Traces of English in a high-stakes exam in Swedish L1

Beskrivning

In language contact situations, such as the continuing influence of English on Scandinavian
languages, language-mixing is not recommended by language experts and English is
sometimes even seen as a threat to Swedish (Bylin & Melander 2023:93-99). When words are
borrowed, a morphological adaptation is often recommended (to rave > rejva, ibidem). To use
words from another language in writing in a formal context is often condemned, and hence
avoided. Nevertheless, there seems to be several kinds of English language influence on
Finland-Swedish. Swedish is one of the two official languages of Finland with approximately 5
% of the population being Swedish-speaking Finns. In the research project Studex, we examine
the high-stakes matriculation examination in Finland, and more precisely, its Swedish L1-test
and the essays written in that test. Swedish-speaking Finns use, for example, “swedified”
English words (pointera något), prepositions that are translated from English (interested in
something > intresserad i något), and the word-order is also challenged (Dock, detta är inte
sant). In our presentation, we will give a corpus-based overview of traces of English influence
that can be found in essays written by Swedish L1-speakers in Finland. We place our findings in
an educational context where the Swedish L1-test, and especially its essay, require formal
language use and adaptation towards the prevailing Swedish language norms (Forsskåhl,
Lassus, Silén, Stolt eds. 2020). Even in this high-stakes exam with high demands on normative
language use, English leaves its trace.

Period	14.10.2024
Evenemangstitel	Coherence and Fragmentation : The Languages of the Nordic Countries and their Interrelations today
Typ av evenemang	Konferens
Plats	Florens, ItalienVisa på karta
Omfattning	Internationell