Sirpa Leppänen
Biographic Data
| ID | 195539 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sirpa Leppänen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sirpa |
| FAMILY NAME | Leppänen |
| SIGNATURE | LEPPÄNEN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Jyväskylä |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7167-4649 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 138 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Multilingualism and the Internet
This entry outlines how multilingualism on the internet can mean a variety of things, depending on how the notion of the internet is conceptualized, which genres and modes of communication or language settings are focused on, and the disciplinary perspective from which their analysis is approached. It also aims at illustrating the paradigms of current research on multilingualism on the internet. One of these is the macro‐sociolinguistic approach …
Planting in the pandemic
This article looks at interest-driven and informal social media practices that have flourished in the pandemic period and its ensuing renaissance of domesticity. It investigates how tending plants and discussing them on social media serve as a particular site for connecting around loving and taking care of plants. Its focus is on the discursive means with which posters – guided by social media algorithms – rhetorically co-construct a morally acce…
English in Finland
English is an important but much-debated language in Finland. Extensive research shows that it serves as a useful linguistic resource in many contexts and poses little threat to Finland's domestic languages. We identify several areas for further fruitful research
Sociolinguistic upsets and people of color in social media performances
Particularly since the refugee "reception crisis" in 2015, Finland has started transforming into a more diverse and multicultural society. These societal changes have also been accompanied by sociolinguistic change, as well as language ideological debates and tensions, often manifesting in explicitly racist and xenophobic bursts of upset. In this article, our focus is on social media as a space where such societal and sociolinguistic upsets are a…
Introduction
This introductory article opens the thematic issue Spaces of Upset in the Nordic Region. It introduces the contributions of the issue, outlines the concepts that unite them, and discusses the sociolinguistic area in which they are set: the Nordic region. Centering on Denmark, Finland and Sweden, the article offers an overview of some of the sociolinguistic, ideological and political characteristics of the region and the countries it comprises. Th…
Multilingualism and the Internet
The topic of multilingualism and the Internet is important today due to globalization and the heterogeneous language practices that occur in online communication. The fact that the Internet is a central and meaningful forum for language use and communication for a growing number of individuals globally poses a challenge for language studies. Research is needed to describe and explain the ways in which Internet users select their language of commu…
Migrant rap in the periphery
Focusing on a YouTube performance by an emergent Finnish Somali rapper and the audience responses it has generated, this paper looks at ways in which rap music engages with the issue of belonging. Drawing on recent theorizations of belonging as a multi-dimensional, contingent and fluid process, along with sociolinguistic work on globalization and superdiversity, Finnish hip hop culture and popular cultural practices in social media, the paper inv…
Homing blogs as ambivalent spaces for feminine agency
This article discusses a form of lifestyle blogging where women blog about their homes and everyday lives. In these homing blogs, self-representations are characteristically spatially demarcated within the private sphere of the home. As these repeated representations of women in their homes take place in the public space of the internet, homing blogs work towards naturalizing the home as a women’s sphere. Written and commented on mostly by other …
Authenticity, normativity and social media
Dog blogs as ventriloquism
Further notes on sociolinguistic scales
This short paper seeks to reformulate and refine the notion of sociolinguistic scales as relative scope of understandability, thus drawing the notion fully into the realm of semiotics, rather than in the rather unproductive sphere of spatiotemporal and distributional interpretation where it has been deployed. Differences in scope of understandability are differences in the presupposability of signs, and such differences are not equivalent but str…
Media, multilingualism and language policing
313) describes how, in the seventeenth century, the term ''police'' was used to describe the rational management of the state, ''the set of means by which the state's forces can be increased while preserving the state in good order''. This rational management would be effected through the collection and production of knowledge about the people, so as to strengthen the state. Such knowledge would be infinitely detailed, stretching into the smalles…
Language policy in the making
Young People's Translocal New Media Uses
The aim of this paper is to shed light on the particularities of the linguistic, social and cultural action of young Finns in translocal new media spaces, and the ways in which they themselves make sense of and account for their actions. We present findings from 4 case studies, each of which illustrates aspects of translocality in young Finns' new media uses. Theoretically and methodologically the case studies draw on sociolinguistics, discourse …
Languaging in Ultima Thule
In this paper we investigate multilingualism as a phenomenon which pervades different social and cultural levels but is manifested in the everyday life of multilingual individuals. As an illustration, we examine multilingualism from the perspective of a young Sami boy, Ante, and explore how different languages function as a complex – but at times problematic – set of resources for him. To capture the complexity and fluidity in the relationships b…
Diverse uses of English in Finnish society
This article describes the role of English in Finland, where English is gaining ground in a variety of domains. While the spread of English has generated debate, little empirical evidence exists on how English is taken up and put to use by Finns, and the functions it serves in its various contexts of use. This article reports on work conducted in a project English voices in Finnish society: uses and functions of English in the media, education an…
Youth language in media contexts
Recent research has shown that the role of English in Finland is now changing. In particular contexts, it is sometimes used as a lingua franca, an intracultural means of communication, and an additional language, along with Finnish. An interesting domain in terms of the spread and changing role of English is also youth language - the focus of the present paper. Approaching youth language from a discourse-analytic and sociolinguistic perspective, …
Young People's Translocal New Media Uses
The aim of this paper is to shed light on the particularities of the linguistic, social and cultural action of young Finns in translocal new media spaces, and the ways in which they themselves make sense of and account for their actions. We present findings from 4 case studies, each of which illustrates aspects of translocality in young Finns' new media uses. Theoretically and methodologically the case studies draw on sociolinguistics, discourse …
Media, multilingualism and language policing
313) describes how, in the seventeenth century, the term ''police'' was used to describe the rational management of the state, ''the set of means by which the state's forces can be increased while preserving the state in good order''. This rational management would be effected through the collection and production of knowledge about the people, so as to strengthen the state. Such knowledge would be infinitely detailed, stretching into the smalles…
Further notes on sociolinguistic scales
This short paper seeks to reformulate and refine the notion of sociolinguistic scales as relative scope of understandability, thus drawing the notion fully into the realm of semiotics, rather than in the rather unproductive sphere of spatiotemporal and distributional interpretation where it has been deployed. Differences in scope of understandability are differences in the presupposability of signs, and such differences are not equivalent but str…
Youth language in media contexts
Recent research has shown that the role of English in Finland is now changing. In particular contexts, it is sometimes used as a lingua franca, an intracultural means of communication, and an additional language, along with Finnish. An interesting domain in terms of the spread and changing role of English is also youth language - the focus of the present paper. Approaching youth language from a discourse-analytic and sociolinguistic perspective, …
Languaging in Ultima Thule
In this paper we investigate multilingualism as a phenomenon which pervades different social and cultural levels but is manifested in the everyday life of multilingual individuals. As an illustration, we examine multilingualism from the perspective of a young Sami boy, Ante, and explore how different languages function as a complex – but at times problematic – set of resources for him. To capture the complexity and fluidity in the relationships b…
Authenticity, normativity and social media
Language policy in the making
Dog blogs as ventriloquism
Planting in the pandemic
This article looks at interest-driven and informal social media practices that have flourished in the pandemic period and its ensuing renaissance of domesticity. It investigates how tending plants and discussing them on social media serve as a particular site for connecting around loving and taking care of plants. Its focus is on the discursive means with which posters – guided by social media algorithms – rhetorically co-construct a morally acce…
Homing blogs as ambivalent spaces for feminine agency
This article discusses a form of lifestyle blogging where women blog about their homes and everyday lives. In these homing blogs, self-representations are characteristically spatially demarcated within the private sphere of the home. As these repeated representations of women in their homes take place in the public space of the internet, homing blogs work towards naturalizing the home as a women’s sphere. Written and commented on mostly by other …
Diverse uses of English in Finnish society
This article describes the role of English in Finland, where English is gaining ground in a variety of domains. While the spread of English has generated debate, little empirical evidence exists on how English is taken up and put to use by Finns, and the functions it serves in its various contexts of use. This article reports on work conducted in a project English voices in Finnish society: uses and functions of English in the media, education an…
Sociolinguistic upsets and people of color in social media performances
Particularly since the refugee "reception crisis" in 2015, Finland has started transforming into a more diverse and multicultural society. These societal changes have also been accompanied by sociolinguistic change, as well as language ideological debates and tensions, often manifesting in explicitly racist and xenophobic bursts of upset. In this article, our focus is on social media as a space where such societal and sociolinguistic upsets are a…
Diverse uses of English in Finnish society
This article describes the role of English in Finland, where English is gaining ground in a variety of domains. While the spread of English has generated debate, little empirical evidence exists on how English is taken up and put to use by Finns, and the functions it serves in its various contexts of use. This article reports on work conducted in a project English voices in Finnish society: uses and functions of English in the media, education an…
Youth language in media contexts
Recent research has shown that the role of English in Finland is now changing. In particular contexts, it is sometimes used as a lingua franca, an intracultural means of communication, and an additional language, along with Finnish. An interesting domain in terms of the spread and changing role of English is also youth language - the focus of the present paper. Approaching youth language from a discourse-analytic and sociolinguistic perspective, …
Languaging in Ultima Thule
In this paper we investigate multilingualism as a phenomenon which pervades different social and cultural levels but is manifested in the everyday life of multilingual individuals. As an illustration, we examine multilingualism from the perspective of a young Sami boy, Ante, and explore how different languages function as a complex – but at times problematic – set of resources for him. To capture the complexity and fluidity in the relationships b…
Media, multilingualism and language policing
313) describes how, in the seventeenth century, the term ''police'' was used to describe the rational management of the state, ''the set of means by which the state's forces can be increased while preserving the state in good order''. This rational management would be effected through the collection and production of knowledge about the people, so as to strengthen the state. Such knowledge would be infinitely detailed, stretching into the smalles…
Language policy in the making
Young People's Translocal New Media Uses
The aim of this paper is to shed light on the particularities of the linguistic, social and cultural action of young Finns in translocal new media spaces, and the ways in which they themselves make sense of and account for their actions. We present findings from 4 case studies, each of which illustrates aspects of translocality in young Finns' new media uses. Theoretically and methodologically the case studies draw on sociolinguistics, discourse …
Authenticity, normativity and social media
Dog blogs as ventriloquism
Further notes on sociolinguistic scales
This short paper seeks to reformulate and refine the notion of sociolinguistic scales as relative scope of understandability, thus drawing the notion fully into the realm of semiotics, rather than in the rather unproductive sphere of spatiotemporal and distributional interpretation where it has been deployed. Differences in scope of understandability are differences in the presupposability of signs, and such differences are not equivalent but str…
Migrant rap in the periphery
Focusing on a YouTube performance by an emergent Finnish Somali rapper and the audience responses it has generated, this paper looks at ways in which rap music engages with the issue of belonging. Drawing on recent theorizations of belonging as a multi-dimensional, contingent and fluid process, along with sociolinguistic work on globalization and superdiversity, Finnish hip hop culture and popular cultural practices in social media, the paper inv…
Homing blogs as ambivalent spaces for feminine agency
This article discusses a form of lifestyle blogging where women blog about their homes and everyday lives. In these homing blogs, self-representations are characteristically spatially demarcated within the private sphere of the home. As these repeated representations of women in their homes take place in the public space of the internet, homing blogs work towards naturalizing the home as a women’s sphere. Written and commented on mostly by other …
Multilingualism and the Internet
The topic of multilingualism and the Internet is important today due to globalization and the heterogeneous language practices that occur in online communication. The fact that the Internet is a central and meaningful forum for language use and communication for a growing number of individuals globally poses a challenge for language studies. Research is needed to describe and explain the ways in which Internet users select their language of commu…
Sociolinguistic upsets and people of color in social media performances
Particularly since the refugee "reception crisis" in 2015, Finland has started transforming into a more diverse and multicultural society. These societal changes have also been accompanied by sociolinguistic change, as well as language ideological debates and tensions, often manifesting in explicitly racist and xenophobic bursts of upset. In this article, our focus is on social media as a space where such societal and sociolinguistic upsets are a…
Introduction
This introductory article opens the thematic issue Spaces of Upset in the Nordic Region. It introduces the contributions of the issue, outlines the concepts that unite them, and discusses the sociolinguistic area in which they are set: the Nordic region. Centering on Denmark, Finland and Sweden, the article offers an overview of some of the sociolinguistic, ideological and political characteristics of the region and the countries it comprises. Th…
English in Finland
English is an important but much-debated language in Finland. Extensive research shows that it serves as a useful linguistic resource in many contexts and poses little threat to Finland's domestic languages. We identify several areas for further fruitful research
Multilingualism and the Internet
This entry outlines how multilingualism on the internet can mean a variety of things, depending on how the notion of the internet is conceptualized, which genres and modes of communication or language settings are focused on, and the disciplinary perspective from which their analysis is approached. It also aims at illustrating the paradigms of current research on multilingualism on the internet. One of these is the macro‐sociolinguistic approach …
Planting in the pandemic
This article looks at interest-driven and informal social media practices that have flourished in the pandemic period and its ensuing renaissance of domesticity. It investigates how tending plants and discussing them on social media serve as a particular site for connecting around loving and taking care of plants. Its focus is on the discursive means with which posters – guided by social media algorithms – rhetorically co-construct a morally acce…
Sociology (14 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (12 works) · Linguistics (10 works) · Political science (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (6 works) · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies (5 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (5 works) · Social media (5 works)