstream classes.
On the other hand, ideas for a more coherent immigrant policy were being formulated at that time. In the 1970s and 1980s, Sweden treated immigrant languages in a progressive way, compared to other European countries. Through the Home Language Reform (1976) immigrant groups and their languages, including Meänkieli and Finnish, got special support and the right to mother tongue provision in some form.
During the last 30 years, a bilateral educational council has contributed to a dialogue between politicians and educational administrators in Finland and Sweden. This council has from time to time discussed and influenced many issues concerning language support for Finnish-speaking children in Sweden.
Support of mother tongue instruction, however, has also been based on the alarming reports about bilingual children from Tornedalen, who suffered from the double handicap of knowing neither language well.
Beginning in the late 1990s, bilingual signs for villages, streets etc. have been actively retained or re-introduced in Tornedalen. The present protection of the regional and minority languages depends on the local policies of 289 municipalities and their political and administrative leaderships.
The school in the municipality of Pajala in Tornedalen, for example, made Meänkieli a compulsory subject for most children in the year 2000. The goal of this effort was to teach basic Meänkieli and some old Finnish and Sámi place names typical for the region to all children living in that area.
Another municipality in the Tornedalen area, Haparanda, has developed an educational system with Tornio, its twin-neighboring town in Finland.1 The two towns are often referred to as the first “Eurocity” of Europe.
Source: Mercator Education, The Finnic Languages in Education in Sweden, http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_meankieli_in_sweden.htm
1 In both towns the pupils can choose instruction in the language of the other country, even at the upper secondary level, in the form of a modified two-way bilingual program.
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Updated (November 2007)
LANGUAGE ISSUE AT THE WORKPLACE
The Swedish Ombudsman for Ethnic Discrimination has recently received a complaint from Tiina Kiveliö, the Head of Development of Employment and Adult Education Department at Uppsala University. Kiveliö and her colleague had been forbidden to speak Finnish at their work premises.
Kiveliö's trade union, however, negotiated with the employer but the result was that only Swedish would be allowed in the hallways and cafeterias of Uppsala Social Services Department.
According to Ingrid Krogius, a lawyer at the Ombudsman for Ethnic Discrimination office, the Ombudsman wants to make a new attempt to clarify whether the employer has a valid reason to demand that only Swedish is allowed as the main language at the workplace.
Source: Eurolang News, November 23, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2992&Itemid=1&lang=en
ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW FINNISH SCHOOL IS NOT WELCOME
Finnish school situated in Upplands Väsby has applied for the establishment of the same type of school in the town of Södertälje. However, the town's Education Board has not supported it. They have argued that its establishment would be a negative move, as it would increase ethnic segregation.
Although the municipality is against the school, it might still be established if the Education Department that makes the final decision disagrees with the Education Board.
If the application is accepted, the first students could start in the new school in academic year 2008/2009.
Source: Eurolang News, November 23, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2992&Itemid=1&lang=en
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