‘Somewhere Between Engineering and Humanities’: Discourses of Investment in Additional Language Learning Among Students of Higher Education in Finland
Abstract This chapter investigates discourses of investment in additional language learning among students of higher education in Finland. Additional languages in this context refer to those languages that pupils and students can choose to study. Using the concepts of investment, discourse, and scal...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | unknown |
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Springer International Publishing
2023
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42979-8_3 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-031-42979-8_3 |
| Summary: | Abstract This chapter investigates discourses of investment in additional language learning among students of higher education in Finland. Additional languages in this context refer to those languages that pupils and students can choose to study. Using the concepts of investment, discourse, and scale, this sociolinguistic and discourse analytical study analyses 18 interviews of higher education students in various fields of technology and examines what kinds of spatial and temporal scales are at play when individuals talk about their investment in additional language learning. The chapter demonstrates how discourses of pleasure/enjoyment, struggle, and profit are drawn on by the students. The study also shows tensions between these discourses that reflect institutional values and neoliberal logic that permeate additional language learning practices and individual motivations in their investment efforts. |
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