Vertaistuki suomenoppijoiden lukupiirissä aikuisten maahanmuuttajien kotoutumiskoulutuksessa

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.5128/LV35.02

Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan aikuisten maahanmuuttajien suomenkielisissä kotoutumiskoulutuksissa toimivien lukupiirien vertaisvuorovaikutuksessa esiintyvää vertaistukea. Lukupiireissä luettiin selkomukautettuja kaunokirjallisia teoksia. Sosiokulttuurisessa teoriassa kielen oppimisen katsotaan tapahtuvan vuorovaikutuksessa ja oppimisen nähdään edellyttävän myös tukea (engl. scaffold), jota vuorovaikutus voi sisältää. Vertaistuki on yksi mahdollisista tuen muodoista, ja siinä tukea annetaan vertaisten, esimerkiksi kielenoppijoiden kesken. Vertaistuki ilmeni lukupiirissä muun muassa osallistujien keskinäisenä palautteena, kielellisesti keskeisten seikkojen osoittamisena ja merkitysneuvottelujen fasilitointina. Vertaistuen määrään ja laatuun vaikutti muun muassa osallistujien kielitaidon taso, muttei kuitenkaan aina vygotskilaisen tuen perusajatuksen mukaan siten, että ylemmällä taitotasolla oleva pystyisi ilman muuta tukemaan alempana olevaa. 

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Peer support in literary reading circles in integration training for adult immigrants

This article examines peer interaction and peer support in literary reading circles within Finnish integration training for adult immigrants learning Finnish as a second language. The reading circles focused on simplified literary texts, and the study is grounded in sociocultural theory, which views language learning as a socially mediated process. Peer support is understood as scaffolding provided by fellow learners, and the study explores what kind of support manifests in reading circle discussions.

The data consists of ethnographic fieldwork, including video and audio recordings and interviews from two reading circles. Participants were at early stages of language learning (A1–B1 levels), and the reading circle discussions were based on comprehension questions about the texts. The analysis focuses on how peer support is offered, requested, or absent, and how it interacts with other forms of support, such as teacher guidance and textual resources.

Peer support appeared in various forms: corrective feedback, clarification requests, demonstrations, translations, and facilitation of meaning negotiation among others. These interactions were often spontaneous and situational, with learners taking on expert roles regardless of their language proficiency level. For instance, learners with lower proficiency sometimes supported more advanced peers by sharing translations. Conversely, higher proficiency level learners did not always succeed in facilitating deeper literary discussions if their peers lacked sufficient linguistic resources.

The study highlights that peer support is not uniformly present or effective. In some cases, learners did not receive support due to divergent interpretations or lack of clarification. The presence of teacher-led discussions helped compensate for these gaps. The findings suggest that peer support can be both direct and indirect, emerging through shared discussions that mediate previously unnoticed linguistic or interpretive affordances.

Ultimately, the article argues for a balanced pedagogical approach that combines peer interaction with teacher guidance. It emphasizes the need to explicitly teach learners how to offer and request support and to recognize the situational nature of expertise in peer learning contexts. The study contributes to understanding how literary texts and collaborative discussion can foster language development and learner agency in integration education.