Eeva-Liisa Nyqvist

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at University of Helsinki

Previous studies have shown that grammar is a central source of difficulty for immersion students and that their teachers often lack knowledge of how to integrate linguistic aims with content teaching. This descriptive, enquiry-based study reports on Finnish immersion teachers’ ( n = 54) perspectives on grammar instruction in language immersion in...

En välkänd svårighet för inlärare av L2-svenska är komplexiteten kring definithet, bestämdhet och artikelbruk (DBA). Flera studier har indikerat att inlärare som saknar morfologisk bestämdhetsmarkering i sitt L1 har svårare för strukturer inom DBA, men att även inlärare med motsvarande strukturer i sitt L1 har rapporterats ha svårigheter. I denna a...

This is a study of the use of generic pronouns in Swedish as a second language (L2) by L1 Finnish immersion students. We compare two groups, 12-year-olds, and 15-year-olds, to see if there is a difference and to identify which the most challenging cases are in both groups. Norm deviations are compared to see if they mainly consist of overuse of gen...

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera hur de nordiska länderna och de självstyrda områdena framställs i textboken Megafon 3 som används i B-svenska i årskurs 9, den sista årskursen i den finländska grundskolan. Svenskfinland, dvs. de finländska områdena med svenskspråkig befolkning och Sverige behandlas i alla årskurserna i de flesta läromedlen...

In this article, we discuss language- and culture-specific elements in versions of Evas klass/Eevan luokka (1917), a Finnish youth literature classic by Kersti Bergroth (1886–1975), a self-translator who wrote the Finland-Swedish and Finnish versions under the pseudonym of Mary Marck. The novel has also been translated into Norwegian (Eva’s klasse,...

In this article, we discuss some representative language- and culture-specific translation problems in a fantasy trilogy created by the Norwegian author Siri Pettersen (b. 1971) and in its Finnish translations by Eeva-Liisa Nyqvist of the present text. We will describe Nyqvist’s own reflections around her translation process with various strategies...

Materials for language learning are usually prepared with a specific age group in mind, but less often based on competences within the student group. This recalls what linguistic and cultural emphases underlie the choice of texts intended for teaching. The article discusses the factors to consider when choosing texts for language learning at levels...

The Swedish V2 word order has been considered a notorious source of difficulty for L2 learners due to its strict rules. This study explores subject-verb word order in texts written in Swedish by 12-year-old and 15-year-old Finnish-speaking immersion students and by 16-year-old non-immersion students. Although the L1 of the informants lacks obligato...

Denna artikel undersöker hur finskspråkiga språkbadselever i årskurserna 6 och 9 (n=77 resp. n=86) bedömer grammatikaliteten av några av svenskans mest komplexa nominalfraser i ett test med nominalfraser med dubbel bestämdhet, nominalfraser med de demonstrativa pronomenen den här och denna samt nominalfraser med både ett possessivattribut eller ett...

The present study explores how 12- and 15-year-old immersion students (n=75 and n=73) produce subordinate questions in Swedish on a written test. Previous studies are sparse, but they report difficulties with both subject-verb word order and use of the subjunctor om and the subject marker som occurring in these clauses; informants with varying ages...

Kersti Bergroth (1886–1975) oli tuottelias kirjailija, joka klassikon asemaan nousseilla Eeva-kirjoillaan on myös yksi suomalaisen nuortenkirjallisuuden pioneereista. Erityistä Evas-klass/Eevan luokka-teoksessa (1917) on se, että se ilmestyi samaan aikaan sekä ruotsiksi että suomeksi ja Bergroth vastasi itse molemmista versiosta. Bergrothin tuotant...

Ruotsi, norja ja tanska muistuttavat kielihistoriallisista syistä paljon toisiaan sekä sanastoltaan että rakenteeltaan. Pohjoismaisen kommunikoinnin ihanne onkin perinteisesti ollut, että kieliryhmien edustajat puhuvat kohdatessaan omaa kieltään pienin kielellisin muokkauksin. Tällaiset kommunikaatiotilanteet ovat kuitenkin haastavia pohjoismaisia...

Svensk passiv har flera olika former (s-passiv, vara- och bli-passiv). S-passivens dominans i svenska är också en tydlig skillnad mellan svenska och de andra nordiska språken. I den här artikeln analyserar vi L2-svenska översättningar av finska meningar för att se hur väl språkbadselever lärt sig passiven och vilken passivkonstruktion de föredrar....

En svårighetshierarki för inversion? Språkbad ger excellenta inlärningsresultat tack vare tidig startålder, rikligt inflöde och meningsfull interaktion, men grammatisk korrekthet, bl.a. ordföljden, bereder ofta problem (Sipola 2008). Svenskan är ett V2-språk, och ordföljden utgör en klassisk problemkälla för L2-inlärare. Överanvändning av rak ordfö...

Swedish grammatical gender is challenging for Finnish-speaking learners of Swedish due to its abstract meaning, the complex nature of Swedish NPs and the low salience of the morphology used to mark gender. Our study compares the expression of gender in texts written in Swedish by Finnish-speaking 12- and 15-year-old immersion students with that of...

The aim of this article is to study the extent to which some of the most complex types of Swedish noun phrases (NPs) have been mastered in a grammaticality judgement test in L2 Swedish of Finnish-speaking 16-year-old non-immersion pupils (n = 44) compared with 15-year-old immersion pupils (n = 86). The study concentrates on double definiteness, NPs...

There are two primary goals for this study – first, to analyse definiteness and article use in spontaneous writing in Swedish by 15-year-old Finnish immersion students (n = 162) and secondly, to compare their performance with that of non-immersion students at the same age (n = 67). Analyses at the group level show that immersion students usually pe...

A short presentation of my Post-doctoral project

This study explores the acquisition of definiteness and article use in written Swedish by Finnish-speaking teenagers (n=67) during the three years in secondary school. The studied grammatical phenomena are problematic for all L2 learners of Swedish and are especially difficult for learners, such as Finns, whose L1 lacks expressive definiteness morp...

This study explores how Finnish-speaking university students (n=159) master definiteness and use of articles in a written task including to their obligatory language studies. The material is analysed on both group and individual level, and the informants are compared to a group 15 years old pupils from the comprehensive schools from another materia...

This doctoral thesis reports how Finnish-speaking schoolchildren use definite and indefinite forms and articles in Swedish and how their ability to use them develops from the 7th to the 9th grade in comprehensive school. These grammatical phenomena have proved to be problematic for everyone learning Swedish as a second language, but they are especi...

I min doktorsavhandling som handlar om tillägnandet av species och artikelbruk hos 13-15 åriga finska svenskinlärare har jag konstaterat att flera typer av species- och artikelfel förekommer ännu i årskurs 9. Exempelvis överanvändning av naken form i obligatoriska kontexter för bestämd form singularis (t.ex. Vi har piano i *vardagsrum) och bortfall...

Määräisyys ja artikkelien käyttö ovat keskeinen osa ruotsin kielen morfologiaa, mutta ne tuottavat usein vaikeuksia ruotsia toisena tai vieraana kielenä oppiville. Erityisen ongelmallisia ne ovat kielenoppijoille, joiden äidinkielessä ei ole morfologista määräisyyskategoriaa ja artikkeleita. Tämä artikkeli tarkastelee yksilötason analyysin avulla t...

This article deals with my PhD study on the acquisition of the definiteness and the use of articles in Swedish noun phrases. My informants are 130 pupils in the Finnish comprehensive school and my corpus consists of seven compositions, three taped oral exercises and two grammar tests per every pupil. My study is longitudinal: I started to collect t...