Multilingualism in professional life A case study of bilingualism at an international law firm in Helsinki BMU University of Helsinki Raija Hämelin

1 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin "Die Finnen sind ein Volk, das in zwei Sprachen schweigt" - Bertolt Brecht -

2 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Contents  Scope and description of data  Language distribution of communication  Language skills  Attitudes towards bi- and multilingualism

3 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Scope and description of analysed data Law Firm HEL office Swedish speaking Finnish speaking Other** * Data from other offices of Law Firm have been excluded from all analyses ** Respondents with mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish are not included in all analyses OTH* Number of respondents to the questionnaire in each sub-group Law Firm total respondents 69 Swedish speaking Finnish speaking Other** Swedish speaking Finnish speaking Other**

4 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Language distribution of communication SpeechWriting Communication at internal meetings – HEL lawyers Mother tongue Language %

5 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Language distribution of communication SpeechWriting Mother tongue Language Communication with Nordic colleagues – HEL lawyers %

6 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Language distribution of communication SpeechWriting Mother tongue Language Communication with clients in Finland – HEL lawyers %

7 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Role of Swedish at work – HEL lawyers Number of respondentsAverage score 1=not important 5=highly important Importance of SwedishFrequency of Swedish used Mother tongue

8 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Mother tongue and identity Mother tongue Identity # of persons Share, % # of persons Share, %

9 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Language skills at work – two national languages Finnish speaking Swedish speaking Share, %

10 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Individual language skills – HEL lawyers Share, % # of persons Share, % Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons

11 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Individual language skills – HEL support staff # of persons Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons Share, %

12 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Individual language skills – HEL students # of persons Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons Share, %

13 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Language skills Law office staff vs. law students CEF - Common Reference Levels A1A2B1B2C1C2

14 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Attitudes – Role of Swedish at Law Firm # of persons Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons Share, %

15 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Attitudes towards Swedish # of persons Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons Share, %

16 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Attitudes towards bi- and multilingualism # of persons Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons Share, %

17 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Attitudes of colleagues towards bi- and multilingualism # of persons Finnish speaking Swedish speaking # of persons Share, %

18 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Attitudes become evident through… Number of responses Finnish speaking Swedish speaking

19 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Preliminary findings for discussion  A multilingual professional environment offers excellent opportunities for active persons to grow their language skills. On average, a Swedish speaking person adapts more to the language of the counterpart (colleague, client, Nordic contact) than her Finnish colleague. However, in formal communication (i.e. writing) the dominance of English, as the official company language, is accentuated  Swedish speaking persons consider active language skills (spoken, written) in Swedish more important than the passive skills (listening, reading) compared to their Finnish colleagues  All respondents consider themselves being skilled in at least four languages. The second language, differs between the Swedish and the Finnish speaking. Depth of the language skills in Swedish of the Finnish speaking are modest, only few reach B2 level and beyond in active language use  Persons with Swedish as their mother tongue seem to prefer to have Swedish as their primary identity (at least in a strong minority culture) even if they consider themselves fluent in both national languages. Finnish speaking who are fluent in Swedish seem to more easily identify themselves as bilingual (differentiation)  Attitudes towards bi- or multilingualism are more positive than towards Swedish

20 BMU © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin Vive le bi- et multilinguisme!