Revitalizing Saami through education in Finland

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Revitalizing Saami through education in Finland

I. Vanco, D.A. Efremov



The article deals with the institutional aspects of how indigenous minority languages are taught in Finland, with particular attention to sustainability and revitalization issues among the Saami minority. The source material for the research project was obtained during field work organized by the International Research Group on Bilingual Education of the Faculty of Central European Studies at Constantine the Philosopher University (Nitra, Slovakia), conducted in Finland in 2019. The aim of the expedition was to study strategies for revitalizing the Saami language in Finland in the context of code switching. The authors of the article want to highlight how legal regulation can take into account educational problems that arise in different situations. In Finland, on a legislative basis, two languages (Finnish and Swedish) are taught, so all citizens, regardless of nationality, learn both of them. The law guarantees access to Saami education, i.e. it is optional for everyone. The education system offers opportunities for learning the Saami language in preschool educational institutions, in general education schools, as well as for individual groups, adult citizens. At the same time, the authors emphasize the fact that although state regulation centralizes education in the European Union, and in particular in Finland, the revitalization program of minority languages is still being successfully implemented, mostly due to the fact that program coordinators take into account the diversity and variety of cases and, as a result, adopt certain normative acts to solve different situations. Only society, political decision-makers, self- operating and self-conscious civil activity can help developing a successful national education system where bilingualism is reachable for minorities with significantly different backgrounds.

Keywords: Saami language, bilingualism, code switching, indigenous language, language revitalization.



И. Ванчо, Д.A. Ефремов

Ревитализация саамского языка через призму системы образования в Финляндии

Статья посвящена институциональным аспектам преподавания языков коренных малочисленных народов Финляндии с особым вниманием к вопросам устойчивости и активизации жизни среди саамского меньшинства. Источником исследования послужили материалы, полученные в ходе полевой работы международной исследовательской группы по двуязычному образованию, факультета центрально-европейских исследований Университета имени Константина Философа (г. Нитра, Словакия), проведенной в Финляндии в 2019 году. Целью экспедиции было изучение стратегий ревитализации саамского языка в Финляндии в условиях переключения кодов. Авторы статьи показывают, как правовое регулирование может учитывать образовательные проблемы, возникающие в различных ситуациях. В Финляндии на законодательной основе ведется преподавание двух (финского и шведского) языков; таким образом, все граждане, вне зависимости от национальной принадлежности, изучают оба языка. Для саамского языка закон гарантирует изучение саамами, т.е. он не является обязательным для всех. Система образования предлагает возможности изучения саамского языка в дошкольных образовательных учреждениях, в общеобразовательной школе, а также для отдельных групп, для взрослых работающих граждан. При этом авторы подчеркивают тот факт, что государственное регулирование в Европейском Союзе, в частности, в Финляндии, хотя и является централизованным, тем не менее, программа по ревитализации языка меньшинств успешно реализуется, в первую очередь, с учетом конкретных случаев и вследствие этого - с принятием определенных нормативных актов для решения разных ситуаций. Только общество, лица, принимающие политические решения, активная и сознательная гражданская деятельность могут создать возможность для развития двуязычия для меньшинств в существенно отличающейся ситуации в системе образования государства.

Ключевые слова: саамский язык, двуязычие, переключение кодов, язык коренного народа, ревитализация языка.



Introduction

This paper focuses on the institutional aspects of teaching native minority languages in Finland with special attention to sustainability and revitalization among the Saami minority. The fieldwork of our study was conducted in Finland in 2019, organized by the international Bilingual Education Research Group, which is part of the Faculty of Central European Studies at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. The main goal of the field trip was to study the revitalization strategies of the Saami people living in Finland in the midst of a language shift. The study reflects our experiences about the ways legal regulations can take into consideration educational challenges in different situations. We emphasize that in fact there is such a state regulation in the European Union which is not based on the idea of centralizing education, but offers diversified and flexible regulations providing targeted solutions to different situations. In the following, we present the Finnish example as best practice.



Education among the minorities living in Finland

The linguistic majority in Finland is Finnish, however a 5.22% Swedish and a 0.04% Saami minority also lives in the country. Both Swedish and Saami minorities live both in larger units and scattered in a given area. The linguistic and social circumstances of the Swedish and Saami minorities are radically different. While the Swedish minority possesses a mother country with its own historical traditions and literacy,¹ the Saami people comprise a native minority in the northernmost area of the Scandinavian peninsula, whose living space ranges across several different countries² and do not have a mother country in the traditional sense. There is a significant difference between the two peoples when it comes to their population, their linguistic status and language use potential, bilingualism, and social integration prospects. Swedish is one of Finland's national languages,³ the effects of which can be observed in many aspects of everyday life. The most obvious one, even to outsiders, is the presence of Finnish-Swedish bilingual signs. There is a standard Swedish variant spoken by the minority, however we can differentiate between dialectal variants as well. Another important difference is that Swedish is not considered an endangered language in Finland either. The Swedish minority living in the Aland Islands has special autonomy and the Swedish language is used in all areas of life, even though the island belongs to Finland. Our research group has not had the opportunity to analyze the social and linguistic impact of this situation on the bilingualism and integration prospects of the Swedish minority living in the Aland Islands, and therefore, this topic requires further study.

The Saami language is not official anywhere, however the bilingual status is officially guaranteed in the northern Saami regions. Despite the relatively small number of Saami people living in Finland, three Saami languages are distinguished with different levels of standardization: Northern Saami, Inari Saami and Skolt Saami. These languages are all severely endangered; practically speaking, a Saami- Finnish language shift has already occurred, therefore reaching bilingualism has become the focus of the efforts made in the Saami territories, with the main goal being the revitalization of the native language and halting further Saami-Finnish language shift (for the role of the Saami language in Saami identity see Duray 2017, 2018; for Saami linguistic landscape see Duray 2016).

The table below presents the linguistic situation in Finland. The data show that a significant number of immigrants (7.1 %) is represented alongside Finnish, Swedish and Saami natives. The different aspects of teaching the national language to immigrants is beyond the scope of this study.

Table 1

The population of Finland based on native language

Native language	2015	2016	2017	2018
Finnish	4 865 628	4 857 795	4 848 761	4 835 778
Swedish	290 161	289 540	289 052	288 400
Saami	1 957	1 969	1 992	1 995
Other languages	329 562	353 993	373 325	391 746
Russian	72 436	75 444	77 177	79 225
Estonian	48 087	49 241	49 590	49 691
Arabic	16 713	21 783	26 467	29 462
Somali	17 871	19 059	20 007	20 944
Kurdish	11 271	12 226	13 327	14 054
Persian, Farsi	8 745	10 882	12 090	13 017
Chinese	10 722	11 334	11 825	12 407
Albanian	9 233	9 791	10 391	10 990
Vietnamese	8 273	9 248	9 872	10 440
Total	5 487 308	5 503 297	5 513 130	5 517 919

Source: Statistics Finland, Demographic structure

https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_vaesto.html#v%C3%A4est%C3%B6syntyper

sami language education

Teaching national and minority languages in Finland is a task realized in four significantly different situations: legislation and the education system have to solve and handle the education of the Swedish minority, the autonomous Swedish minority, the Saami minority and the immigrants.

Teaching the Saami language in Finland. Saami as a critically endangered language

In the following passage we are going to focus on the education and relearning programs of the Saami language and culture. In the study we use both the terms `Saami languages' and `Saami language varieties'. The reason for this is a certain terminological uncertainty present in the descriptions and analyses of Saami languages and language varieties. In the literature dealing with the Saami, in many cases we are presented Saami language, Saami language education, Saami literature without distinguishing between the different Saami languages/language varieties/dialects (see Duray 2018; 2016; Duray, Horvath, Varnai 2017; Tamas 2018 a; 2018b; https://www.nyest.hu/renhirek/lappok-a-spajzban). Outside of Finland, Saami languages are spoken in Norway, Sweden and Russia, in the Kola Peninsula. The Saami languages constitute a dialect continuum spreading across borders, however there is no universally accepted opinion about the number of languages/language varieties despite the fact that mutual intelligibility is only present among neighbouring varieties (see Bogar: http://www.regulytarsasag.hu/ fv_xxii_1_g_bogar/). Currently ten dialects are distinguished, however due to the vast differences among them, they can be considered separate languages. Six Saami languages have literary standards. http://finnugor.elte.hu/tortenelem/Egyesnepek/ Lapp/lapp.htm Northern Saami spoken in Finland is considered definitely endangered, whereas Inari and Skolt Saami are critically endangered, UNESCO uses the following scale to classify endangered languages: vulnerable, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct. Critically endangered are those languages whose youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/ endangered-languages/atlas-of-languages-in-danger/ thus undergone an almost complete language shift. Haugen [1990] represents language shift as follows: A > AI/BII > BI/AII > B, where A is the minority language, and B is the language of higher status.

UNESCO has the following variables as criteria for language vitality in its framework:

1) intergenerational language transmission;

2) absolute number of speakers;

3) proportion of speakers within the total population;

4) availability of materials for language education and literacy;

5) response to new domains and media;

6) community members' attitudes towards their own language;

7) governmental and institutional language attitudes and policies, including official status and use;

8) shifts in domains of language use;

9) type and quality of documentation (cited by [Todor 2019]).

The fact that the Saami minority is currently undergoing a language shift and considering the above criteria, it can be concluded that the Saami languages are critically endangered. In the last hundred years a constant language loss could be observed among the Saami minorities living in Finland, which has resulted in the slow shrinking of language use in favor of the more broadly used, both socially and economically dominant language. Although bilingualism occurs temporarily in such situations, the final outcome is language shift due to the low prestige of the minority language [cf. Grenoble, Whaley 2006; Toth 2007]. It was only in the last moments that the Saami minority realized that losing their language as a result of a language shift leads to the loss of community and culture as well. In this case the main problem is not teaching and learning the national language (in our case Finnish), but maintaining knowledge and use of the Saami language.

Inari and Skolt Saami are spoken exclusively in Finland; there are approximately 300 Inari Saami speakers, whereas Skolt Saami has about 400 speakers. The estimated total number of Saami is about 100 000. On the issues regarding determining the number of ethnic Saami and Saami speakers see [Outakoski 2015]. Saami language shift is a good indicator of the minority situation, where a state of well-functioning bilingualism could not be reached. The prestige of the language used by the native minority has decreased significantly due to the changes in power, economical interests and culture, hence it has fallen farther behind in language use and intergenerational language transmission. Language education faced a new situation in which teaching the minority language requires new institutional criteria, adequate tools for language teaching and a supporting framework for social regulations. The language revitalization program, whose goal is achieving bilingualism among others, started basically after the last moment, and therefore its success is uncertain. (For a detailed explanation of the topic see [Olthuis, Kivela, Skutnabb-Kangas 2013] and [Magga, Skutnabb-Kangas 2010]. For the Saami language teaching project and teaching materials development see: https://www.samediggi.fi/ in Inari Saami and Finnish).

Language revitalization

Language revitalization is a planned process aimed at reversing language shift and reviving a minority language. The theoretical basis of the stages of language vitality was developed by Fishman [Fishman 1991, 88-110], who divided the process into eight stages. Based on his GIDS (Graded Intergenerational Disruption / Dislocation Scale), Fishman distinguishes the following levels (in Hungarian [Gal 2010, 42-44]):

Level 8: The most advanced level of language shift, vestigial users are socially and geographically isolated.

Level 7: Most users of the language are socially integrated and ethnolinguistically active, but beyond child-bearing age.

Level 6: The language is used in the family, but not in formal situations, where communication is made in the dominant national language.

Level 5: The language is used in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Level 4: The language is in vigorous use, with standardization and literature being sustained through a widespread system of institutionally supported education.

Level 3: The language is used in work and mass media without official status to transcend language differences across a region. However written or other official communication of the workplace is made in the dominant national language.

Level 2: The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government within major administrative subdivisions of a nation.

Level 1: The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government at a national level, however speakers do not have any form of autonomy.

Revitalization endeavours can be organized bottom-to-top, when a speech community initiates the process [Holmes, Wilson 2017], or top-to-bottom, when the planning and execution is made by the state or other political or academic organizations. Language and cultural revitalization is initiated and supported both by the state and the speech community in the case of the Saami living in Finland.

Concrete aims of the Saami revitalization program:

1) expanding domains of language use and linguistic landscape; See Duray, Horvath, Varnai 2017.

2) reintroducing the Saami language to the society's language use, including all age groups;

3) expanding language use in families;

4) raising interest in Saami culture;

5) presenting the versatility of the Saami language(s) and culture; Saami art has a definitive role in Saami identity and language maintenance. For example Mikkal Antti Morottaja, also known as Amoc, a singer who raps in Saami is popular among youth. Even a documentary has been made of the artist: https:// www.sapmifilm.com/film/30096. For a brief introduction to Saami culture in Hungarian see Tamas http://www.regulytarsasag. hu/fv_xxii_1_tamas/#_ftn34; in English: Gaski http://www.laits.utexas.edu/sami/diehtu/newera/samiculturenordic.htm

6) broadening multiculturalism;

7) introducing Saami culture to the Finnish population - learning about the Saami language and culture is not part of the Finnish education system, thus an important objective is to eradicate the centuries-old negative attitudes towards them.

Legal background of Saami education

Obligatory content of education is listed in § 11 of the Basic Education Act of Finland. Lawmakers mention here the teaching and learning of a second domestic language, which is detailed by Kozmacs [2017] in his relevant study. Second domestic language is Swedish in Finnish language schools and Finnish in Swedish language schools.

The use of Saami is guaranteed by law, ensuring that the Saami people can exercise their language and cultural rights. The main goal of the 35 sections is to advance language maintenance and revitalization in cases where intergenerational language transmission ceased. The law precisely names those districts, official bodies and institutions which fall under its legal authority. It determines rights to language use, and declares, among others, that official procedures whose sole participants are Saami have to be given the opportunity to be conducted in Saami (§ 10). It also provides ample opportunities for the Saami to use their mother tongue in Saami-majority territories. For this reason, the law declares that in these territories employers have to make sure that their partners can conduct their business in Saami, so the knowledge of language should be considered a factor when hiring new employees (§ 14). Another declaration is that even if the authorities cannot ensure that that the language of the procedure is Saami, clients still have the right to conduct business in their mother tongue; in these cases the state is obligated to pay for an interpreter and the translation of documents (§ 22). It is also set by law that official bodies have to aim for providing services in Saami, and these services must be publicly available in Saami as well (§ 25). Saami Language Law includes all Saami language varieties spoken in Finland in Saami-majority territories (Saamen kielilaki [Saami Language Law] Law no. 1086/2003).

The language revitalization program is supported by the Department of Youth at the Finnish Ministry of Culture. One positive aspect is that the Saami enjoy a certain cultural autonomy. Financial aid provided by the state is given to the Saami Parliament, who is responsible for its distribution. The leader of this program is the program coordinator, the Secretary of Language Rights, who elaborates a proposal for the distribution of funds. The final decision is made by the Saami Language Council.

Current domains of language revitalization are:

1) language nests for preschool children;

2) creating and establishing primary education in Saami;

3) teaching traditional crafts and trades in Saami in vocational centers;

4) language teaching programs for adults - including online courses;

5) teacher training (Saami language and culture teacher training in Oulu).

It is noteworthy that revitalization strategies for Saami are elaborated for all age groups, and they are implemented in a limited way on all levels of education, from preschool to higher education. Its shortcoming is the limited options within secondary and tertiary education, as it is possible to learn only a few crafts and trades in the Saami language in vocational secondary schools, and the only course available in higher education is Saami primary and secondary school teacher training.

Language nests for preschool children

One of the achievements of the revitalization program is the foundation of language nest programs, whose objective is to revive native languages and cultures. Apart from legal support, the program started as a bottom-to-top initiative, organized by the community who, upon realizing the threat of language and culture loss, became motivated to revive their native language. The issue of financial support became relevant in the case of Saami language nests as well, as a stable financial background is not legally guaranteed. Saami experts are currently attempting to change this situation, their goal being having regulated financial support guaranteed by law. Program organizers receive the yearly revised budget in one instalment. There is public demand for increasing the capacity of Saami nests, however there are two factors which hold back this process. On the one hand the budget is not enough to further extend the program, on the other hand there is a shortage of trained teachers. Apart from taking into consideration the bottom-to-top initiatives, villages and towns are also financially interested in organizing and maintaining such programs, as they receive 15% of the sum dedicated to the programs every year.

Currently there are 12 language nests in Finland, nine in Sapmi and three in other areas of Finland. These nests were established by parental demand. Villages and towns organize language nests as part of an early, preschool education program. Following the principles of Finnish education, teaching in language nests is not centralized, each village and town has their own programs. Teachers are in touch with each other, they organize joint development days where they present and share best practices, thus developing the professional network of language nests. According to their reports, in many cases even the parents of children attending language nest programs begin to learn Saami. Their objective is both to establish working bilingualism in children by the time they get to primary school, and to broaden language use within the family. A long-term aim is to increase the vitality of the language and to prevent language loss in the case of the youngest generation.

Sessions are conducted using language showers in a familiar environment. Education is personalized not only in terms of slogans (education programs in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine also contain the principle of personalized education, but it is hardly ever implemented), as teachers are required to compile a personalized program for each child in the language nest. The type of education can be classified as bilingual language submersion. Sessions are in small groups, one teacher can work with maximum three children. The transmission of language is made by the “one person - one language” bilingual language socializing principle. Teachers are bilingual, but they lead sessions only in Saami. This language has priority in every case, but children can speak in either of their languages. Teachers support the use of Saami, but its use is not compulsory for children. Their utterances are not corrected or modified. Adults aim to speak slowly and in a well articulated way. They keep eye contact during communication, and language acquisition is supported by games, gestures and vocabulary enrichment related to the relevant topic. One trait of the method is the frequent repetition of a word or expression in a given situation. Teachers repeat children's utterances in Saami, and they use pictures and body language to facilitate understanding. Vocabulary enrichment is done by first uttering the word, then showing a picture and finally using the word in a situation.

Primary education

Saami education was made possible from 1^st August 2000 by the Basic Education Act of Finland, amended in 1998. The following guidelines are found in section 10: The language of instruction and the language used in extracurricular teaching shall be either Finnish or Swedish. The language of instruction may also be Saami, Roma or sign language. In addition, part of teaching may be given in a language other than the 5 pupils' native language referred to above, provided that this does not risk the pupils' ability to follow teaching. (Basic Education Act 21.8. 1998./628).

From this point on it became the responsibility of the communities to provide education to Saami children mainly in Saami. As a result, from autumn 2000 Inari Saami children who had been raised in language nests got the opportunity to continue their studies in their mother tongue in primary schools in Inari. Saami education is organized in some classes of some schools. We could not get exact data regarding the actual number of students or classes during our field trip, and the relevant literature does not provide statistics either. Education is in Saami, teachers are bilingual. Pupils listen to the Saami language and use it during play sessions. The language levels of pupils in the same class can be different; there are some who know it well, and some who communicate at a lower, beginner level. Teaching is done in small classes, using individualized programs in primary schools as well. The road to Saami education has been long and difficult, and it is especially true to the Inari Saami language, which has approximately 350-400 speakers.

The rest of the article will focus on the Inari Saami language. The beginnings of teaching Inari Saami go back to 1976, when it became an optional subject for native pupils in lower classes, taught in one lesson per week. Teaching was only “half legal” [Morottaja 2010], cited by [Pasanen 2015, 122] as there was neither legal regulation, nor an established teaching program, so officials did not have a supportive attitude towards it. In the following 20 years not much changed regarding Inari Saami as a school subject, it was taught in ever different schools, ever different classes with a variable number of pupils.

Here is an example for education in Saami from the teaching program of the Utsjoki primary school: “According to the teaching programs, the school is bilingual and multicultural. The languages of education are Northern Saami and Finnish. Bilingualism is present in the life of the school: announcements, information are presented in both languages, events are bilingual, etc. Saami culture is part of our education, current events, cooperation with other Saami schools, and it is considered a special subject, too. Our school fulfils the educational goals set by the municipality (kuntaf both in the case of the Saami language and Saami education and the Finnish language and Finnish education. In grades 0-6 the language of education is mostly Saami or Finnish, based on the mother tongue of the pupils. Norwegian can be taught in our school as well.”

Pupils in the Finnish education system start to learn spelling at the age of 5-6, and follow the syllabic method to learn literacy. They reach full literacy at the age of 8, progressing at their own pace, and the fact that Saami has more phonemes than Finnish does not hinder reaching fluency either. Pupils study in small groups; even in 2015 there were only 9 pupils in preschool or in 1^st and 2^nd grades, whereas 5 pupils studied together in 3^rd to 5^th grades. The biggest challenge of Saami education is the lack of teachers. In an Inari school an Inari Saami teacher taught handicraft or physical education in Inari Saami to all Saami pupils, while a Northern Saami teacher taught all their students in Northern Saami. In higher grades Inari Saami has been used since autumn 2010. Since 2015 subjects taught in Saami include Saami language, Mathematics, Biology, Geography, Religion, Healthcare, History and Social Studies. Saami education started in Ivalo in 2014. All in all, Saami education has taken off, but another crucial problem is the lack of materials. The responsible institution is the Bureau of Teaching Materials Development of the Saami Parliament, which is financed by the Finnish Ministry of Education.

The following Inari Saami coursebooks are currently available [Saamelaiskarajat dokumenttipankki]:

- Inari Saami language for grades 1 to 2

- Inari Saami as a foreign language for grades 1 to 6 and 7 to 9 and secondary school 1^st and 2^nd course

- Mathematics for grades 1 to 4

- Religion for grades 2 to 3 and 6

- Environment for grades 1 to 4

⁹ The smallest administrative unit in Finland is the kunta. Until 1970 it had three different legal variants: city, market town and municipality. According to § 121 of the constitution revised in 2000: “Finland is divided into municipalities, whose administration shall be based on the self-government of their residents” [Suomi jakaantuu kuntiin, joiden hallinnon tulee perustua kunnan asukkaiden itsehallintoon]. Currently there are 311 kuntas, some of them call themselves cities, but it does not indicate any special legal status.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190801202944/http://www.utsjoki.fi/fi/palvelut/opetus--vapaa-aika-ja-kulttuuripalvelut/ utsjokisuun-koulu/lukuvuoden-tyoesuunnitelma.php (Last accessed 15.03.2020)

- Biology/Geography for grades 5 to 7

- Geography for grades 7 to 9

- Physics and Chemistry for grade 6

- Social Studies for grade 9

- Feeding Reindeer

Teachers use photocopied materials as well. In many cases written materials are in Finnish, but teaching itself and the discussion of the materials is in Saami.

Each Saami language is affected by the lack of teachers and teaching materials. The most difficult situation concerns the Saami population living scattered in a larger area. Another sensitive topic is the possibilities of using the Saami language. The most prominent domain for using the language is education; teachers pay special attention that children use Saami during lessons, as they speak Finnish outside the classroom. Research has supported the claim that even though pupils appreciate the Saami language and consider it important to transmit the language to their future children, they still speak Finnish among themselves (e.g. Northern Saami speakers, see [Taipale 2012], cited by [Pasanen 2015, 134]).

In Saami classes Finnish is taught in one lesson per week in this educational format. In Finnish lessons focus is on the particularities of the language and text comprehension.

Vocational education

Vocational training in Saami is given in the Educational Center (Saamelaisalueen koulutuskeskus) of the Northern Saami language. In this center, equipped with dormitories, students can learn traditional Saami crafts and trades. The linguistic landscape of the school is Saami or Saami and Finnish. The names of the tools are written in Saami, and on whiteboards we could see explanations in Saami. Vocational education is available not only to school children, but to adults as well. The aim of vocational training besides maintaining language is the survival of traditional Saami crafts and trades; however only a small number of students is involved in this type of education.

Language teaching for adults

Saami is taught as a second language in adult language programs, and there are two platforms of education: classroom education and online courses. Classroom courses are organized in Saami language areas, whereas online courses are available to Saami living in all territories of Finland. There are different language levels in both types of education, classes are small, and the length of the course is one year. The program is financed by the state, most courses are free for students. The courses are well organized, a technical helper assists and helps to solve every technology-related problem. The maximum number of students is 15 in each group, and they learn Saami using the Finnish language. Most participants do not speak Saami at all. There are many teachers among them, who live in Saami territories and study the language to improve the quality of their teaching. As school curricula are quite flexible in Finland, regional culture can be a part of Finnish language education as well. Another goal is to obtain language skills, which would be useful in the labor market in the future. As bilingualism is guaranteed by law in Saami areas, civil servants have to know the language to a certain degree. In our opinion, this ordainment, together with the provision of language teaching, is an important element of language revitalization, which may play a key role in the successful revival of the language. Most of the adults we interviewed claimed that they studied Saami so that their salary would rise because of the newly acquired language skill.

Another particularly important area besides language teaching is the transmission of traditional Saami culture, which is why Saamelaisalueen koulutuskeskus (SAKK) was established. This institution provides not only language courses, but also lessons in traditional Saami lifestyle (tanning and leathercraft, weaving, jewellery, smithing, etc.). Each participant has to enroll in a 36-hour Saami language course and has to master the Saami terminology of their craft.

Inari Saami has also become an academic language. The first two Inari Saami language teachers (MA) graduated in 2013, which means that two dissertations were written in Inari Saami that year.

Since then, the number of such dissertations has increased to well over ten [Pasanen 2015: 136]. Several dissertations have been published on the Saami language, which shows an increasing interest in the Saami languages, not to mention it can also help to raise the prestige of the language.



Conclusions

The example of Finland shows that an efficiently working system can be created with individually and parallelly working subsystems in a non-centralized education scheme, which can be adapted to different situations. Majority society, political decision-makers, self-operating and self-conscious civil activity together can create a successful national education system where bilingualism is not only reachable for minorities with significantly different backgrounds, but it is also useful for the whole society, whose task is to provide an opportunity for speakers of endangered languages to revitalize their language.



References

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