Languages in the new national core curriculum

2016 for basic education in Finland

Anna-Kaisa Mustaparta
Counsellor of education

For learning and competence

 sámegiella
svenska suomi
français
English Deutsch
русский
English italiano
français
latinae
español Chinese Japanese
English

français
español

English

For learning and competence

 Sámegiella B2 Sámegiella A
Svenska B1
Suomi B1
Latinae B2
Svenska Suomi A
A
Modersmålsinr Äidinkielen-
iktad sv omainen suom

Deutsch eesti
English A 
(British, français
American, русский
African, Asian, español
Australian, global, italiano
lingua franca) A, B1 ja B2

For learning and competence

 Broad-based competence

For learning and competence

 Language education as a new concept
also shared by mother tongue curricula and other
subjects
growth into multilingualism
language awareness (languages around us,
endangered and minority languages,
encouragement in learning and using languages,
but also: paying attention to the language of
instruction in all subjects)
cultural diversity, diversity of identities

For learning and competence

 Other new or revised concepts

Authenticity of texts, learning environment, etc. =

meaningfulness for the pupil, relevance
Parallel use of languages (rinnakkaiskielisyys) = use
of more than one language in the context
Text = spoken and written language

For learning and competence

 New language proficency scale

Interaction skills: interaction in various situations,

use of communication strategies and cultural
appropriateness of communication
Interpretation of texts: listening and reading
comprehension
Text production: speaking and writing
No negative expressions

For learning and competence

 Widening the scope of texts

Different types of text: descriptive, informative,

instructive, persuasive, fiction of all kinds…
Functions: transactions of all kinds, greetings, small
talk, giving and requesting information, expressing
one’s opinion or feelings or difficulties in
understanding
Diverse media: radio and TV broadcasts, anything
via computer, cinema…
Interest and motivation of the pupils as the guiding
star when choosing themes

For learning and competence

 Learning to learn skills

Written in more detail than in the present core

curriculum
Self-assessment and reflection, setting one’s own
targets in language learning
Encouragement of classmates and cooperation in
learning
Life-long language learning skills

For learning and competence

 I want to
talk about
Why not
sports!
No, that’s not both?
interesting!
Let’s talk about We had language
latest fashion. shower last winter. I
learned some
Japanese.
I wonder if our
teacher has noticed I want to
that I speak I would love to
understand
Swedish well… I pronounce
the French well.
have this reading grammatical
disorder… system of
German.

For learning and competence

 I’d like to
learn What’s your
Russian, name and
too! where are
you from?
Меня зовут
Антон. Я из
Москвы.
My friend speaks
some Chinese,
cool, isn’t it?
I wonder why
people speak
English in so
many different
parts of the world.

For learning and competence