6. Conclusion
6.1 Further research
There are a number of issues, in connection to this research that would be interesting to investigate further. One of the issues which I would like to focus on here is the schools as they constitute the foundation of teaching and learning Swedish for most people, not only in Joensuu. The schools have already been mentioned by some of the respondents as a place where the discussion about Swedish language is taking place. Therefore, it would be interesting to see the attitude pupils have when commencing their Swedish studies; where they get it from and what the schools and teachers do to solve it or at least get around it.
This is of cause presuming that there is a negative attitude towards Swedish as one respondent suggested. It would also be interesting to see how Swedish is doing in
‘competition’ with English, German and especially Russian which has gained a foothold in Joensuu, and other border areas. In addition, it would be interesting to see who chooses to continue studies in Swedish at university level and beyond. What reasons do students have for choosing Swedish and how can they be a part of the solution, as they finish their studies and become civil servants in public offices of Joensuu.
On a global level it could be interesting to compare Finland with other bilingual countries like Switzerland or Canada to see what they understand by bilingualism; how they deal with it and if there are any similarities with Finland.
Finally, bringing in other ethnic groups such as the Sámi, Russians etc., could open the research towards a multicultural discussion. It would make an interesting contribution to the discussion to the much needed discussion on multiculturalism in Finland
81
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Appendix A
Summary of interview with male Swedish-speaking Finn (SSF1) living in Joensuu. 2-4-2009.
Background/Introduction
SSF1 spend his childhood and adolescents in Helsinki as well as education before, rather coincidently, moving to Joensuu in 1994.
The reasons for moving to Joensuu were many, although it at the same time was somewhat of a coincidence that it was Joensuu:
Well it’s a sum of many different factors. I met my wife, she is not from this area but she had been studying here [Joensuu] and I also knew this town from earlier and this was the compromise town for us. She did not want to live in Helsinki and I was ready to move and then we just decided let’s choose Joensuu, we didn’t have a very strong connection to the town – only those from her studies and my former visits here so it was in a way a coincidence.
Discriminations/boundaries
When it comes to adapting to life in monolingual Finnish speaking Joensuu, as compared to bilingual Helsinki, SSF1 points out that being able to speak Finnish is key. He also points out that Finnish is necessary also in Helsinki.
For me it is no problem because I was so bilingual even before moving here. In Helsinki, when I was young and even though I attended a Swedish-speaking school and most, or let’s say many of my friends where Swedish speaking and my family was it for sure, you could not live only in Swedish, so to say.
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However, part of the reason why Finnish was necessary, can only be described as cultural racism, which does not seem to exist in Joensuu.
There where situations in the streets or wherever, at that time, where you had to be a little bit careful not to speak Swedish too loudly because there where these guys who did not like Swedish to be spoken so they might come and threatened you or insult you or whatever, you learn to live with your language in a special way – this is not how I live here because here Swedish is so rare that people are not angry they are more wondering, they are more curious about you than anything else but it also means that you can’t expect anybody to understand you so you can’t use your mother tongue anywhere.
Despite Joensuu’s status as a monolingual municipality, SSF1 did not have any concerns about moving there.
No, I did not think about it then and I knew very well before moving here that it is not possible to have service or very much communication in Swedish in Joensuu because I have travelled a lot inside Finland and know different regions and towns rather well so I knew very well how it is.
He does, however, believe that the language plays a role as a boundary for Swedish-speaking Finns.
speaking Finns, there are of cause many types of Swedish-speaking Finns as well as in any population and there are quite a lot of people inside that population that couldn’t imagine to move to a town like this but I can just say that, as a background, it’s true that even today most of the Swedish speaking population lives in areas or town where they are the majority or there are a lot, so many that it can be considered bilingual to some extend so you have the signs [in Swedish] , you can find people in the shops, library or healthcare centres who can at least understand you when you speak Swedish.
When it come to using Swedish with the authorities in Joensuu the answer is very clear, there is no Swedish-speaking help.
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No, not to any authorities in this town or area… No use. No chance. I mean there are single individuals who might be even good at Swedish but you can’t count on it at all and it has happened, maybe once or twice that some civil servant has been able to understand or even speak Swedish and that has been like a funny situation but we are not handling the matter in Swedish, maybe we have talked about some other things in Swedish but the real matter has to be discussed in Finnish to get it right. Let say a situation that has occurred more than once it that, most authorities in Finland have all their forms in both languages because the legislation says they have to have them, like these forms for your personal taxation. So I ordered all my forms and papers in Swedish because it is possible and I like to have it that way. When I ordered this form for my annual taxation, the so-called taxation card, then the person on the phone said: “But hey this is in Swedish now, I can’t understand it. Do you understand it?” And I said “I have not ordered it by accident, I am Swedish-speaking.” “Oh” the person said “So it is okay with you, it’s really okay that it’s in Swedish?”
that tells a lot that there are so few of us, that people working in authorities where that should be able to serve people, with Swedish as their mother tongue, they have not thought about it at all. Legally they should be possible to serve but practically they have not thought about it at all, they don’t oppose it but very few people can do it and most of them have never thought about it or been be even forced to think about it.
On the regional or the local level it’s really a lucky situation if you can find anybody who can serve you in Swedish.
When it comes to how the local authorities, is handling their job at providing service in Swedish, the answer is not so clear but he does indicate that area has room for improvement.
…I have not been forced to take any problem to the court or any sever health problems but if I remember correctly there are in some of these places you can find some individuals who might be able to handle your case, even in Swedish but that is more by accident than by purpose or by legislation imposed.
He believes that the legislation is good but there are simply too few Swedish-speakers in the area to uphold the service. Also when asked where he thinks the city could improve he
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indicates that the Swedish-speaking Finns are too few and that the question therefore needs to be combined with other language minorities.
Well I think that the amount of Russian speaking people in this area is at least 20 times bigger than that of the Swedish speaker and even that question is quite non-existing. Also the number of English speaking is much bigger than that of the Swedish speakers and now we have a large amount of refugee from Somalia again in this area, we had a big group 20 years ago but they have moved to other places but now we have a lot of Somali speakers again maybe only for a short while but I think the question about other languages than Finnish should in a way be handled not as one complex but I think if you want to raise any consciousness about Swedish-speaking population you have to do it together or beside raising consciousness about the other language groups that are also represented here, most of them in bigger numbers than Swedish-speakers and that could be done, and should be done by city authorities and regional authorities and not because of legislation only but mainly because Finland
Well I think that the amount of Russian speaking people in this area is at least 20 times bigger than that of the Swedish speaker and even that question is quite non-existing. Also the number of English speaking is much bigger than that of the Swedish speakers and now we have a large amount of refugee from Somalia again in this area, we had a big group 20 years ago but they have moved to other places but now we have a lot of Somali speakers again maybe only for a short while but I think the question about other languages than Finnish should in a way be handled not as one complex but I think if you want to raise any consciousness about Swedish-speaking population you have to do it together or beside raising consciousness about the other language groups that are also represented here, most of them in bigger numbers than Swedish-speakers and that could be done, and should be done by city authorities and regional authorities and not because of legislation only but mainly because Finland