Material scaffolding: Supporting the comprehension of migrant cleaners at work

Abstract

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Work-related language learning trajectories of migrant cleaners in Finland

“…The interview data analysed in this article have been generated in nexus analytical research being carried out at the key participants' workplaces (also reported in Strömmer, 2016aStrömmer, , 2016b 1 . The first of the three steps in conducting nexus analysis is to engage in the field and discover the social actions and actors crucial in that research problem (Scollon & Scollon, 2004, p. 153).…”

“…Trajectories are regarded here as dynamic and ongoing, without a fixed course (Wenger, 1998; see also Räisänen, 2013). This study is part of a nexus analytical (Scollon & Scollon, 2004) study conducted in the key participants' workplaces (see Strömmer, 2016aStrömmer, , 2016b. Following a nexus-analytical research design, the study regards investment in work-related language learning as a nexus of social practices where people 's historical trajectories and experiences, discourses, and interactional elements intersect.…”

“…My observations indicated that there were Finnish language learning opportunities at the workplace. Many of the organisation's employees chatted with Mae Noi during her cleaning routine, and in addition to that she spoke Finnish with her cleaning team daily in breaks and monthly in team-meetings (see Strömmer, 2016b). Mae Noi told me that she wanted to develop her language skills: "I want to learn more [Finnish] ((nauraa)) joo 6 Mae Noi: hän sanoo oon oon oon no, huomaatko, en huomaa, no, koska mä juttelee koko päivä, ja sitten koko ajan siellä, taukotila plaa plaa plaa plaa silleen näin.…”

Nexus analysis in the study of the changing field of language learning, language pedagogy and language teacher education

“…Källkvist (2013) focused on how different types of tasks (translation and composition) in a foreign language class for university students facilitated interaction. Strömmer (2016aStrömmer ( , 2016bStrömmer ( , 2017b has examined immigrants' language learning in cleaning work in Finland. Strömmer (2016a: 715) focused on the interaction order in particular showing how cleaners employed by outsourced services were isolated both from the work community of the cleaning company and that of the client's.…”

Keeping Up With the Nurses – On-the-Job Language Coaching of Health Care Professionals of Immigrant Background

“…Members of the working community have a strong influence on a professional. [10] In other words, community fosters communication skills -one could even state that the majority of professional language learning takes place at the workplace, with the support of the colleagues. [11]…”