Monolingual practices confronting multilingual realities. Finnish teachers’ perceptions of linguistic diversity

Abstract

This study examined Finnish teachers' (N = 820) beliefs related to multilingualism and teaching multilingual Finnish language learners. Teachers' beliefs were mainly positive. However, teachers did not always consider home languages as learning resources. There were three categories of multilingual ideologies: advocacy for, allowance and denial of multilingualism in the classroom. Factors influencing the teachers’ beliefs were experience in teaching migrants, teaching area, training in linguistically responsive teaching and language awareness. The results indicate a need for professional development for all teachers to promote a move away from maintaining monolingualism to advocating for multilingualism to better reflect the realities of the classrooms.