Constructing societal understandings nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks

Estonia’s population has become increasingly more diverse in recent years (Statistikaamet, n.d.-e) and years of integration policies have demanded a more radical change in language policies, like stricter language level requirement for teachers (Kultuuriministeerium, 2023a; “Eestikeelsele”, 2024)....

Täydet tiedot

Bibliografiset tiedot
Päätekijä: Trei, Karin
Muut tekijät: Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos, Department of Language and Communication Studies, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Aineistotyyppi: Pro gradu
Kieli:eng
Julkaistu: 2025
Aiheet:
Linkit: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/102888
_version_ 1834222500870881280
author Trei, Karin
author2 Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos Department of Language and Communication Studies Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_facet Trei, Karin Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos Department of Language and Communication Studies Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä Trei, Karin Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos Department of Language and Communication Studies Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_sort Trei, Karin
datasource_str_mv jyx
description Estonia’s population has become increasingly more diverse in recent years (Statistikaamet, n.d.-e) and years of integration policies have demanded a more radical change in language policies, like stricter language level requirement for teachers (Kultuuriministeerium, 2023a; “Eestikeelsele”, 2024). As due to these reasons there are a lot of adult Estonian as Second Language learners, studying mandatorily and voluntarily. This thesis aimed to study which discourses are conveyed to these students in the textbooks that they encounter, with the focus on national representation and societal ideologies. For the analysis I chose three textbooks, that are used on A1- and B2- level. The choice was made based on the teachers answers to a questionnaire sent out in November 2024. I analyzed those textbooks with Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1992a) and Multimodal Discourse Analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001). These methodologies combined gave the opportunity to get a grasp on the textual and visual aspects that are communicated in the textbooks about nationalities and societal ideologies. The analysis showed that the content, textual aspects and images rely frequently on a stereotypical portrayal of nationalities through both personality traits and national symbols, while giving Western countries more representation. In the materials, Estonian society is constructed through narrow ideologies, like stereotypical gender roles, a traditional family model and often reinforcing the idea that other nationalities are not fully part of Estonian society. My study shows that the discourses and ideologies communicated to the students of Estonian as Second Language exclude a lot of diversity of the society. Furthermore, the discourses often do not align with some governmental development and integration plans. This means that the students might easily feel excluded or not accepted or may develop harmful biases against various social groups. To implement a more inclusive classroom, discussion-based and critical approach could improve a lot. The thesis also suggests a few exercises and materials that would engage the students with more diverse perspectives and critical thinking.
first_indexed 2025-06-02T20:00:55Z
format Pro gradu
free_online_boolean 1
fullrecord [{"key": "dc.contributor.advisor", "value": "Iikkanen, P\u00e4ivi", "language": null, "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "advisor", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.author", "value": "Trei, Karin", "language": null, "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "author", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.date.accessioned", "value": "2025-06-02T06:30:48Z", "language": null, "element": "date", "qualifier": "accessioned", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.date.available", "value": "2025-06-02T06:30:48Z", "language": null, "element": "date", "qualifier": "available", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.date.issued", "value": "2025", "language": null, "element": "date", "qualifier": "issued", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.identifier.uri", "value": "https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/102888", "language": null, "element": "identifier", "qualifier": "uri", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.description.abstract", "value": "", "language": "fi", "element": "description", "qualifier": "abstract", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.description.abstract", "value": "Estonia\u2019s population has become increasingly more diverse in recent years (Statistikaamet, n.d.-e) and years of integration policies have demanded a more radical change in language policies, like stricter language level requirement for teachers (Kultuuriministeerium, 2023a; \u201cEestikeelsele\u201d, 2024). As due to these reasons there are a lot of adult Estonian as Second Language learners, studying mandatorily and voluntarily. This thesis aimed to study which discourses are conveyed to these students in the textbooks that they encounter, with the focus on national representation and societal ideologies.\n\nFor the analysis I chose three textbooks, that are used on A1- and B2- level. The choice was made based on the teachers answers to a questionnaire sent out in November 2024. I analyzed those textbooks with Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1992a) and Multimodal Discourse Analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001). These methodologies combined gave the opportunity to get a grasp on the textual and visual aspects that are communicated in the textbooks about nationalities and societal ideologies.\n\nThe analysis showed that the content, textual aspects and images rely frequently on a stereotypical portrayal of nationalities through both personality traits and national symbols, while giving Western countries more representation. In the materials, Estonian society is constructed through narrow ideologies, like stereotypical gender roles, a traditional family model and often reinforcing the idea that other nationalities are not fully part of Estonian society. \n\nMy study shows that the discourses and ideologies communicated to the students of Estonian as Second Language exclude a lot of diversity of the society. Furthermore, the discourses often do not align with some governmental development and integration plans. This means that the students might easily feel excluded or not accepted or may develop harmful biases against various social groups. To implement a more inclusive classroom, discussion-based and critical approach could improve a lot. The thesis also suggests a few exercises and materials that would engage the students with more diverse perspectives and critical thinking.", "language": "en", "element": "description", "qualifier": "abstract", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.description.provenance", "value": "Submitted by Paivi Vuorio (paelvuor@jyu.fi) on 2025-06-02T06:30:48Z\nNo. of bitstreams: 0", "language": "en", "element": "description", "qualifier": "provenance", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.description.provenance", "value": "Made available in DSpace on 2025-06-02T06:30:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0\n Previous issue date: 2025", "language": "en", "element": "description", "qualifier": "provenance", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.format.extent", "value": "70", "language": null, "element": "format", "qualifier": "extent", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.language.iso", "value": "eng", "language": null, "element": "language", "qualifier": "iso", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.rights", "value": "In Copyright", "language": null, "element": "rights", "qualifier": null, "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.other", "value": "Estonian as second language", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "other", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.other", "value": "nationalities", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "other", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.other", "value": "societal ideologies", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "other", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.title", "value": "Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks", "language": null, "element": "title", "qualifier": null, "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.type", "value": "master thesis", "language": null, "element": "type", "qualifier": null, "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.identifier.urn", "value": "URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202506024703", "language": null, "element": "identifier", "qualifier": "urn", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.faculty", "value": "Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta", "language": "fi", "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "faculty", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.faculty", "value": "Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences", "language": "en", "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "faculty", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.department", "value": "Kieli- ja viestint\u00e4tieteiden laitos", "language": "fi", "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "department", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.department", "value": "Department of Language and Communication Studies", "language": "en", "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "department", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.organization", "value": "Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n yliopisto", "language": null, "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "organization", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.contributor.organization", "value": "University of Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4", "language": null, "element": "contributor", "qualifier": "organization", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.discipline", "value": "Soveltavan kielitieteen maisteriopinnot", "language": "fi", "element": "subject", "qualifier": "discipline", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.discipline", "value": "Master's Degree Programme in Applied Linguistics", "language": "en", "element": "subject", "qualifier": "discipline", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.type.coar", "value": "http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdcc", "language": null, "element": "type", "qualifier": "coar", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.rights.copyright", "value": "\u00a9 The Author(s)", "language": "fi", "element": "rights", "qualifier": "copyright", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.rights.accesslevel", "value": "openAccess", "language": null, "element": "rights", "qualifier": "accesslevel", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.type.publication", "value": "masterThesis", "language": null, "element": "type", "qualifier": "publication", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.yso", "value": "stereotypiat", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "yso", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.yso", "value": "integraatio", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "yso", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.yso", "value": "oppikirjat", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "yso", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.yso", "value": "viron kieli", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "yso", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.subject.yso", "value": "representaatio", "language": null, "element": "subject", "qualifier": "yso", "schema": "dc"}, {"key": "dc.rights.url", "value": "https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/", "language": null, "element": "rights", "qualifier": "url", "schema": "dc"}]
id jyx.123456789_102888
language eng
last_indexed 2025-06-02T20:01:29Z
main_date 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
main_date_str 2025
online_boolean 1
online_urls_str_mv {"url":"https:\/\/jyx.jyu.fi\/bitstreams\/0640830b-528d-4624-a03a-976473eeebaa\/download","text":"URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202506024703.pdf","source":"jyx","mediaType":"application\/pdf"}
publishDate 2025
record_format qdc
source_str_mv jyx
spellingShingle Trei, Karin Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks Estonian as second language nationalities societal ideologies Soveltavan kielitieteen maisteriopinnot Master's Degree Programme in Applied Linguistics stereotypiat integraatio oppikirjat viron kieli representaatio
title Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks
title_full Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks
title_fullStr Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks
title_full_unstemmed Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks
title_short Constructing societal understandings
title_sort constructing societal understandings nationalities and society portrayed in estonian second language textbooks
title_sub nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks
title_txtP Constructing societal understandings : nationalities and society portrayed in Estonian second language textbooks
topic Estonian as second language nationalities societal ideologies Soveltavan kielitieteen maisteriopinnot Master's Degree Programme in Applied Linguistics stereotypiat integraatio oppikirjat viron kieli representaatio
topic_facet Estonian as second language Master's Degree Programme in Applied Linguistics Soveltavan kielitieteen maisteriopinnot integraatio nationalities oppikirjat representaatio societal ideologies stereotypiat viron kieli
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/102888 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202506024703
work_keys_str_mv AT treikarin constructingsocietalunderstandingsnationalitiesandsocietyportrayedinestoniansecondlang