Language User Profiles

Temporary visitors work in expert positions in Finland and manage their work and leisure time in English. Due to their “temporary” stay in Finland and due to being a member of an English-speaking community, they have not thought that they would ever need Finnish. However, some temporary visitors have found themselves staying in Finland for longer. The threshold for studying Finnish has increased, and the temporary visitor may no longer have motivation, courage or time for studying Finnish.  

Temporary visitors are often surprised at how much Finnish one needs in Finland. They are also unaware of how useful even beginner-level language can be in their everyday lives. The importance of Finnish language for work and leisure may have been underplayed during recruitment. Failure to understand the language around them adds to their feelings of exclusion and weakens their sense of belonging. Knowing Finnish may be important for career advancement also in primarily English-language workplaces.  

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the temporary visitor in the following ways:  

• Starting at recruitment, provide a realistic view of the significance of Finnish.  
• At the very beginning, provide an opportunity to take a language course during working hours.  
• Take interest in the new employee’s language studies and provide opportunities for using Finnish.  
• Discuss language issues in employee performance reviews. Underline that the employer shares responsibility for their employees’ language learning.  
• Map the employee's objectives and plans with regard to language learning.  
• Encourage Finnish study and use, and acknowledge even minor improvement of language proficiency.

A reserved perfectionist is an expert who often experiences a deep conflict between their professional identity and their self-proclaimed imperfect language proficiency. Because of this, they prefer not to use Finnish in their tasks or with colleagues. The reserved perfectionist avoids mistakes and plans their speech carefully in advance before opening their mouth. In spontaneous and fast-paced discussions, the reserved perfectionist is sometimes unable to take the floor.   

The reserved perfectionist focuses on errors and deficiencies in their language use. They compare themselves to native speakers and fail to notice their strengths. The reserved perfectionist may also have received negative feedback on their language, further increasing the threshold. Finnish learners often resort to English for interaction due to fear of making mistakes.  

Developing oral language proficiency and pronunciation is particularly difficult for a reserved perfectionist, as they avoid situations where they would have to react spontaneously in Finnish. However, the reserved perfectionist may perform well in situations where communication is predictable and planned in advance.   

Language learning is usually easiest in scenarios that are not a threat to the learner’s professional identity. Identifying and utilizing such scenarios in language learning at the workplace would be beneficial. Appreciating the language learner as a professionals of their field irrespective of their role as learner or their limited language proficiency is also crucial.  

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the reserved perfectionist in the following ways:  

• Shield the language learner from feelings of shame and inadequacy by creating safe opportunities for language use.  
• Do not publicly correct the learner's linguistic errors.  
• Anticipate and plan communicative situations to allow learners prepare in advance.  
• Give the learner opportunities for one-on-one feedback.  
• Encourage language learning.  
• Share responsibility for successful interaction. 

The spinning wheel is motivated and eager to learn the language but lacks natural opportunities using Finnish at the workplace or in their everyday life. Many spinning wheels may have found themselves deliberately assigned to a position where Finnish skills are unnecessary, and therefore their language learning path is partly blocked by choices made by their employer. The spinning wheel has few Finnish contacts outside work, and they may be unable to attend language courses due to their life situation. Sometimes their colleagues are not prepared to listen to Finnish spoken slowly or differently.

The spinning wheel appreciates that proficiency in Finnish affects their career opportunities and participation in the community. Because of this, they would gladly study Finnish and attend language courses if their employer offered the chance to do so during working hours. The spinning wheel is somewhat frustrated by the current state of affairs, but remains hopeful that they might learn the language in the future, possibly if their life situation changes. With appropriate support from the work community, the spinning wheel may be able to quickly improve their language proficiency.

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the spinning wheel in the following ways:  

• Listen to their wishes on language use.  
• Set language learning goals together.  
• Offer opportunities to use Finnish and encourage the work community to utilise the spinning wheel's language proficiency.  
• Use clear language.  
• Make use of the spinning wheel's experience when planning support methods for language learners in the work community.  

The assimilator has mastered Finnish and found their place in Finnish-speaking communities. Since the beginning, they have been a motivated language learner and have consciously chosen to use Finnish instead of English.

The assimilator has not only taken Finnish courses, but actively used the language outside the course in everyday communication. The work community and other speakers of the language have supported the assimilator in everyday communication. In other words, the assimilator has not learned the language in isolation or only in language courses. They started using their limited language proficiency early, and were lucky to be surrounded by people who did not switch to English despite the assimilator's initially limited proficiency.

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the assimilator in the following ways:  

• Ensure that there are continuous or even increasing opportunities for using Finnish in the future.  
• Appreciate the assimilator’s Finnish language proficiency.  
• Be prepared to adjust the assimilator's work tasks or give them more responsibility as their language proficiency improves.
• Utilise the assimilator's experiences and skills to support other language learners in the work community.  

The pragmatist takes a practical perspective to the linguistic environment at work. If tasks requires a high-level Finnish proficiency or if clients become reserved when an employee speaks with a foreign accent, the pragmatist believes that the task cannot be assigned to someone of limited language proficiency. In addition, the pragmatist believes that developing language proficiency is the sole responsibility of the language learner and does not concern the learner's employer or colleagues.

On the other hand, a pragmatist appreciates that expertise can compensate for limited language proficiency in tasks where language is less important. They requiring proficiency in Finnish from employees is unnecessary when it is not required by the task and when English is sufficient.

The pragmatist's approach may be problematic if the available workforce has insufficient language proficiency. If the work community is willing to support developing language proficiency, it will be at an advantage when competing for potential employees. For instance, support for language learning may allow an employee to contribute their valuable expertise to the company.

This is not to say that this pragmatic approach to language cannot be applied with regard to certain tasks and employees. However, the pragmatist often underestimates the significance of language proficiency to the learner’s comfort, well-being and engagement.

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the pragmatist in the following ways:  

• Provide information on the significance of the work community in the language learning process.  
• Emphasise that the workplace benefits of supporting employees’ language learning.  
• Explain how the work community can support the development of professional language proficiency.  
• Explain the diverse significance of language proficiency.

A linguistically burdened colleague is of the opinion that because they live in Finland and have not selected a particularly international job, they should be able to work in Finnish. They can speak English but the thought of having to use it on the job or in informal situations at work feels extremely stressful to them. They also feel somewhat disturbed and like an outsider when foreign-language colleagues speak in a shared language not spoken by the linguistically burdened colleague.  

A linguistically burdened colleague also feels that supporting their second-language speaker colleagues is burdensome and the uneven division of labour, caused by different language proficiencies, is unfair. They think incoming employees should attend language courses and only come to work when they can work in Finnish.

The starting assumption in Finland is that a trained professional knows English. Language proficiency expectations can be stressful if the employee feels that they do not meet them. The linguistically burdened colleague and the reserved perfectionist (language profiles of international employees) both experience conflict between their expertise and their language proficiency. The linguistically burdened colleague may feel ashamed for their limited English proficiency and that they are unable to perform professional in English as well as in Finnish.

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the Linguistically Burdened Colleague in the following ways: 

• Lay out clear rules and instructions for using different languages.  
• Give the linguistically burdened colleague an opportunity to train so that they know how to act with language awareness in interactive situations.  
• Provide help and resources to the linguistically burdened colleague so that they may support a second-language colleagues.  
• Identify inequality related to language and language use and bring it up with the work community.  
• Encourage the employee to develop their English proficiency by creating safe opportunities for language use where limited proficiency is adequate.  
• Support community-building and foster psychological safety. 

The overly hospitable employee speaks fluent English and is very happy to use English with international colleagues. They believe that using English is polite towards foreigners and shows that Finland is part of the international community. They think that it is unnecessary for their colleagues to learn Finnish, as English is enough for everyday life in Finland.

The overly hospitable employee is practical about language and language use. They think that language and language use have no larger meaning: because everyone knows English and many work-related documents and terms are in English already, using English everywhere is a practical solution.

Although they may think they are being polite and inclusive, this employee might be doing international employees and the work community a disservice. On one hand, some Finnish-speaking colleagues may be less proficient in English than the overly hospitable employee thinks, and on the other, many international colleagues may wish to learn Finnish. Many need Finnish in their everyday life, and the work community may be their only opportunity to practice using the Finnish language.

The overly hospitable may not realise that using English can set a glass roof for international employees’ career progress. In addition, the overly hospitable may inadvertently offend the language learner. If the language learner wants to practise speaking Finnish and starts a discussion in Finnish, but their partner switches to English, the language learner may feel rejected. Repeated experiences of failure and being denied practice opportunities further discourages them from using Finnish.

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the overly hospitable in the following ways:  

• Explain the diverse significance of language proficiency.  
• Encourage the overly hospitable to ask about their colleagues’ language preferences.  
• Provide clear guidance on how the overly hospitable can support language learners.  
• Remind everyone that the needs and preferences of language learners may change over time.  
   

The facilitator is mindful and always aware of language issues. They often bring up language choice and naturally monitor communication situations with an eye on whether someone needs linguistic support for understanding the discussion or for their own speech. The facilitator supports their foreign-language colleagues by using clear language and if necessary, acting as interpreter. The facilitator is aware that developing the language proficiency of an international employee benefits not only the learner but the work community as a whole. 

The facilitator is unfazed by atypical Finnish pronunciation, difficulties in word retrieval, or using several languages in conversation. The facilitator assumes responsibility for progressing interaction and provides linguistic support by using clear language and synonyms. The facilitator utilises the environment, expressions, gestures and illustrative examples in interaction. They do not switch to English at the first misunderstanding or communicative hurdle. On the other hand, they are not afraid to resort to other languages for words to ensure understanding. The facilitator understands when a language learner needs support, and offers it at the right time. 

The facilitator does not need to be a native Finnish speaker or a language learning specialist; being fluent in Finnish and motivated to help learners in various work community interactions is enough. The best facilitators are often international employees who have become highly proficient in Finnish. 

As supervisor or colleague, you can support the facilitator in the following ways: 

• Give the facilitator training on factors affecting language learning so that they can be even more conscious of their actions and can share best practices with others. 
• Encourage the facilitator to become the language coordinator of the work community. 
• Provide the facilitator with networking opportunities. 
• Recognise the value of the facilitator’s language support.

Korpela, Eveliina & Lehtimaja, Inkeri 2023. Kielenkäyttäjäprofiilit monikielisen työyhteisön tukena – tutkimuksellinen kehittämistyö kielentutkijan työkaluna. AFinLAn vuosikirja 2023, 166–193. https://doi.org/10.30661/afinlavk.126198.