Tarja Nikula

Professor (Centre for Applied Language Studies)

Room: 211 in Student union building (Yo-talo)
Tel. +358 14 260 3522
E-mail: tarja.nikula(at)campus.jyu.fi

Research Interests

My research interests include discourse-pragmatics, connections between language learning and interaction, English in Finland both from the perspective of local contact phenomena in language use and people’s more general perceptions of and attitudes to English. My research is located within the VARIENG domains ‘Language in Society’ and ‘Language as Discourse’.

Discourse-pragmatics of classroom interaction

My research on classroom discourse currently receives funding from the Academy of Finland. The aim of the project ‘Discourse pragmatic perspectives on classroom interaction’ is to analyse classroom interaction in two educational contexts: content-based (CLIL) classrooms where English is the medium of instruction and English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms where it is the object of study. The research is mainly informed by pragmatics, with important insights from discourse analysis and sociocultural research on language learning. The project both illuminates the role of English in Finnish in the given educational contexts and explores the possibilities of analysing language learning from the perspective of social participation in classroom talk.

In the area of CLIL research, I continue co-operation with Christiane Dalton-Puffer (University of Vienna), with whom I have presented and written joint papers, organized research workshops (Vienna 2005) and seminars in conferences (CLIL: competence-building for globalization, Helsinki 2006; ESSE 8, London 2006) and edited a special issue on CLIL for Vienna English Working Papers.

Languages in contact

I am also interested in language contacts and the data in my classroom project also provide rich possibilities for exploring the ways in which English and Finnish come into contact in the two classroom settings. I have explored and continue to work on code-switching patterns in CLIL and EFL classrooms and the ways in which discourse functions of English and Finnish relate to each other.

Contacts between English and Finnish are also at issue in another area of interest: the use of discourse markers in the Finnish-English contact zone. I am particularly interested in the Finnish speakers and writers using English discourse markers and the way these co-occur and intermingle with Finnish discourse markers and pragmatic particles.

Roles of English in Finland

Together with Anne Pitkänen-Huhta, I am also carrying our research on the role of English in the everyday practices of Finnish teenagers. Theoretically, our research draws insights from discourse analysis, literacy studies and ethnography. We use a multi-method approach to gain a versatile, emic picture of English penetrating Finnish teenagers’ discourse practices. In particular, we have developed methods involving visual data such as photographs and drawings as a way to get access to participants’ own understandings of English in their lives. Other methods include interviews, group discussions and written diaries.

I am a member of VARIEG team that is responsible for a large-scale survey of English in Finland. The survey will provide up-to-date information about the status, influence and functional range of English within Finnish society by focusing on both Finns’ active and passive use of English and on ideologies and meanings associated with English. The survey will be conducted at the end of 2007, the publication of its findings taking place in 2008.

Recent publications

Nikula, Tarja. 2002. Teacher talk reflecting pragmatic awareness: a look at EFL and content-based classrooms. Pragmatics, Vol. 12, No. 4, 447-468.

Nikula, Tarja. 2003. Englanti oppimisen kohteena ja välineenä: katsaus luokkahuoneinteraktioon ('English as an object and tool of study: a look at classroom interaction’). In M. Koskela & N. Pilke (eds.) Kieli ja asiantuntijuus ('Language and expertise'). AFinLA Yearbook No. 61. Jyväskylä: AFinLA., 135-157.

Nikula, Tarja. 2005. English as an object and tool of study in classrooms: Interactional effects and pragmatic implications. Linguistics and Education, 16 (1), 27-58.

Nikula, Tarja. 2007. The IRF pattern and space for interaction: comparing CLIL and EFL classrooms. In Christiane Dalton-Puffer & Ute Smit (eds.) Empirical Perspectives on CLIL Classroom Discourse - CLIL: empirische Untersuchungen zum Unterrichtsdiskurs. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 179-204.

Nikula, Tarja. 2007. Speaking English in Finnish content-based classrooms. World Englishes, 26(2), 206-223.

Dalton-Puffer, Christiane & Tarja Nikula (eds.) 2006. Current research on CLIL . A special issue of VIEWZ - Vienna English Working Papers, 15(3). http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/views15_3_clil_special.pdf

Nikula, Tarja. 2008. Learning pragmatics in content-based classrooms. In Eva Alcón & Alicia Martinez-Flor (eds.) Investigating Pragmatics in Foreign Language Learning, Teaching, and Testing. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 94–113.

Nikula, Tarja & Anne Pitkänen-Huhta. 2008. Using photographs to access stories of learning English. In Paula Kalaja, Vera Menezes & Ana Maria Barcelos (eds.) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 171–185.

Nikula, Tarja (2008) Oppilaiden osallistuminen luokkahuonevuorovaiktukseen englanninkielisessä aineenopetuksessna (Students’ participation in classroom exchanges in Finnish content-based teaching’) In S. Leppänen, T. Nikula & L. Kääntä (eds.) Kolmas kotimainen. Lähikuvia englannn käytöstä Suomessa. (‘Third domestic language. Case studies on the use of English in Finland’). Tietolipas xxx. Helsinki: SKS.

My Domains