After graduating from an English bachelor’s program in Sri Lanka, Stephini ended up pursuing a degree in the Master’s programme in English Studies at the University of Helsinki. Having worked as an English teacher in an international school back home, she was interested in continuing her studies to become an English teacher in Finland.
Stephini’s master’s thesis delves into non-native English speakers and their identity formation, based on interview data. She explains that it was interesting to look at how the interview participants viewed their non-native English accents, and how much they had struggled with speaking English because of their non native English accents growing up in different socio-cultural contexts. The thesis is based on interviews with 10 international students who were studying and living in the greater Helsinki metropolitan region. The interviews focused on the interviewees’ English-speaking identity and their attitudes towards non-native English accents in general.
Stephini started working on her master’s thesis in the second year of the master’s programme. According to Stephini, the structure of the thesis seminar was helpful for planning the thesis, and Stephini reports having received meaningful support from her thesis supervisor. The questions that the supervisor asked challenged Stephini’s thinking and helped her narrow down her research area to a feasible study.
Stephini remarks that the most challenging part of the master’s thesis process was coming up with a topic. Stephini had already done her bachelor’s thesis on the identity of Sri Lankan Malays (an ethnic minority in Sri Lanka), and the fluidity of one’s identity was a particular interest of hers. The supervisor of the thesis helped in recommending possible literature that aligned with her research interests and reading these eventually helped her narrow down the scope of her research.
Being a naturally structured person, Stephini was able to manage the thesis writing fairly well, and setting personal deadlines was important for her writing process. Stephini admits to being easily distracted by noisy surroundings, and so mainly wrote from the silent room in the university library, which helped her to concentrate.
For students embarking on their thesis process, Stephini has this to say: “Remember always that you are part of a group, a community”. Stephini found the idea of others going through the same process to be motivating. For Stephini, the most rewarding aspect of her studies were the discussions with her peers in the seminar group as well as her supervisor, and their feedback contributed greatly to the thesis process. According to Stephini, the supervisor took a step back at some point and assigned the role of giving feedback to other students in the seminar group; thesis work is not meant to be done alone.
In 2025, Stephini is working on STEP studies, the subject teacher education programme at the University of Helsinki, to become a qualified English teacher in Finland. After graduating Stephini wants to apply for a teaching job in Finland, leaving the door open for a future PhD. Stephini has studied for more than half of her life, and she feels ready to enter the workforce.