Leena Maria Heikkola
Biographic Data
| ID | 3075801 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Leena Maria Heikkola |
| GIVEN NAMES | Leena Maria |
| FAMILY NAME | Heikkola |
| SIGNATURE | HEIKKOLA L M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Åbo Akademi University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1795-7656 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 71 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Teachers’ views on students’ multilingual resources - tracking the impact of curriculum reform
Background In 2016, Finnish core curriculum was revised, and teachers are now required to implement multilingual pedagogies in their classrooms. Objectives This study aims to examine how the national curriculum reform may have influenced teachers’ views on the use of multilingual students’ first languages in the classroom.Methods The data consists of 1855 Finnish teachers’ responses in two surveys, which were gathered in 2016 and 2021. The data i…
Conceptualising transformative language teaching for sustainability and why it is needed
This paper defines transformative language teaching for sustainability (TLS) and shows how contemporary, learner-oriented language teaching can foster important competencies and skills needed to reach the goals of education for sustainable development (ESD). The main aim of our approach is to integrate transformation-oriented ESD into language teaching in a way that considers and utilises the special features of language teaching and learning. We…
Finnish pre-service teachers’ understandings of the role of language(s) in learning mathematics
We examined Finnish pre-service primary school teachers' understandings of the role of language(s) in learning mathematics and how these understandings developed during a period of teaching practice.We also examined how the participants experienced the usefulness of the ready-made multilingual digital material Binogi and how the teaching practice period influenced their thoughts on multilingual pedagogies.Our results indicate that the teacher tra…
Migrant-Background Student Experiences of Facing and Overcoming Difficulties in Finnish Comprehensive Schools
This article considers what students with a migrant background in Finnish comprehensive schools report as difficult, and how they succeed in overcoming these difficulties. We draw on two sets of school wellbeing and learning surveys for migrant students, conducted in 2016 and 2021 in comprehensive schools (grades 1–9) in and around two major cities in Finland. We pay attention to student answers to three questions: What is difficult in school? Ho…
Linguistically responsive teaching: A requirement for Finnish primary school teachers
We investigated Finnish primary school teachers’ understandings of processes of language learning, their reported linguistically responsive practices, their reported professional learning needs, and the links between these. The teachers (n = 246) responded to an online survey. Frequencies, possible links between the teachers’ background factors and their understandings and reported practices (one-way analysis of variance) and possible correlation…
Requirements Meet Reality: Finnish Teachers’ Practices in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms
The current Finnish core curriculum requires all teachers in basic education to be linguistically responsive. However, studies on the linguistically responsive practices used by teachers are scarce. The frequency with which teachers (N = 820) use 21 linguistically responsive practices was investigated through data that were gathered via an online survey. Based on factor analysis, teachers’ practices formed four categories: identifying language de…
Teaching immigrant students: Finnish teachers' understandings and attitudes
This study analysed Finnish teachers' (N = 820) understandings and attitudes about teaching students from immigrant backgrounds and how these relate to linguistically and culturally responsive education. The data were gathered via an online-survey in 2016. The results indicate that the Finnish teachers surveyed had knowledge about second language acquisition, had positive attitudes towards students' first languages, and had a strong sense of resp…
Listen-and-repeat training in the learning of non-native consonant duration contrasts: Influence of consonant type as reflected by MMN and behavioral methods
Phonological duration differences in quantity languages can be problematic for second language learners whose native language does not use duration contrastively. Recent studies have found improvement in the processing of non-native vowel duration contrasts with the use of listen-and-repeat training, and the current study explores the efficacy of similar methodology on consonant duration contrasts. 18 adult participants underwent two days of list…
Teachers’ beliefs related to language choice in immigrant students’ homes
This study investigates how Finnish teachers regard immigrant families’ home language policies. Of the teachers who responded, 53.3% believed it best for parents to speak their first languages at home, and 31.7% believed that both first language and language of instruction should be used at home. A minority of the teachers believed that only Finnish should be spoken at home. The teachers’ justifications for their beliefs reflected Ruiz’s (1984) o…
Monolingual ideologies confronting multilingual realities. Finnish teachers’ beliefs about linguistic diversity
Songs and poems in the language classroom: Teachers' beliefs and practices
Monolingual ideologies confronting multilingual realities. Finnish teachers’ beliefs about linguistic diversity
Finnish pre-service teachers’ understandings of the role of language(s) in learning mathematics
We examined Finnish pre-service primary school teachers' understandings of the role of language(s) in learning mathematics and how these understandings developed during a period of teaching practice.We also examined how the participants experienced the usefulness of the ready-made multilingual digital material Binogi and how the teaching practice period influenced their thoughts on multilingual pedagogies.Our results indicate that the teacher tra…
Teaching immigrant students: Finnish teachers' understandings and attitudes
This study analysed Finnish teachers' (N = 820) understandings and attitudes about teaching students from immigrant backgrounds and how these relate to linguistically and culturally responsive education. The data were gathered via an online-survey in 2016. The results indicate that the Finnish teachers surveyed had knowledge about second language acquisition, had positive attitudes towards students' first languages, and had a strong sense of resp…
Teachers’ beliefs related to language choice in immigrant students’ homes
This study investigates how Finnish teachers regard immigrant families’ home language policies. Of the teachers who responded, 53.3% believed it best for parents to speak their first languages at home, and 31.7% believed that both first language and language of instruction should be used at home. A minority of the teachers believed that only Finnish should be spoken at home. The teachers’ justifications for their beliefs reflected Ruiz’s (1984) o…
Requirements Meet Reality: Finnish Teachers’ Practices in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms
The current Finnish core curriculum requires all teachers in basic education to be linguistically responsive. However, studies on the linguistically responsive practices used by teachers are scarce. The frequency with which teachers (N = 820) use 21 linguistically responsive practices was investigated through data that were gathered via an online survey. Based on factor analysis, teachers’ practices formed four categories: identifying language de…
Listen-and-repeat training in the learning of non-native consonant duration contrasts: Influence of consonant type as reflected by MMN and behavioral methods
Phonological duration differences in quantity languages can be problematic for second language learners whose native language does not use duration contrastively. Recent studies have found improvement in the processing of non-native vowel duration contrasts with the use of listen-and-repeat training, and the current study explores the efficacy of similar methodology on consonant duration contrasts. 18 adult participants underwent two days of list…
Songs and poems in the language classroom: Teachers' beliefs and practices
Songs and poems in the language classroom: Teachers' beliefs and practices
Monolingual ideologies confronting multilingual realities. Finnish teachers’ beliefs about linguistic diversity
Teachers’ beliefs related to language choice in immigrant students’ homes
This study investigates how Finnish teachers regard immigrant families’ home language policies. Of the teachers who responded, 53.3% believed it best for parents to speak their first languages at home, and 31.7% believed that both first language and language of instruction should be used at home. A minority of the teachers believed that only Finnish should be spoken at home. The teachers’ justifications for their beliefs reflected Ruiz’s (1984) o…
Migrant-Background Student Experiences of Facing and Overcoming Difficulties in Finnish Comprehensive Schools
This article considers what students with a migrant background in Finnish comprehensive schools report as difficult, and how they succeed in overcoming these difficulties. We draw on two sets of school wellbeing and learning surveys for migrant students, conducted in 2016 and 2021 in comprehensive schools (grades 1–9) in and around two major cities in Finland. We pay attention to student answers to three questions: What is difficult in school? Ho…
Linguistically responsive teaching: A requirement for Finnish primary school teachers
We investigated Finnish primary school teachers’ understandings of processes of language learning, their reported linguistically responsive practices, their reported professional learning needs, and the links between these. The teachers (n = 246) responded to an online survey. Frequencies, possible links between the teachers’ background factors and their understandings and reported practices (one-way analysis of variance) and possible correlation…
Requirements Meet Reality: Finnish Teachers’ Practices in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms
The current Finnish core curriculum requires all teachers in basic education to be linguistically responsive. However, studies on the linguistically responsive practices used by teachers are scarce. The frequency with which teachers (N = 820) use 21 linguistically responsive practices was investigated through data that were gathered via an online survey. Based on factor analysis, teachers’ practices formed four categories: identifying language de…
Teaching immigrant students: Finnish teachers' understandings and attitudes
This study analysed Finnish teachers' (N = 820) understandings and attitudes about teaching students from immigrant backgrounds and how these relate to linguistically and culturally responsive education. The data were gathered via an online-survey in 2016. The results indicate that the Finnish teachers surveyed had knowledge about second language acquisition, had positive attitudes towards students' first languages, and had a strong sense of resp…
Listen-and-repeat training in the learning of non-native consonant duration contrasts: Influence of consonant type as reflected by MMN and behavioral methods
Phonological duration differences in quantity languages can be problematic for second language learners whose native language does not use duration contrastively. Recent studies have found improvement in the processing of non-native vowel duration contrasts with the use of listen-and-repeat training, and the current study explores the efficacy of similar methodology on consonant duration contrasts. 18 adult participants underwent two days of list…
Conceptualising transformative language teaching for sustainability and why it is needed
This paper defines transformative language teaching for sustainability (TLS) and shows how contemporary, learner-oriented language teaching can foster important competencies and skills needed to reach the goals of education for sustainable development (ESD). The main aim of our approach is to integrate transformation-oriented ESD into language teaching in a way that considers and utilises the special features of language teaching and learning. We…
Finnish pre-service teachers’ understandings of the role of language(s) in learning mathematics
We examined Finnish pre-service primary school teachers' understandings of the role of language(s) in learning mathematics and how these understandings developed during a period of teaching practice.We also examined how the participants experienced the usefulness of the ready-made multilingual digital material Binogi and how the teaching practice period influenced their thoughts on multilingual pedagogies.Our results indicate that the teacher tra…
Teachers’ views on students’ multilingual resources - tracking the impact of curriculum reform
Background In 2016, Finnish core curriculum was revised, and teachers are now required to implement multilingual pedagogies in their classrooms. Objectives This study aims to examine how the national curriculum reform may have influenced teachers’ views on the use of multilingual students’ first languages in the classroom.Methods The data consists of 1855 Finnish teachers’ responses in two surveys, which were gathered in 2016 and 2021. The data i…
Psychology (10 works) · Pedagogy (9 works) · Mathematics education (8 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (6 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (6 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Linguistics (4 works) · Linguistic Education and Pedagogy (3 works)