LAIF Research: Attitudes towards English in Finland

The use of English in Finland and the influence English has on the Finnish language are both widely debated topics. In this post we share results from an online survey on attitudes towards English in Finland and offer a “behind the scenes” peek into the research process.

Earlier we posted preliminary results about our LAIF online survey, which gathered responses from 1134 Finnish-speaking Finns. You can read about participant demographics in the previous post. In this post, we focus on the attitude measurements and provide some insight into the research process.

One of the aims of the survey was to develop Likert attitude scales to measure how Finns feel about the influence of English on the one hand, and about the use of English in Finland on the other hand. While the name Likert scale might not be familiar to everyone, the concept likely is: Likert attitude scales include different statements (e.g. It is worrisome that Finnish has turned into Finglish), and the participants are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the statements. In this survey, the participants used a 7-point Likert scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree). 

Several stages in developing attitude scales

Likert scale statements regarding the use of English in Finland

Developing the attitude scales was an extensive process. In short, we started with an extensive literature review, during which we familiarized ourselves with previous research and also collected potential statements from previous studies. Next, we constructed the initial scales, and sought out expert feedback, which we used to revise the scales for our first pilot survey. With the first pilot survey, we tested a total of 81 statements to see which items would work best among target group participants (n=36). After revising the attitude scales, we recruited 137 target group participants for a second pilot survey. This time we ran statistical analyses on the data to further revise the scales. Next, we included the attitude scales as part of a larger survey and collected a much larger sample of participants to finalize the attitude scales (see previous post).

Likert scale statements regarding the influence of English

With the larger online sample (n=1134), we ran more statistical analyses and made further adjustments based on exploratory factor analyses. In our case, explorative factor analyses helped us assess whether the statements measured the same underlying attitudinal constructs. This was important, since instead of analyzing several individual statements, we wanted to create a sum-variable for each of the scales that would represent the participants’ attitude as a whole. In the end, we formed three attitude scales from the Likert statements: the Influence of English on Finnish scale, and two scales measuring the use of English in Finland.

Surprising results: participants embrace the opportunities English offers but reject mixing English with Finnish

The results from our three attitude scales were surprising. The first attitude scale includes 13 statements concerning the Influence of English on Finnish, e.g. the use of English loanwords whilst speaking Finnish. The histogram below shows the distribution for the sum-variable (each participants’ mean response to the 13 statements). High scores on the scale indicate negative attitudes towards English, and low scores positive. The histogram demonstrates that most participants held negative attitudes (sample mean 5.08), essentially seeing the influence of English as a threat to Finnish.

We also developed two scales that measured attitudes towards the use of English in Finland. Although the statements in these scales were originally supposed to form a uniform scale, it turned out the participants did not respond to the two types of statements (Opportunity versus Threat) consistently. Thus, we formed two separate attitude scales instead. The first of these attitude scales included eight statements regarding a desire to protect the status of the national languages, Finnish and Swedish, and the threat that English use is perceived to pose, e.g. using English instead of Finnish in higher education. As above, high scores on this scale indicate negative attitudes. Much like with the influence of English, most participants regarded the use of English as a threat to the Finnish language and found that the national languages should be used instead in all societal domains. 

The second, shorter scale including only five statements, measured whether the participants view the use of English as an opportunity for Finland, e.g. in terms of international collaboration. Importantly, unlike the other two scales, with the last scale high scores indicate positive attitudes. This means that the histogram below shows that most participants considered English as an important resource alongside Finnish, bringing more opportunities for international collaboration for Finland. The way the participants responded to the two scales concerning the use of English in Finland was unexpected since a considerable proportion of the participants scored high on both scales, meaning that they simultaneously wished to protect the national languages (from the threat of English) whilst also acknowledging that there are many advantages to English use as well.

These results were surprising for two reasons. First, as we have reported in a previous blog post, most of the participants reported high fluency of English and most participants also felt English was important to them personally. Based on the background information, we would have expected the participants to present positive attitudes towards English, but the overall results tell a different story: most participants held negative attitudes. Second, even though the participants rejected English in many ways, they still considered English to also provide many opportunities for Finland, especially in terms of internationalism. 

Together with Marika Hall we have written a research article on the development of these scales, so stay tuned for some publication news to learn more! 

What’s next? Qualitative analysis and a new round of data collection

Especially since we found the results surprising, we also want to do another round of data collection to see whether the results are replicated, or whether our online sample was biased. For this reason, we are in the process of obtaining a random sample of Finns, which would be more representative of Finnish people at large. The new sample will also allow us to investigate which background variables might help explain the results. For example, does level of education, or perhaps political orientation, play a role in attitudes towards English? 

Another source for explanations comes from the qualitative data that we already collected. That is, in the online survey, participants could leave open-answer comments after they had responded to the Likert attitude scales. We gathered nearly 700 comments from this part of the survey, comprising over 30 000 words which is about 100 pages, so the participants certainly had a lot to say! We have not yet analyzed this qualitative data in detail, but we expect the data to provide some nuance to the results we have shown above, perhaps the data can even help explain why some of the participants held seemingly contradictory views on English. While the analysis of this data is still incomplete, we offer a few preliminary observations below.

Quite expectedly, the participants elaborated on their views on issues that came up in the Likert scale statements. For example, many participants expressed a desire to protect Finnish, positioning English as a threat. However, the participants also expressed many aspects that they were not asked about and that were not included in the survey. For example, quite a few participants seem to hold the youth responsible for the perceived ruin of Finnish.

”Englannin kieli pilaa suomen kielen. En hyväksy, että suuri osa etenkin nuorisosta haluaa tuhota suomen kielen hävittämällä sen ja korvaamalla sen englannilla. Suomi on maailman kaunein kieli, jonka olemassaoloa tulee vaalia kaikin keinoin.”

English is ruining the Finnish language. I do not accept that the majority of young people especially want to destroy the Finnish language by getting rid of Finnish and replacing it with English. Finnish is the most beautiful language in the world, and we should treasure its existence in every possible way.

In great contrast, other participants saw the influence of English as part of natural language change; losing and gaining new expressions was considered natural. Some explained that the status of English was globally so dominant that it would inevitably influence most languages. One participant even positioned themselves nonchalantly towards the idea that the Finnish language might disappear.

”Minusta on ihan ok että kieli muuttuu. Onhan se tavallaan vähän harmi jos suomi häviää mutta toisaalta en vastustaisi ajatusta ns. maailmankielestä ja se kuitenkin varmaankin olisi englanti koska sitä nyt vaan puhuu niin iso osa jo valmiiksi ja on varmaankin laajiten osattu vieraskieli joten on luonnollista jatkaa samaa kehityskulkua. […]”

I feel it’s okay for a language to change. It’s sort of a shame if Finnish disappears but then again I would not object to having a global language and that would probably be English since so many people already speak English and it is probably the most widely spoken foreign language so it is only natural to continue the same path of development [...]

Another aspect some of the participants brought up was the associations connected with speakers who mix English and Finnish. For example, one participant conveyed that speaking English and using English loanwords was fun but found it embarrassing when grown-ups used English loans. Another participant thought that people who use “anglicisms” sound simple-minded.

” […] Anglismeja käyttävä antaa yksinkertaisen kuvan itsestään.” 

[...] People who use anglicisms give an impression of a simple-minded person.

Based on these preliminary observations it seems many common beliefs about language change surface in the data, including the fear of an external force destroying the language. As linguists, we know that language change is natural: all living languages are in a constant state of flux. Only when a language dies, it stops changing. And although the influence of English may feel unprecedented, it is also par for the course for languages to be influenced by other languages. For example, Finnish has also had a lot of German and Swedish influence (see Språkbruk text). If you are interested, check out our previous post about language attitudes and ideologies (in Finnish), or read more about the contact between English and Finnish. And if you are worried about the state of Finnish, you can read these two recent scientific reports (Laitinen et al. 2023, Onikki-Rantajääskö 2024), which both come to a reassuring conclusion: Finnish is not under immediate threat and the state of Finnish is stable.

References Laitinen, M., Leppänen, S., Rautionaho, P., & Backman, S. (2023). Englanti Suomen kansalliskielten rinnalla: Kohti joustavaa monikielisyyttä.Publications of the Government's analysis, assessment and research activities. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-055-4

Onikki-Rantajääskö, T. (2024). Suomi osallisuuden kielenä: Selvitys suomen kielen tilasta Suomessa 2020-luvun puolimaissa. Ministry of Justice publications, Reports and guidelines. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-400-141-0

Peterson, E., & Beers Fägersten, K. (Eds.). (2023). English in the Nordic countries: Connections, tensions, and everyday realities. Routledge.