Multilingualism in professional life A case study of bilingualism at an international law firm in...

Multilingualism in professional life

A case study of bilingualismat an international law firm in Helsinki

BMU University of Helsinki

2.9.2005 Raija Hämelin

2BMU 2.9.2005 © University of Helsinki / Raija Hämelin

"Die Finnen sind ein Volk, das in zwei Sprachen schweigt"

- Bertolt Brecht -


Contents

Scope and description of data

Language distribution of communication

Language skills

Attitudes towards bi- and multilingualism


Scope and description of analysed data

10

23

27

9

59

Lawyers

Supportstaff

Students

Law FirmHEL office

6

14

3

7

20

0

5

3

1

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**



50 4155 63

3541

2629

15 19 20 8

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Finnish Swedish Finnish Swedish

SwedishFinnishEnglish

Speech Writing

Communication at internal meetings – HEL lawyers

Mother tongue

Language

%



40

8

5030

0

0

0

0

60

93

5070

0

20

40

60

80

100

120



Speech Writing

Mother tongue

Language

Communication with Nordic colleagues – HEL lawyers

%



258

3918

6669

52

58

923

924

0

20

40

60

80

100

120



Speech Writing

Mother tongue

Language

Communication with clients in Finland – HEL lawyers

%


Role of Swedish at work – HEL lawyers

3,9

3,4

2,7

2,5

3,5

3,7

4,2

4,0

1 2 3 4 5

Reading

Listening

Spoken

Written

3

1

3

7 6

0 5 10 15

Less

Monthly

Weekly

Daily

FinnishSwedish

Number of respondentsAverage score1=not important

5=highly important

Importance of Swedish Frequency of Swedish used

Mother tongue


Mother tongue and identity

3

20

14

5

7

6

1

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100%

Students

Support staff

Lawyers

Finnish Swedish Other

3

18

11

4

5

6

1

4

3

1

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100%

Students

Support staff

Lawyers

Finnish Swedish

Bilingual Multilingual

Mother tongue Identity# of persons

Share, %

# of persons

Share, %


Language skills at work – two national languages

4

3

14

11

2

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100%

Students

Support staff

Lawyers

Only in mother tongue

Better in mother tongue than in the other national language

Equally well in both national languages

Finnish speaking Swedish speaking

1

2

6

4

5

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100%

Students

Support staff

Lawyers

Share, % Share, %


Individual language skills – HEL lawyers

14

1

10

4

4

10

1

1

8

1

6

2

1

1 1

1

11

6

1

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

6. lang

5. lang

4. lang

3. lang

2. lang

1. lang

Finnish Swedish EnglishGerman French SpanishGreek Dutch DanishNorwegian Japanese RussianItalian Sign language None

Share, %

# of persons

2

4

6

4

2

1

1

4 1

1

1

1

5

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

6. lang

5. lang

4. lang

3. lang

2. lang

1. lang


Share, %

Finnish speaking Swedish speaking# of persons


Individual language skills – HEL support staff

20

4

9

6

8

12

2

9

1

1

2

3

1

1

3

1

1

1

17

13

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

6. lang

5. lang

4. lang

3. lang

2. lang

1. lang


7

7

7

1

3

1

1 1

1

6

5

2

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

6. lang

5. lang

4. lang

3. lang

2. lang

1. lang


# of personsFinnish speaking Swedish speaking

# of persons

Share, % Share, %


Individual language skills – HEL students

3

2

1

1

2

3

2

3

1

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

6. lang

5. lang

4. lang

3. lang

2. lang

1. lang


5

5

5

3 2

1 1

5

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

6. lang

5. lang

4. lang

3. lang

2. lang

1. lang



# of persons

Share, % Share, %


Language skills Law office staff vs. law students

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Writing

SpokenProduction

SpokenInteraction

Reading

Listening

PartnersAssociate lawyersLawyersSupport staffStudents

CEF - Common Reference Levels

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2


Attitudes – Role of Swedish at Law Firm

2

4

3

16

9

2

1

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers

Very important Important

Less important

1

3

3

4

2

3

2

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers

Very important Important

Less important


# of persons

Share, % Share, %


Attitudes towards Swedish

1

4

11

2

16

3

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers

Very positive Positive Less positive

1

2

2

4

5

4

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers



# of persons

Share, % Share, %


Attitudes towards bi- and multilingualism


# of persons

Share, % Share, %

2

13

13

1

7

1

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers


3

5

5

2

2

1

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers



Attitudes of colleagues towards bi- and multilingualism


# of persons

Share, % Share, %

1

10

9

2

10

5

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers


3

2

5

2

5

1

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

Students

Supportstaff

Lawyers



Attitudes become evident through…

2

15

11

1

8

5

3

20

14

0 10 20 30

Students

Support staff

Lawyers

EmbarrassmentEncouraging commentsA living interest

Number of responses

5

3

2

2

21

5

7

6

0 2 4 6 8

Students

Support staff

Lawyers

EmbarrassmentEncouraging commentsA living interest

Number of responses

Finnish speaking Swedish speaking


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


Vive le bi- et multilinguisme!

Multilingualism in professional life A case study of bilingualism at an international law firm in...

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