Teaching heritage German and Russian through authentic material in Jyväskylä, Finland

A multiple case study design

Abstract

Since 2013, sixteen heritage language teachers in Jyväskylä, Finland, have been developing an Active Library (ActLib) method and an online cooperative learning forum designed to create and share authentic language learning material. The main objectives are twofold. Firstly, from the learner's perspective, the aims are to enhance pupils' language awareness while encouraging them to use their language repertoire as a resource in learning, to develop authentic activities, and to increase pupil agency. Secondly, from the teachers' and education policy perspective, the aim is to prepare heritage language teachers to introduce in advance the new Finnish core curriculum. A further objective is to develop teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in order to diversify their teaching practices. The ideology of ActLib is based on the cooperative learning of teachers. This case study focuses on possibilities for using authentic material in learning German and Russian as heritage languages. The data consists of ActLib assignments in German and Russian heritage languages and pupil interviews. The results show that the assignments develop pupils' language awareness, but the linguistically authentic learning material was not sufficiently meaningful for pupils to develop their autonomy and acquisition.